6 Features of Gaming Monitors: Why You Should Know Them

Reading time icon 5 min. read


Readers help support MSpoweruser. We may get a commission if you buy through our links. Tooltip Icon

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help MSPoweruser sustain the editorial team Read more

27 inch monitor

Sponsored

Which gaming monitor would you like to buy, especially when the market is flooded with various monitors with unique features? Should you go for a high response time and low refresh rate monitor? Will a 1ms gaming monitor or curved gaming monitor be the right choice? Will a 24-inch or 27 inch gaming monitor work for you?

One size doesn’t fit every gamer. A good monitor can give you a thrilling gaming experience, whereas a bad one can spoil it. That’s why you should look for the industry’s best tech within your budget. The market is packed with different categories of monitors with refresh rates, ultrawide curved, and G sync monitors.

Know these top features to buy the right monitor for gaming. If you remain unaware of these features, you’ll choose the wrong monitor that will fail to meet your gaming requirements.

Let’s take a look.

Resolutions 

Resolution refers to the number of pixels rendered on your monitor screen. It determines how clearly a monitor can display visual content. The higher the resolution, the clearer the display. When purchasing a monitor for gaming, give priority to resolutions.

In the below table, you will see the recommended resolutions.

Display Size of Monitors Resolutions Effects
24 inch monitor 1,920 X 1,080 pixels Common standard and the best quality to price ratio. It gives a good quality gaming experience.
27 to 32 inches Monitor 2,560 X 1,440 pixels Higher quality graphics. It’s a sweet spot if you do not have a super tight budget when building your PC.
34 inches to 39 inches 3,440×1,440 pixels Go for it if you want excellent game performance from mid-to-high range graphics cards.
43 to 49 inches 3,840×2,160 pixels Referred to as 4K, this screen size is an extremely taxing resolution to play games at, even in older AAA games. Choose it if you have the cash to splash.

Keep in mind that almost all 49-inch monitors have 3,840×1,080 resolution. This resolution is lower than the recommended threshold.

Refresh Rates

The refresh rate of your monitor display refers to the number of times the display draws a new image per second. In other words, it is the number of times your monitor updates with new information per second. This is measured in Hertz (Hz). For instance, if your monitor’s display has a refresh rate of 144Hz, it means the display is refreshing the image 144 times per second. The bigger the number, the better. Refresh rate is important for gamers. It would be best to look for a monitor with a minimum of 75 Hz. Note that most gaming monitors are designed to offer at least 120 Hz. A 60 Hz refresh rate will be fine if you are not a gamer.

Response times

Response time refers to the time the monitor takes to shift from one color to another or we can say it lets you know how long a monitor takes to change individual pixels from black to white and again to black, expressed in milliseconds (ms). A shorter response time is better as a long time means blurry motion when gaming or watching fast videos. A gaming monitor’s highest response time is 5ms, whereas the fastest gaming monitors can have a 0.5ms response time.

1ms Gaming Monitor

Choose a monitor with unsurpassed response time if you cannot suffer another defeat just because of input lag. The Lenovo Y27q-20 model can be the right choice for your gaming monitor. This 27-inch gaming monitor features a brilliant QHD and an anti-glare display. The anti-glare display ensures your visuals are crystal clear, and you can see everything. In addition, the response time will allow you to see the input in the game as fast as possible.

Go for Ultrawide 

Don’t be confused between an ultrawide screen and a regular widescreen. Ultrawide screens allow you to have a movie-watching experience. You can expand the field of view (FOV) in games without creating a “fisheye” effect. An ultrawide monitor is recommended if you prefer a wider FOV that will enable you to spot enemies or immerse yourself in the game environment. It is important to note that many popular FPS games don’t support high FOV settings.

Curved Gaming Monitors

Curved screens are one of the features of ultrawide monitors. They can provide a clear look at the extreme edges of the screen. This feature is useful because images at the distant edges of the screen typically look less distinct than those in the middle. These wide or ultrawide gaming monitors will let you see extended viewing areas while subtly curving that extra horizontal screen space into your viewing range. So, nothing on-screen escapes your attention or your wrath. However, this is most noticeable on the larger screens over a 27-inch gaming monitor.

Bottom Line

No matter what computer or PC you have, your monitor choice can impact the game you play or the tasks you do. That makes choosing a new gaming monitor a different ball game. The right display size, resolution, response time, refresh rates, and design will give you the best results whether you are playing games or doing work with the proper selection. Remember not to waste your hard-earned money on a monitor with unnecessary features.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *