Best Computer Monitors: October 2014 (Archive)

[ceberle]

After rigorous testing, we’re happy to award these displays as the best in their respective classes: gaming, business, touchscreen and jumbo.

Best Computer Monitors: October 2014 : Read more

 

[envy14tpe]

Great to see some focus on the monitors. I'm sure they are great monitors for gaming but they are used by less than 1% of gamers. I'd like to see focus on what people are actually buying. (comparing $100-170 monitors)

 

[Intervenator]

Only 1 1080p monitor? What is this, 2016? VERY helpful.

 

[DRosencraft]

The HP EliteDisplay 271i linked to on Amazon has no details on the specs, so I found it by searching HP's website. It's listed as maxing out at 1920x1080 there, but said to be 2560x1440 here. Is the wrong monitor referenced or what?

 

[Cryoburn101]

I personally would have liked to have seen a comparison on the $100-$250 range monitors. Not a fan of blowing most of my computer-budget on a $700 monitor when a simple TN 1080p 144hz monitor does the job just fine for me :/. Not knocking higher-end monitors, just not where I choose to invest my money.

Thanks for the article though.

 

[jossrik]

I'm happy to see a monitor report, it's about time, it's probably the most overlooked component, and it's not like years ago where everything was pretty much the same, there are perceptible picture quality differences between models and you don't always get what you pay for, personally, I'm looking forward to the jumbo monitors. I have a 40in LED that I love, but it's only 60Hz. That means no new graphics cards until I upgrade the monitor. Since it's also my TV and about the biggest I can go in my room, it probably won't get upgraded for a while yet, though, not 3d and that's something I'd like to try. My little brother just bought in to the Oculus, and that might be a deal changer as far as the monitor goes.

 

[rolli59]

Well nice to see all these high res monitors but really why are we then having best graphics cards for the money series recommending down to GT730 if we can not have monitor series which addresses the needs of the people selecting lower end cards? Or maybe we should only address higher end cards like apparently is the idea with this monitor series!

 

[StormyIV]

Was gaming on an ASUS 1440p display for about 6 months, bought a 1080p display at 144hz and I'll never go back to 60hz. Glad to see that 1440 is finally breaking the 60hz barrier and has G-sync options as well. I will definitely be picking one up when the price goes down!

 

[Karsten75]

Great article and reference source. Thanks.

Just wondering - where are the Asus models? Particularly the Asus ProArt models in the Professional category?

When the ProArt PA279Q was reviewed last year this time, this was the concluding remarks of the reviewers:

Comparisons to the excellent Samsung S27B970D are inevitable. For $300 less, Asus gives you greater brightness, better contrast, and equivalent color, grayscale, and gamma accuracy. The big feature missing from Samsung's offering is the wider color gamut. That factor alone is enough to recommend the PA279Q ahead of it. We also prefer Asus’ anti-glare screen to Samsung’s reflective one.

 

[crisan_tiberiu]

Bummer..., i can't afford neither of theese monitors stucked @ 22" 1080p...

 

[The_Icon]

I am not buying any display until FreeSync happens.

 

[eastyy]

I really hate screen tearing and microstuttering i like the look of gsync but the expense is a lot. Would just a 144hz monitor improve those issues i had

 

[homerthewhopper]

hi guys of toms hardware, thanks for the article. if i may suggest for the article on monitors to be similar to those of gpu and cpu where they are categorized to different value for money price segments. thanks

 

[qlum]

While good screens are great I still rather have my 3x 23inch ips on 1080p for my gaming needs and a 1366p tv in portrait to left of them which is also 23 inch.

 

[ranofthemill]

like DRosencraft said, the HP EliteDisplay 271i is 1080p. It is stated both in the review multiple times, and the Amazon link.
Please fix.

 

[vertexx]

Well done article - very useful info in such a crowded market. I agree with the consensus - add some lower budget / 1080p recommendations.

 

[runswindows95]

As much as I want the BenQ BL3200PT since all I do is heavy word processing, I agree with the consensus. $700 is a lot to spend on one monitor. I would also love to see a review like this with monitors in the $100 to $200 range.

 

[antherion]

The Dell U2410 is a great deal for slightly less than $200 (refurbished) -- possibly the best one out there for sub-200 monitors.

 

[TheMentalist]

The HP EliteDisplay E271i is NOT 1440p, it's 1080p. Fix it Toms.

 

[vmem]

I really don't understand most people's mentality of budgeting for a monitor as an "after-thought", or "whatever is left". I don't want to start a flame war, but a lot of people here spend somewhere between $750-1200 on a full build, probably $200 or more on a GPU that you will upgrade LONG before you upgrade the monitor, and yet you don't want to SEE that performance? you just want to push 120 or 144fps and accept poor colors, contrast, possible dead-pixels and backlight bleeding, and just deal with it for YEARS?

keeping in mind that monitor is on the longer side of most people's upgrade cycle, and that it is an essential part of ANY computer using experience, I would argue that spending $300+, and going for 1440p, or a premium 1080p panel is perfectly reasonable. also, poor backlighting and bad colors are a common source of eye fatigue for computer users. honestly, those extra couple of hundred dollars spent on a monitor is probably very wise IMO

 

[ohim]

Only 1 1080p monitor? What is this, 2016? VERY helpful.

Given the fact that GTX 780 and R9-290 cards prices dropped down ... these are cards very capable to be entry level for 4k gaming and can handle 1440k gaming quite well... i think this is pretty helpful.

I would take into consideration IIyama monitors also IIyama ProLite XB2779QS-B1 27 inch 5 ms in my country is about 500 Euros. 5ms 60 Hz IPS 1440p display Colour range: AdobeRGB: 86%, sRGB: 116% 350 cd/mp

 

[SessouXFX]

Come on, Ben Q! Give that monitor 120HZ, and I'm shoving my tax return in your pocket!

 

[Intervenator]

Only 1 1080p monitor? What is this, 2016? VERY helpful.

Given the fact that GTX 780 and R9-290 cards prices dropped down ... these are cards very capable to be entry level for 4k gaming and can handle 1440k gaming quite well... i think this is pretty helpful.

I would take into consideration IIyama monitors also IIyama ProLite XB2779QS-B1 27 inch 5 ms in my country is about 500 Euros. 5ms 60 Hz IPS 1440p display Colour range: AdobeRGB: 86%, sRGB: 116% 350 cd/mp

So since high end graphics cards CAN run 1440p, you ignore the monitors that 95% of the people will end up buying? Just as graphics card prices decrease, 1440p and 4K monitor prices have dropped down as well. Does that mean TH should ignore all sub $300 graphics cards because they can't run the bleeding edge monitors at acceptable frames? It's called "Best Computer Monitors: October 2014", not "Best Computer Monitors for High End Graphics Card Users: October 2014". Its like making a best memory of the month article and only adding DDR4 memory because most high end motherboards accept it now, as if those are the only ones that matter. I almost feel as if the writer of this article has a warped take on reality.

 

[Bondfc11]

The fact is those $100-$200 monitors aren't that great. 24" 1080 is mainstream at the moment, but the better monitors are moving well past that. If you want a cheap-0 monitor great, but you don't see a ton of articles written about entry level anything anymore.

 

[Intervenator]

The fact is those $100-$200 monitors aren't that great. 24" 1080 is mainstream at the moment, but the better monitors are moving well past that. If you want a cheap-0 monitor great, but you don't see a ton of articles written about entry level anything anymore.

Youre telling me there isnt a single sub $500 1080p monitor worth recommending? Resolution is only a small feature on what makes up a good anything monitor. What of color accuracy, refresh rate, response time, PRICE, etc etc. Fact is, there are plenty of 1080p monitors that don't have to be $400+ that do EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR THEM TO DO , minus resolution. You can't tell me that a GAMING 1440p 120Hz 6ms for $450 gets a recomendation when a GAMING 1080p 144Hz 1ms for $250 doesn't. Youre getting a monitor thats WORSE in all aspects for gamers BESIDES resolution. I was under the impression that it was for the BEST monitors for the COST for the month, as ALL their other "best of" articles are written.