How to Choose the Best Monitor
Resolution, panel type and refresh rate explained, with the trade-offs of each specification laid out plainly.
See monitor reviewsTechnology Buying Guides
Plain-language explanations of the specifications you will meet while shopping for a monitor, a gaming PC or a laptop — so you can tell which numbers actually matter.
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Guides
What Is HDR? HDR Vs. SDR
What dynamic range means in an image, how HDR differs from SDR, and how the HDR10 and Dolby Vision standards compare.
Read the guide
SSD vs HDD
How solid-state and hard drives differ on speed, noise and build, and where each one makes sense.
Open buying guidesDisplay basics
Three specifications decide most of how a screen feels in daily use: its resolution, its panel type and its refresh rate. Understanding them narrows the field far faster than reading a specification sheet line by line.
Resolution and panel types
Resolution is the number of pixels the panel draws, written as width by height. More pixels means finer text and more desktop space, but it also asks more of your graphics card. Our guides cover resolution in more detail for anyone upgrading from an older screen.
Panel type describes how the liquid crystal layer is arranged, and it is the main reason two monitors with identical specifications can look and feel very different:
- IPS panels are the general-purpose choice, favoured for accurate colour and wide viewing angles, which makes them popular for programming and graphic design work.
- TN panels are the fastest and cheapest, with the shortest response times but the narrowest viewing angles.
- VA panels sit between the two, offering deeper contrast than IPS or TN at the cost of slower response.
HDR, SDR and adaptive sync
Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) is the baseline most content is graded for. High Dynamic Range (HDR) expands the range between the darkest and brightest parts of an image, so highlights can look brighter and shadows keep more detail. Our HDR guide walks through HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and where to find HDR content.
Variable refresh rate technologies work alongside HDR. Our guide compares G-Sync and FreeSync, so you can match a monitor to the graphics hardware you already own.
Storage: SSD vs HDD
Storage type affects boot times, load times and noise level far more than most buyers expect. Solid-state drives respond dramatically faster and run silently, while hard drives remain a cheaper way to add bulk capacity for archives and media libraries.
Choosing a monitor by task
Different work places different demands on a display. Video editing rewards colour accuracy and resolution; programming benefits from a readable panel and ample screen area; gaming puts refresh rate and response time first. Rather than starting from a brand name, start from the task and work back to a specification.
| Specification | What it affects | Best considered by |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | Screen area and text sharpness, and the load placed on a graphics card | Programmers, video editors |
| Panel type | Colour accuracy, viewing angles and response times | Graphic designers, general use |
| Refresh rate | Motion smoothness in games and scrolling | Gamers |
| HDR support | Highlight detail and contrast in supported content | Movie and HDR content viewers |
| Adaptive sync | Frame pacing and tearing between GPU and monitor | Gamers |
| Drive type | Load speeds, noise and available capacity | PC builders |
Where to go next
All guidesMonitor reviews by budget
- Monitors under $100, $150, $200, $300, $500 and $1000
- Best monitor for graphic design, programming and video editing
- Monitors with speakers and budget 144Hz options
Prebuilt gaming desktops
- Budget tiers from under $300 up to $2000
- Reviews of models from iBUYPOWER, HP, CyberPowerPC and Skytech
- Brand-level assessments of each system builder
Graphics cards and laptops
- Budget cards under $100 and $150
- Professional cards for AutoCAD and 3D rendering
- Gaming laptops under $500, $600, $1500 and $2000
Read the HDR guide
Dynamic range is one of the most quoted and least explained display terms. Our guide defines HDR, compares it with SDR, and looks at the HDR10 and Dolby Vision standards.