Buying the right monitor for your PC is crucial especially if you spend many hours in front of it either because you work from home or your an avid gamer. It’s not as simple as just spending more to get more though. Different monitors are better suited to different tasks so knowing which one is right for you is just as important.
There are four main considerations: size, panel type, refresh rate and resolution.
Size is self-explanatory. If you only use your PC occasionally then you can get away with a modestly sized screen: say, 20 to24inches. If your PC is your multimedia hub, though, then it’s the bigger the better
Panel type refers to the different types of LCD technology that are used to make the display. The two main ones are IPS and TN. TN panels are the most basic type and they suffer from poor viewing angles and colours accuracy.
IPS fixes the viewing angle issues of TN and offer better colour accuracy but they have a slower response time so arent quite as good for gaming.
Next up is refresh rate. For anything but gaming you don’t need more than 60Hz, but those that play fast-paced games such as first-person shooters will value the more rapid response of 144Hz or higher gaming displays.
As for resolution, your typical 20 to 27 inch monitor will have a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which is also called 1080p or Full HD. This is enough for more casual, occasional use but for those that work at their PC a few extra pixels can come in handy.
A good sweetspot is a 27inch screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 (1440p) pixels. That’s enough to fit two full-size A4 Word document side by side.
If you’re more into working with picture and video then you may want to take the step up to a 4K screen,\ which is 3840 x2160 pixel.
Also look out for extra features like speakers USB hubs and adjustable stands that offer height rotation pivot and tilt adjustment cheap monitor tend to only offer tilt.
Dell U2717D: £434.99, Scan.co.uk
