How to Choose a Good LCD or LED Monitor for Gaming?

A Good Monitor is a necessary requirement for gaming as it enhances your overall gaming experience to the fullest level. Nowadays LCD or LED monitors comes in different sizes and specifications that can be very confusing for a novice person to choose from, but in this article I will explain you the different parameters related to a LCD monitor as to make your buying decision easier.

Firstly you should know that no every LCD screen can serve a gaming monitor because of various technicalities involved. So you must keep the following below mentioned things in your mind when getting a gaming monitor for your PC or Computer.

Must Read: Best Budget HD and FHD Monitors for Gaming

Gaming LCD or LED Monitor Buying Guide

Here are some very important thing that you should look for when buying a Gaming Monitor for your computer.

Screen Size

This is simply the size of the screen of your monitor screen that is measured diagonally in inches. For gaming I would recommend a monitor with screen size ranging from 20-inches to 24-inches. You will enjoy a better gaming session with bigger monitors but not too big as you will be able to see all the details, effects and graphics of the game more clearly on the screen.

Resolution

A professional gamer always prefer playing games on high resolutions because of the image clarity you can get at high resolutions. Make sure the monitor you are buying supports high resolution to up to 1920 x 1080 pixels or more. You must also keep in mind that your graphics card should also be powerful enough to run the latest demanding games on high resolutions.

Aspect Ratio

Aspect Ratio is defined as the ratio of the width of the screen to the height of the screen of a monitor. The most common type aspect ratios found in monitors are 4:3, 16:10 and 16:9. The 4:3 aspect ratio is called fullscreen and were usually found in old CRT monitors while 16:10 and 16:9 aspect ratios are called Widescreen. Monitors with 16:10 aspect ratio were popular between years 2003 to 2008 but are rarely found today, and is replaced by more popular 16:9 widescreen ratio. A 16:9 is now the standard ratio for HD (High-Definition) Movies.

The most common difference between monitors (of same screen size) having 16:10 and 16:9 ratio is that 16:9 has more horizontal area and less vertical area for viewing while 16:10 offers more vertical area for viewing with reduced horizontal space but without losing the horizontal resolution. 16:10 monitor is good for office application or office work and internet browsing as you get more vertical space and less scrolling to do. All aspect ratios have their different native resolutions as mentioned below (in pixels):-

4:3 – 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768

16:9 – 1024×576, 1152×648, 1280×720, 1600×900, 1920×1080, 2560×1440 and 3840×2160

16:10 – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

For gaming and for watching movies 16:9 is the preferred choice and also as of now almost all the games and movies are made for the 16:9 screens only.

Pixel Response Time

Pixel Response Time or commonly called Response time is the time taken by the pixels of a monitor to make the transition from one image to another once it receives the signal information for the new image from the video card. In other words you can say that it is the time taken by the pixel to change from one color to another once the signal is received from the video/graphics card.

If your LCD monitor pixel response time is more then you will experience Ghosting, Blurring or Lagging in your games, which is not good for gaming. So for gaming purposes the LCD monitor response time should be 5 ms or even lesser. It is better to go for a LCD monitor with pixel response time of 2 ms to be on the safer side.

Ports or Interface

Look for advanced digital ports like DVI and HDMI in your monitor. They are digital interfaces and the image quality displayed by them is far superior as compared to VGA port.

LCD vs. LED (Backlighting)

Both the LCD and LED Monitors have the same display screen but with different backlight. Backlight is used to illuminate the Screen so that the colors and the images can be visible to you. LCD Monitor uses CCFL (Cold Compact Florescent Light) and LED Monitor uses an array of LED (Light Emitting Diodes) for Backlighting.

LED Monitors are brighter and also has better contrast than their LCD counterparts because the light emitted by a LED is much brighter. Other Advantages of LED Monitor is their longer life and lower power consumption. So it is better to go for LED Monitors for the Gaming or for other purposes too.

Brand / Company

Brand is also a very important factor when deciding a Gaming Monitor for your PC. Some good brands of LCD/LED Monitors are Samsung, LG, AOC, Dell. My recommended first two choices in order would be Samsung and LG only.

Extra Features

Some LCD monitor offers extra features like USB Hub connectivity etc. If you can find them then it will be an added advantage but these features are optional and not that necessary, so do not waste any time on them if they are not available or present.

Note: These above mentioned Tips can also be applied for a basic or normal LED / LCD Monitor.

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