small lcd monitors for coding manufacturer

Who this is for: A dual-monitor setup is usually the best option if you want to have a bunch of app windows open at once. But an ultrawide model might be a better choice if you need a ton of unbroken horizontal space, or you don’t want monitor bezels in between windows.

Why we like it: The Dell P3421W has a sturdy adjustable stand, lots of ports (including a USB-C port that can handle power, display, and data over a single cable), and a three-year warranty. And it has a built-in KVM switch that allows you to easily swap your keyboard, mouse, and video between two computers. The 1440p display has a 60 Hz refresh rate, which is great for typical office work, web browsing, and casual gaming.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: If you use your display in direct sunlight, this monitor might not be bright enough for you. It can also provide 65 W of power over USB-C, but some laptops require more. If you have a laptop with an Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU or an Intel Core i7 processor, you might need to keep the laptop plugged in to a separate charger or use a Thunderbolt dock that can provide the extra power.

Most ultrawide monitors are also curved. This design helps minimize viewing-angle problems—when you’re sitting centered, things on the far edges of the screen won’t look as washed out as they would on a flat display of a similar width. But this also makes ultrawide monitors inaccurate for precision tasks requiring straight lines, such as drawing, photo editing, or similar design work.

A crucial part of every system build, a well-made computer monitor ensures that you will realize the performance output by your computer hardware. Perhaps you spent days, weeks, and months choosing the right CPU and the best graphics card to play the games at the resolutions you want. However, suppose you blew your budget on all the horsepower and left none for the display. In that case, you’re not going to appreciate the intensity of all those pixels that your computer renders at incredible speeds. With PC games getting more graphically intense, you must ensure your display can keep up.

You’ve probably seen terms like HD and Full HD on the boxes of monitors and TVs, but what does that mean? As you may have guessed, HD refers to “High Definition,” a quick way to refer to a high-quality video output. So if you see the term “Full HD” on a monitor box, that’s just a shorthand to denote its resolution, which would be 1920 by 1080, also called 1080p. The reason why it’s specified as “Full HD” is that there are also some TVs and monitors that output at 720p (high definition but not relatively as high as 1080p), which is 1280 by 720 pixels. 1080p is considered the current standard for monitors, and popular manufacturers, including Dell, Acer, Samsung, LG, BenQ and Viewsonic, offer a variety of 1080p monitors in their product lineups.

As you can imagine, the more pixels there are to display, the more critical it is that your monitor has a high refresh rate, especially when it comes to gaming. Typically, the standard has been a 120-hertz refresh rate in gaming monitors, but many features a 144-hertz refresh rate. The quicker a monitor can refresh the display, and the smoother the visual experience will be. This is because the refresh rate in the monitor works in tandem with a low response time (which specifies how quickly the monitor can send and receive new information) to make a seamless visual transition. Sometimes, if the response rate is not quick enough, some residual pixels can remain on the screen as the monitor is trying to refresh new ones. This is called ‘ghosting.’ Although it’s standard to have a four-millisecond response time on many gaming monitors, Samsung, LG, BenQ, Viewsonic, and more all offer 2k and 4k monitors with one-millisecond response times. It is also important to ensure refresh rates are identical if you plan to sync two monitors for your display.

Regarding the internal specs, response time and refresh rate are the main factors contributing to a smooth, immersive viewing experience. Still, the physical panel type of the monitor can also play into this. First, there’s the matter of how the monitor lights up: either with LCD or LED. The main difference lies in the material that is used to light the liquid crystals in the display. In LCD, it’s cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs), and in LEDs, it’s tiny light emitting and low-energy consuming diodes. This is the preferred type in most monitors because it consumes less power and produces less harsh light, so darker colors appear more vivid. Additionally, LED monitors can be much thinner than LCD ones.

Newer LCD monitors have improved with the implementation of IPS (In-Plane Switching) panels. For some, it’s a matter of preference, but where the IPS panels have shown their strength with accurate color reproduction, which is great for content creators who want to do photo editing or graphic design. The panel type you choose depends more on preference than anything else. Samsung is well known for championing the IPS panel in their monitors, and many people also enjoy using them for gaming.

For some people, it’s essential, not just the monitor specs. Having a monitor that is fast, intuitive, and also looks nice on their desk is a crucial part of a computer build designed to make a statement. Asus’ Predator X34 shows off with its 34-inch curved IPS panel that also features Nvidia’s Gsync technology, which matches the gaming framerates with the monitor’s native refresh rate to prevent screen tearing. For those who want the style without the price tag, Samsung offers a 29-inch curved monitor with a 4-millisecond response time.

As touch navigation becomes more normalized due to mobile browsing, you may also want to consider a touch monitor for maximum accessibility. Planar offers a 22-inch optical touchscreen monitor that is highly portable due to its USB connection type. For something you can use in meetings for presentations, Dell provides a capacitive touchscreen monitor that also features an IPS panel.

Finally, another consideration is whether there are enough HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) ports. HDMI allows simultaneous digital video and audio transmission from one source to another. While HDMI ports are often standard, especially on gaming monitors, verifying that a monitor has enough HDMI compatibility for your setup before purchasing is essential.

When you’ve picked out the perfect display, don’t forget the essential accessories to go with it. For a two or three-screen setup, Ergotron, Rosewill, and SIIG offer a variety of stationary and swivel monitor mounts for both the wall and your desk. Soon, you’ll have a command center that you’ll never want to leave. So, ready to get started?

They are a shorthand to describe how many pixels in total are displayed on the monitor. For 2k, that’s 1920 x 1080 in a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. For 4k, it’s 3840 by 2160 in a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio.

Since monitors have to be lit in order for the viewer to see anything, the difference between the two types is in what is used to light up the crystals within the display. For LCD, that’s cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL’s) and in LEDs, it’s tiny light emitting and low-energy consuming diodes. LED monitors tend to be thinner and more power-efficient, but improvements in the panel types have made LCDs more competitive.

Most computer monitors range from 19� to 29�, but larger screens of 40� to 55� are also increasingly popular. Additionally, 60� to 90� monitors are perfect for the boardroom or classroom interaction. It really depends on how you�re using your computer. If it�s just for emailing and word processing, a smaller screen should be sufficient. But if you�re using your computer for designing, gaming or for viewing movies, a larger screen may be a better choice.

LED (Light- Emitting Diode) monitors essentially the same as LCD monitors � the only difference is in the backlighting technology. LCD monitors use fluorescent lamps to light the display, while LED monitors use the more energy-efficient light-emitting diodes. LED monitors use up to 40% less energy and contain no mercury, making them a more environmentally friendly choice. They may also help reduce eye strain, which is important if you spend a lot of time in front of your computer.

LED monitors tend to be more expensive than LCDs. But when selecting a computer monitor, it�s best to go with the highest quality and largest size that fits your budget.

Choosing the perfect computer monitor can be tough, so that"s why we"re here to help. Watch our video and learn how to pick out the perfect one. We"ll go over three different monitors for PC builds ranging from basic to high performance.

Update for Oct. 2019: It’s been close to 3 years since I bought the monitor we’re about to talk about here and I still love it. I would still purchase the same one today.

Update for Jan. 2020: The monitor now costs $550 instead of $330 which for most folks puts it into a much different price bracket. I added a very good “successor” monitor that’s $270 which has basically the same specs and a similar model number.

Update for Sep 2022: Good news, a few of the updated monitor selections are back to normal prices of about $250-300. Lots of great picks to choose from which are linked below!

You would think buying a monitor is easy. Just read a few reviews and add it to your cart, easy peasy. Well, maybe so but if you go that route without doing any type of research you may end up with something that you don’t want, performs horribly in many different tests, or even worse – it won’t work at all.

I purchased a new monitor a month ago (it was back in Jan 2017 for reference!) and it was the result of days of research. If you just want to cut to the chase, I ended up purchasing the Dell UltraSharp U2515H 2560x1440 monitor for $330 and it was one of the best development environment upgrades I’ve made in 5 years.

The above monitor is great and I’m still using it 5+ years later but the Dell U2518D makes for a very good alternative that is slightly newer. It has the same resolution and nearly the same low level specs and panel. It’s basically the successor to the U2515H and happens to only be $300 too. If I were buying a new monitor today it would be this one.

Since then I’ve also recently purchased a 24” ViewSonic VG2455-2K 1440p monitor as an external monitor for a work laptop and it’s really good and about $300. There’s also a 27” 1440p variant of it for 10 bucks more if you wanted something bigger.

If you can find the above ViewSonic monitor for ~$300 it’s a decent buy, just make sure you’re getting the 24” or 27” 1440p (2560x1440) version and not the 1080p (1920x1080) version, there’s a world of a difference which we’ll explore in this post. Likewise, if you can snipe either Dell for that price it’s still a very good buy.

But with that said, everything in this post still applies to all 3 monitors and more so it’s certainly worth reading everything here from top to bottom even today.

Unlike most hardware purchases, monitors can end up lasting you a very long time. The only reason I ended up upgrading was my old Dell 2007FP finally died out after around 8 years of full time use. I was using it as a second monitor in a dual monitor set up.

You could expect 5-10 years out of a monitor because technology in the monitor department moves at a snail’s pace. They are still peddling 1080p monitors today in 2021, and they were released when exactly? Sometime in the early 2000s? That’s about 20 years.

Physical size doesn’t constitute how much you can fit on a monitor. For example my mom thinks that a 25” 1080p monitor is going to let her fit more things on her screen than a 22” 1080p monitor. Don’t be my mom!

The only thing that matters for “fitting more stuff on the screen” is the resolution of the monitor. Here’s the 3 most common resolutions:1080p is 1920x1080

My Chromebook has a 13.3” 1080p display, and so does my secondary 22” 1080p monitor. Both monitors offer the same exact screen real estate. Meaning if I have a Sublime Text 3 code editor open, both of them can comfortably display 2x 80 character code windows side by side along with a sidebar.

If you want to fit more things on your screen, you need to increase the resolution, not the physical size. However, as you increase the resolution, things become smaller, so eventually you will need to increase the physical size too.

For example, A 13.3” MacBook Pro advertises a 2560x1600 resolution but that’s kind of bullshit. Yeah sure, the display is technically capable of rendering 2560x1600 pixels but the resolution you actually end up having as real estate on the monitor is 1680x1050 which is LESS than a 1080p monitor.

The gist of it is, the higher the PPI, the more tightly packed the pixels are which in turn make the image sharper. This is why modern smartphones look liquid smooth. For example an iPhone 7 is 750 x 1334 at 4.7” gives you 325.61 PPI. That is awesome for text reading.

If you’re curious the recently purchased 24” ViewSonic VG2455-2K 1440p monitor in October 2021 is also very comfortable to read text at 122.38 PPI (5 more PPI than 25”), but it’s worth pointing out I personally wouldn’t want to go physically smaller than this.

The goal here is to be standing or sitting at a certain distance away from your monitor and be able to comfortably read text at 100% scaling without eye strain.

I have 20/20 vision with glasses and have been using computers for about 20 years now. The new monitor I purchased is 2560x1440 at 25” which gives me a PPI of 117.

At this PPI I’m very comfortable using everything at 100% scaling with absolutely no eye strain and I’m standing a bit less than an arm’s length away from the monitor. To be precise, I’m exactly 24 inches away.

At 39 inches away I can still read the smallest Sublime Text status bar text without straining but 1 inch beyond that and things get difficult. This is mainly due to the contrast of this theme not being the best, but for every day computer use, you can’t expect everything to be the best case scenario.

I mentioned earlier that my Chromebook is 1080p at 13.3” and I can comfortably code on it with Sublime Text at a typical laptop viewing distance which is about 12 inches away. Viewing it from 24” is far too much eye strain for me.

Using this logic, I can deduce that a 27” 4k monitor at 163 PPI would likely strain my eyes a bit because the Chromebook’s PPI is 165 PPI. Yeah sure, I can technically read the text, but it takes way too much effort.

I think for me personally, I would be able to handle a 36” 4k monitor which is 122 PPI but a 36” monitor is MASSIVE compared to 25” which means I would have to stand at least 39” inches away.

In my opinion if you plan to go dual monitors, you’re better off having both horizontal (landscape) or both vertical (portrait) if your desk can fit it.

At 150% scaling you end up with the same space as a 1440p monitor, in which case you might as well buy a 1440p monitor because it’s going to be a lot cheaper and come with much better specs for your money.

Let’s pretend we live in a world where you can view 4k at 100% scaling on a 27” monitor from 3 feet away. I’m sure it’s humanly possible for some, but not for most. I would consider this the best case scenario in terms of physical size and resolution, with an end goal of making you as productive as possible on paper.

A 1440p monitor will give you 3x code windows side by side and 76 lines of code. This is a pretty big deal. You might not realize it until you’ve tried it for a while but being able to comfortably have 3 editor files open and being able to view about 50% more vertical lines of code at a glance is huge.

A 4k monitor will technically be like having a 2x2 grid of 1080p monitors. So in theory you’d be able to have 8 code windows open with 51 lines of code each.

However, I’m not convinced it’s going to be as big of a change as going from 2 windows to 3 and 50 LOCs to 75 LOCs. Why? Probably due to how coding is in real life. How much vertical space do you really need, and is 4 going to be that much better than 3?

What about ultra wide monitors? They come in various resolutions, sometimes 3440x1440. I prefer dual monitors over a single ultra wide monitor (curved or not).

In my opinion the only pro to an ultra wide monitor is there’s no bezel, and as an aside they can be very nice for immersing yourself in certain games.

But there’s multiple downsides to ultra wide monitors. It suffers the same fate as a single 4k monitor for window management unless you have a tiled window manager.

That’s going to make it hard for others to read, and also make it impossible for you not to share certain things. If you wanted to temporarily edit a file with sensitive API keys with dual monitors you could just move your code editor to the 2nd monitor (not being shared) for 10 seconds while you make the edit, then bring it back when you’re done.

But with the ultra wide monitor you would have to drop the call and come back. This is disruptive when doing pair programming sessions. I know because I’ve had calls with multiple folks who have ultra wide monitors.

As for curved monitors, they do help reduce head movement since it wraps around your field of view but that also means the pixels where the monitor curves will be distorted. This depends on how steep the curve is, but if you’re a professional image designer this is now another variable you need to think about.

With dual monitors you could also always angle them inwards to get a similar effect of a curve, except now you’re in full control over how much it curves and there’s no pixel distortion. You just need to deal with visually seeing the bezel.

It’s very common to slightly angle in your dual monitors if you like to be in the middle of both. The other dual monitor set up is to keep one straight across in front of you and use that as a primary monitor while your 2nd monitor is off to the side and angled in towards you. I prefer the 2nd option, but either one works.

Having 2x 1440p monitors offers more horizontal space than a single 4k monitor or most ultra wide monitors. Seriously, for editing video you can’t get enough horizontal space.

Vertical space helps too in this case and a 4k or 3440x1440 monitor would be better for that, but I wouldn’t want to make the other trade offs for this alone.

LCD manufacturers are notorious for borderline lying to their customers. Before that rant comes out, let’s first go over what determines quality and color accuracy.

TN panels tend to have the best response times and refresh rates. You’ll find most high end gaming monitors with 144hz have TN panels. They give a smoother feel to everything at that refresh rate, and you’ll notice less motion blur in fast action games.

IPS (In-Plane Switching) panels are often considered the best type of panels for accuracy. Their viewing angles are fantastic without any loss of image quality. They also have the highest color accuracy of the bunch. As a software developer who does design, you’ll likely want an IPS panel. All 3 monitors listed in this post have IPS panels.

The downside is they typically come at 60hz and have worse response times than TN panels. However for real life software development and movie watching this won’t be a big deal. Even gaming will be more than fine unless you’re playing games at a highly competitive level.

It’s also worth noting that not all IPS panels are created equal. There’s an issue with some of them that people have labeled as “IPS glow” which means there’s a noticeable amount of brightness at various parts of the display. It makes a non-uniform glowing effect.

All 3 monitors listed in this post have very even lighting, at least the ones I’ve used personally. There’s always a potential for a defect, fortunately Amazon’s return policy is very generous if you happen to get a defective unit but that should be very rare.

Now, back to the rant about LCD manufacturers. Not only have they been caught doing price colluding but they go as far as releasing early versions of their monitors to review sites with IPS panels, but then go ahead and sell cheaper TN panels to the general public with the same exact model number.

If you want to research this on your own, go check out this useful explanation of what Chroma 4:4:4 means on Youtube. It’s a bit too much in depth for this article, but still important.

The refresh rate controls how many frames per second your screen can render. It’s measured in hertz, and standard values you’ll see out in the wild are 60hz, 120hz and 144hz. Anything less than 60hz for day to day computer use is unacceptable.

TV and movies can get by with less due to frame blending tricks in films but that tactic doesn’t work for when you’re looking at a monitor that’s rendering an application running on some operating system.

For software development and occasional gaming 60hz is fine. You will notice a nice buttery smoothness at 120hz and 144hz but if you’re just moving 2D windows around all day it’s not really worth the trade off of losing an IPS panel, since most 144hz monitors are TN panels aimed towards competitive gamers.

There’s 2 things to think about when it comes to refresh rates:You can’t always trust LCD manufactures with refresh rate too because they will list 120hz on a 4k monitor when in fact the monitor itself runs at 30hz or 60hz at 4k resolutions but 120hz if you down scale it to 1080p. LCD manufacturers love tricking the uninformed.

So this is where things get interesting. Input lag is much different than what most LCD manufacturers list on their spec sheets. They often list things like refresh rate and response times like 4ms or 2ms GTG (grey to grey), but both things are different than input lag.

Input lag is the amount of time it takes for the monitor to render your input which can then be perceived by your eyeballs. Meaning, if you move your mouse, it will take X number of milliseconds for you to see the cursor move.

I’m really sensitive to input lag for some reason. I highly recommend getting a monitor with around 20ms or less input lag or you may notice it to the point where it distracts you.

The Dell UltraSharp U2515H I’m using has about 13ms of input lag which is very low. For comparison, a lot of monitors have over 50ms of input lag which I think anyone would notice.

The ViewSonic VG2455-2K doesn’t have any recorded input lag figures on various review sites that I could find but very similar models have about 15ms. I don’t notice any delay whatsoever compared to either Dell monitors listed above.

For example my 2nd 1080p monitor has a crappy plastic stand and I would love to orient it vertically but I can’t unless I bought a custom arm stand and mounted it to my wall.

Dell is famous for having great stands, but other manufacturers have nice stands as well. Of course, don’t let a bad stand stop you from getting an excellent monitor because in the end, you can always use a custom stand if you must.

All 3 monitors listed in this post have great stands. You can pitch the monitor back a few degrees, angle it to the left or right, adjust the height and also adjust the orientation from horizontal to vertical.

So, now you have narrowed down your selection of monitors down to perhaps 2 or 3. The next step is to head over to a place like Amazon and start analyzing user reviews.

You can’t just blindly look at the star rating because sometimes dates are very important. For example, imagine the scenario where a manufacturer tweaks something in one of their models. If they released a batch early on in the year and it has a defect (say poor back light bleeding), you may end up finding a cluster of reviews that mention that, but they might all be around a certain time frame.

A general process for evaluating reviews would be to ensure that a majority of the reviews are 5 stars. Then carefully look at the 1-2 star reviews and see if you can identify a timing pattern. This method works well. Imagine if you just bought a brand new monitor and it had a defect. You would for sure review it shortly after receiving it.

Lastly, don’t be afraid of a small minority of negative reviews. All products are going to have people like this. Don’t let a few negative Nancy’s talk you out of a great monitor. You’ve done your research, they haven’t.

I think realistically, having 1x or 2x 1440p monitors is going to offer you a really good development experience. You’ll have plenty of room to get work done and you won’t have to squint to read text since by having read this article, you know how to measure what PPI will be good for you.

I’m ridiculously happy with the new monitor and I think the Dell UltraSharp U2515H is one of the best monitors around for programming and general usage going by its specs and price.

And thankfully in 2020 we have the Dell U2518D as a worthy successor and alternative – although it’s been out for a couple of years, but that’s good because it has had time to build up a positive track record.

In 2021 and beyond there’s still the above monitors if you can find them at a reasonable price. There’s also the ViewSonic VG2455-2K which is a worthy candidate too.

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A monitor is key. You’ll use it hour after hour, day after day, year after year. Monitors even have the audacity to resist obsolescence, so the monitor you buy today might be the one you’re still using in a decade. (My editor and I both have decade-old Dell U2412 monitors that are still going strong.)

It’s an important decision, but not a difficult one, as there are dozens of great monitors to choose from. This guide will help you pick the best for your home office.

I’ve reviewed monitors and laptop displays for over a decade. While different monitors suit different owners, I believe the idealhome office monitor has a 27-inch screen and 4K resolution. It uses an IPS panel, reaches a brightness of at least 250 nits, and can display 99 percent of the sRGB color gamut. Around back you’ll find a USB-C port that can deliver enough power to charge a laptop, along with HDMI and DisplayPort, plus an ergonomic stand that can adjust for height and attaches to a VESA mount.

Finding a monitor that ticks most of these boxes won’t be too difficult. LG’s UltraFine line, Dell’s USB-C hub monitors, BenQ’s PD2720U and PD2725U, and HP’s U28 can check them all. Only the price may be higher than you hope; snagging any of the above will cost at least $450.

But like I said, different monitors suit different owners. These monitors are ideal for work, but they’re expensive. They also lack features you’ll crave when it’s time to clock out and fire up a round of Valorant. This guide will help you navigate the monitor world’s many caveats and find one that’s a fit for you.

Most standard-width monitors come in one of three sizes: 24-inch, 27-inch, and 32-inch. Bigger is not necessarily better. A large display may look more impressive, but I find it uncomfortable when placed close to my eyes. There are also practical considerations like perceived pixel density. A big monitor will look fuzzier than a smaller monitor of the same resolution unless you move it further away — which isn’t always an option.

That’s why a 27-inch monitor is my go-to recommendation. It’s large enough to look impressive on a typical home office desk but isn’t excessive. In my experience, 32-inch monitors should be reserved for unusually large and deep desks, or corner setups where it’s possible to position the display around four feet away from your face. This is especially true for 32-inch monitors with a resolution below 4K, which look grainy to me at a distance of three feet.

For the same reasons, 24-inch monitors work better if you have a small, slim desk (say, around 24 inches deep or less) or otherwise bring the monitor closer to your face. A 24-inch monitor may sound small, but it’ll look reasonably large because it’s so close. They’re also a great way to save money. You can buy a decent all-around monitor like the HP 24mh for less than $200. It won’t wow you, but it works in a pinch.

You can be creative with size if you mount a VESA-compatible monitor to an arm, as this will let you move it to your preference (including the proper ergonomic height). If you’re just doing it to move a large monitor farther away, though, give it a second thought. Why spend more for a larger monitor, and a monitor arm to position it farther away, instead of buying a smaller display to start?

If you’re looking to stretch more screen across your field of view for multitasking, you might consider an ultrawide monitor instead. There, I think the choice is clear: go for a 34-incher.

Smaller models lack vertical space. A 29-inch ultrawide has less vertical display space than a 24-inch widescreen. Larger models generally have the opposite problem. Many are too big for a typical home office desk, not only because of their screen size, but because of the large stands used to stabilize them (some are several feet wide). You might need to rearrange your desk around a 38-inch or 43-inch monitor or add a top-tier monitor arm to make it work.

What about super-ultrawides, like the 49-inch Samsung Odyssey G9 series? These monitors can offer a commanding view and are a good alternative to a double or triple monitor setup but, like big ultrawides, you’ll need to build your setup around it.

Resolution is key. A higher resolution means more pixels, and more pixels means a sharper, crisper image. More pixels also adds flexibility. You can use scaling features in Windows and MacOS to increase content size for readability, or crank it down to show more content at once.

4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160) looks fantastic and is widely available on 27-inch and 32-inch displays. It’s not that expensive, either. Budget 4K 27-inch monitors like the Dell S2721QS can get you 4K for $350 or less.

With that said, settling for 1440p (2,560 x 1,440) can save money. It’s a bit disappointing on a 32-inch display, unless you move it far away, but it’s workable. A 27-inch 1440p display can look reasonably sharp and is a good choice if you personally don’t care about having the sharpest picture possible.

You should probably avoid 1080p (1,920 x 1,080) in a 27-inch or 32-inch monitor, however. It will look grainy and pixelated. Small fonts and interface elements (such as buttons) can become difficult to see.

Twenty-four-inch monitors are a different story; 4K is rare, and 1440p is often the premium option. In fact, most monitors of this size are 1080p. It’s not ideal but it’s acceptable, as decreasing size increases pixel density. A 24-inch 1080p monitor is noticeably sharper than a 27-inch 1080p monitor.

Want a 34-inch ultrawide? Look for 3,440 x 1,440 resolution. This leads to a pixel density nearly identical to a 27-inch 1440p monitor (about 109 pixels per inch). A handful of super-budget ultrawides use 2,560 x 1,080 resolution which, like 1080p on a large monitor, isn’t pleasant. LG’s 5K Ultrawide line is the sole option if you want 4K-equivalent pixel density in a 34-inch ultrawide, but you’ll typically pay $1,500 or more. LG’s well-reviewed 38-inch with 3,840 x 1,600 resolution costs even more at $1,600 and, though it might offer more screen, is equal in pixel density to a 3,440 x 1,440 ultrawide.

Most monitors have HDMI and DisplayPort. There’s no great reason to prefer one over the other for remote work. The huge majority of monitors sold today offer both, so the port you use will likely come down to what’s available on your PC.

What about HDMI 2.1? It’s not necessary for remote work, and productivity monitors with HDMI 2.1 aren’t yet a thing. Be warned that HDMI 2.1 could get messy in 2022 due to the standard’s lax certification. It’s key only if you want to connect a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X game console.

If you’ve got extra cash to spend, the galaxy-brain move is to ignore HDMI and DisplayPort entirely and leap to USB-C and/or Thunderbolt. USB-C and Thunderbolt are great because they allow a single-cable solution for modern laptops that support the standard. You can plug in the laptop and charge it from the monitor while sending video to the monitor simultaneously. The best USB-C monitors even act as a hub with multiple extra ports like USB-A, USB-C, and ethernet.

Just make sure you check the fine print. Look for USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and Power Delivery, or Thunderbolt with Power Delivery (the standard has DisplayPort baked in). Those sorts of USB-C ports aren’t exactly uncommon on laptops: even the modest ThinkPad E545 I bought a few years back includes them.

But you’ll also need to make sure the monitor you buy provides enough electricity. Power Delivery currently maxes out at 100 watts, so even the most powerful monitors can’t fully power laptops like a top-spec Razer Blade or high-end MacBook Pro 16, but a monitor that delivers 60 watts or even 45 watts might be enough if you have a thin-and-light laptop like a Dell XPS 13 or MacBook Air. The higher the better, but if the USB-C monitor doesn’t deliver as much power as your laptop’s power brick, your battery might only charge when it’s idle or even powered off.

USB-C monitors are also expensive. The benefits often add several hundred dollars to the price when compared to an otherwise similar monitor that lacks USB-C. It’s worth the money, though: in 2019, I purchased a Viewsonic VG2455-2K for a sweet one-cable connection to USB-C capable laptops, and find it ideal for swiftly connecting my laptop to a larger screen.

Any monitor worth your attention will have a stand that at least adjusts for height, usually along a range from 100 to 150 millimeters. Sure, you can stack it on books or buy a plastic riser, but that’s added hassle and clutter.

Many monitors also adjust for tilt and swivel, and some pivot 90 degrees into portrait orientation. That can be particularly handy when a monitor is used as a second display. For example, you could swivel a monitor to directly face you while doing detailed work, like editing a photo, and swing it away when it’s just displaying Slack or Discord. Tilt is similar but on the vertical axis, and especially handy if you have a standing desk, as you may need to tilt the monitor up while the desk is standing.

But if your monitor doesn’t have enough range of motion, or you want to free up space on your desk, you could instead add a VESA-compatible monitor arm to get it off the ground. Look for monitors with a 100mm x 100mm VESA spacing pattern. This is an extremely common feature found in all but the most affordable monitors, and you only need to worry about the 100mm spacing pattern. Others exist, but are relevant to other types of displays (like televisions).

A monitor arm is rarely a necessity, but it’s great for multi-monitor setups that place secondary displays around and above your main monitor, or for positioning an especially large and bulky monitor. Unfortunately, monitor arms can also be a bit expensive. A basic monitor arm off Amazon can run $30 to $50, but I’ve been burnt on their quality in the past. A good arm like those from Jarvis or Ergotron will start around $130.

Larger, heavier monitors will need a beefier, more expensive arm: the model Ergotron recommends for the 49-inch Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 is currently $379 (and, at the time I wrote this, sold out!)

Color accuracy is critical to image quality. An inaccurate monitor will look unnatural, flat, and dull, with strange swings in quality depending on what you’re viewing and the precise colors that are inaccurate (it’s common for monitors to be less accurate in blue or cyan than other colors, for example). A monitor with terrible color will disappoint you every time you sit down to use it.

The good news? Accuracy is low-key the greatest advancement in monitors over the last decade. Noticeably inaccurate displays were common when I began testing monitors well over a decade ago. Today, most midrange monitors have reasonable accuracy straight out of the box.

Still, there is a difference between midrange and premium monitors. Those who want great color accuracy should look for a “factory calibrated” monitor, which typically includes a calibration report in the box. This doesn’t guarantee color accuracy is perfect, but it at least shows the company put the monitor through an extra layer of quality assurance. Also check reviewers to see if the monitor lives up to its claims.

Color gamut, which describes the spectrum of colors a monitor can display, is also good enough on most monitors. The majority of content on a computer targets a color gamut called sRGB. Modern monitors display at least 95 percent of this gamut, and many display it all. Other gamuts also exist. DCI-P3 is the most advertised, though you may see Rec.709 or Adobe RGB as well. These gamuts are important if your work requires them, though if that’s the case, I’m guessing you know that. As with color accuracy, buyers concerned about gamut should read reviews to verify a monitor lives up to its claims.

Odds are your home office has some form of light control, whether it’s shades or simply a room that’s naturally a bit dim. The ideal brightness will vary based on the lighting in your home office, but a monitor’s brightness rarely needs to exceed 200 nits. In fact, most monitor calibration tools (like a SpyderX Elite I use) have a built-in luminance sensor used to recommend a brightness based on ambient light. I’ve never seen it recommend more than 200 nits.

That’s not a big ask, but budget monitors can’t always manage it, so be careful if you’re shopping on a tight budget. Manufacturers also tend to choose a best-case scenario when quoting brightness, so the listed brightness may not always be available. Buy a monitor that promises a maximum brightness of at least 250 nits (aka cd/m2).

High Dynamic Range, aka HDR, is a different story. This standard supports a way higher range of luminosity than SDR. HDR10, the most common standard, technically allows for a peak brightness up to 10,000 nits. Brightness does matter for HDR because the content includes additional luminance data that only HDR-compatible displays can show.

If you are looking for an HDR monitor, DisplayHDR certification labels could help, but know that “peak luminance” means “a tiny region on screen can get that bright,” and DisplayHDR 400 is barely HDR at all. Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge

However, HDR is a bit of a minefield on the PC and can be counterproductive for work. Turning on HDR in Windows will often block a number of monitor controls you may need, including brightness, color gamut, and color temperature settings. The resulting image can appear eye-searingly bright and you’ll have less leeway to adjust it to your preferences.

Also, most content viewed in Windows or MacOS is not designed for HDR. You can still view it, but the result will be less accurate than if you stuck with SDR.

Entertainment and gaming is where HDR redeems itself. Most streaming platforms now offer a method for viewing HDR content on a PC and many new 3D games include HDR support. Windows 11 even has an auto-HDR feature that can add HDR to games that don’t officially support it. This makes HDR a nice addition to a monitor that you’ll use for work and play — though I’d recommend leaving HDR off until you clock out.

Nearly all monitors sold today use an LCD panel based on one of three technologies: twisted nematic (TN), in-plane switching (IPS), and vertical alignment (VA).

The least expensive monitors often use a TN panel. Avoid them. TN panel monitors will display an image, but that’s about it. They look achingly dull next to IPS and have astoundingly bad viewing angles.

A majority of monitors use IPS. Monitors based on IPS have very accurate color and can support a wide color gamut at a reasonable price. IPS struggles with dark scenes, however, because it can’t achieve a convincing shade of black. This is the dreaded “IPS glow” you may have heard of, which can look unappealing when watching movies or playing games. However, gamers still enjoy IPS monitors because some IPS panels have low response times and very high refresh rates.

What about VA? This panel type has the best contrast ratio and dark scene performance of the three, which makes VA a great go-to choice for entertainment and gaming. This is especially true of high-quality, modern VA panels, which have mostly solved the color accuracy and motion smearing issues of some past VA monitors.

The choice between IPS and VA has no clear answer, as both have their perks. When it comes to work, though, you may find the choice is made for you. A huge majority of productivity monitors use an IPS panel. VA is an option, but you’ll want to lean your search toward gaming monitors if you crave the high contrast a quality VA panel can provide.

I feel it’s nice to have, but far down on the list of features you need to consider. Also, you probably shouldn’t pay extra for a 75Hz monitor — it’s not much gain over 60Hz.

High-refresh gaming displays aren’t especially expensive, with 24-inch, 144Hz models sold for as little as $200. But you’ll typically trade something away for refresh rate: that $200 monitor might use an iffy TN panel (rather than IPS or VA) or feature a low resolution. It’s possible to snag a 4K display for a reasonable sum, or one with a high refresh rate, but going for 4K at 144Hz means looking at monitors that cost as much as big televisions.

Also, USB-C with Power Delivery is rarely found in gaming monitors, and I haven’t seen a USB-C gaming monitor that doubles as a USB-C hub. That could be an issue if your work setup involves a lot of wired peripherals.

Mini LED adds a twist. The fundamentals remain similar, but the backlight is divided into hundreds of zones that can turn on and off independently. This allows extra brightness but also convincing contrast in shadowy scenes. Mini LED is also outstanding for HDR movies and games, where its class-leading brightness provides an edge.

OLED? It flips the table, using an array of organic elements that create their own light. This provides pixel-level lighting control for truly unparalleled contrast you have to see to believe. OLED is also susceptible to burn-in, though there are ways to mitigate it from affecting a display prematurely.

Neither of these are necessary for working from home, and you’ll likely have to spend thousands to snag a monitor with either tech. Alternatively, you could buy a television with Mini LED or OLED technology, but televisions still have their downsides as monitors.

If you demand the very best from a monitor, however, I recommend Mini LED. OLED’s burn-in worries are legitimate on the PC which, compared to a television, will display static images more frequently. Mini LED can’t match OLED’s contrast, but it’s still a major upgrade over a backlit LCD screen. There’s also the emerging category of quantum dot OLED (QD-OLED) screens, but manufacturers haven’t announced prices for those yet.

Webcams are small, easy to move, and can be used with multiple devices. Attaching a webcam to a monitor removes these perks. It also means you can’t upgrade your webcam in the future; you’ll have to replace the entire monitor.