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Buying the Best Gaming Monitor for a Friend
Scenario
So, you have a friend who’s constantly talking about wanting to get a new monitor for his PC. He doesn’t stop complaining about how his eyes hurt from staring at a small flat screen TV that he put on his desk to use as his PC monitor. He plays games so he’s starring at that screen for a long time. He’s been hearing about how some of his gamer friends are upgrading or already upgraded their old PC monitors to a brand new Gaming Monitor It’s a new term so deal with it. Now he wants a part of it. Either you owe him something or his birthday is coming up so you want to maybe buy the poor guy a new monitor or gather up some friends to pitch in together for one. You might a be a gamer yourself or you might absolutely have no idea about gaming. It doesn’t matter, I’ll share with you the research I did in order to find the best monitor I needed at the time. Hopefully this will help you find the best Gaming Monitor for whoever you are trying to gift it to.
Here is a list of few things you will come across when you are searching online for a new monitor:
- Refresh Rate
- Response Time
- Monitor Size
- Panel Type
Refresh Rate
Refresh rate refers to the number of frames (images) per second your TV or monitor can display. It is labeled with the unit of Hertz or Hz. The most common refresh rate in any TV or monitor is at 60Hz, meaning it is drawing about 60 frames (images) per second. Still confused?
With any screen or monitor you are currently using, you can visualize the effects of different refresh rate here (testufo) . What you will see is a little cartoon alien in a UFO gliding across your screen. It will be divided into 3 sections. Top line being your current refresh rate and the rest on the bottom distributed into lower refresh rates. You will be able to clearly see how awful it is to try and stare at the lowest refresh rate possible.
EIZO FORIS FS2735 27-inch Monitor (to Amazon)
Response Time
Response time measures of how long it takes a pixel to change color from gray to white and back to gray. Lower the response time, you will experience less motion blur and ghosting. Ghosting is when the first image displayed on your monitor carries over to the next image it’s suppose to display, causing the images to blur when you are quickly changing directions in game. Many gaming monitors are now competing to reach that 1 ms Fast Response time for that ultra smooth gaming experiences but 2-5 ms should be sufficient for most games.
Monitor Size
Generally speaking, as for PC gaming, you would ideally want to aim for either a 24-inch or 27-inch monitor. A lot of people enjoy the 24-inch because it is big enough to see everything and you don’t have to move your eyes around too much to see everything that is being displayed. Many people call it the sweet spot size for desk gaming. 27-inch monitors are also popular especially in the eSports scenes. Professional gamers are seen playing on 27-inch monitors.
For console gamers I would recommend bigger monitors or getting a nice TV for would be nice. It also really depends on whether you play games that you can sit back on your couch or games that require you to be up-close and engaged throughout.
Panel Type
TN– Twisted Nematic Panel
TN panel is the most common panel type around. It is poor in image color compared to other panels but this is a fast responsive panel. Colors aren’t too important in games like Counter-Strike Global Offensive so TN would suffice for the fast responsive screen. If you’re gifting for a competitive gamer this might be the right choice.
IPS– In-Plane Switching Panel
IPS panel is definitely the more expensive option with the best color and image quality out of all the panels. If you’re gifting for someone who play slower paced games that focus on story and graphics this would be an awesome choice.
VA– Vertical alignment Panel
VA panel is the panel that is just right in between TN and IPS. Better color than TN but not as good as an IPS. The key to this type of panel is the contrast ratio which helps with the getting the better blacks. I would usually give this type of panel to movie lovers but not worth it for gaming (although there are some responsive VA panels that are coming out that is aimed for gaming usage.
What to buy?
First things first
Find out if your friend plays more Xbox One | PlayStation 4 OR PC Games (links to Amazon)
The type of Gaming Monitor you need for console gaming like the Xbox One or PlayStation are different than the type of monitor you would need for PC gaming.
If you are a console gamer, you really don’t have to spend the extra cash on expensive PC gaming monitors it would pretty much be a waste of all the technology you wouldn’t be using. One of the main reasons why I say this is simple, the refresh rate is limited to 60Hz on all current console games and the systems themselves. There is no upgrade to increase the refresh rate, you would just have to wait until the next generation of consoles come out with higher refresh rates.
60Hz Monitors Cost Less | $100-300 range
If your friend really only stare at a monitor to play console games there is absolutely no reason to buy a 144Hz monitor. However, some of them may also use the monitor to do photo editing, photoshop, film, or anything related to sensitive graphic designing. If that is the case, then of course go with the higher end monitors that are great for both graphic work and gaming. For casual console gamers, you would be looking at monitors that cost around $100-200. Below are some of those monitors in that price range. You can go to Amazon through the links below or simply add them into our cart now and checkout through Amazon later.
BenQ RL2455HM 24-Inch Monitor (Amazon) or Add to Cart
ASUS VE248H 24-inch Monitor (Amazon) or Add to Cart
ASUS VX248H 24-inch Monitor (Amazon)
144Hz monitors are more expensive | $300-500 range
As PC gamers have unlimited amount of choices as to what games to play, no matter what they choose to play and even if they are casual to competitive gamers, having a 144Hz would be awesome. If you happen to know exactly what games your friend plays on the PC and if shooters (FPS- First person shooters) is one of them, then there is no doubt your friend would love this gift.
BenQ XL2411z 24-inch Monitor (Amazon) or Add to Cart
ASUS VG248QE 24-inch Monitor (Amazon) or Add to Cart
IPS Monitors are little more expensive whether it’s 60Hz or 144Hz | $500-800 range
To be continued…
