The festive season marks the end of the year and for many, a break before we dive into the surprises a new year brings with it. It also means that many people will be shopping for some new technology and if you’re in the market for a new monitor, you’re spoiled for choice.
Unfortunately, being spoiled for choice means that choosing a monitor is no longer as simple as deciding on a display size and choosing the cheapest option. In this modern era of technology there are so many features built into monitors the decision making process can seem like a hike up Mount Everest. Do you need HDR support? Is a higher refresh rate going to push my GPU too far? Is QHD the next best thing?
Today, with the help of AOC we’re going to explore some of the most important considerations you should make when deciding on what features you need in a monitor beyond the size and whether it’s curved or not.
Resolution
Perhaps the most important consideration is the resolution of your monitor. While 1080p monitors have been the gold standard for sometime now, there is a gradual movement toward 1440p (alternatively 2560x1440p or QHD) among gamers. This resolution offers up a substantial fidelity upgrade but running games at this resolution will push GPUs on the lower end slightly more. What is noteworthy is that you are able to scale the native resolution of the monitor down. This means you could use AOC’s CQ32G3SE and have the best that a QHD monitor has to offer including support for HDR 10 and FreeSync Premium and if you PC is straining, you can just scale back the resolution.
Refresh Rate
Depending on the genre of game you prefer, your refresh rate is going to be a deciding factor when choosing a new monitor. The CU34G2X from AOC sports a 144Hz refresh rate making it ideal for fast-paced games such as first-person shooters and racing games. However, if you need a higher refresh rate, the CQ27G3S boasts a figure of 165Hz and AOC’s PD27 series pushes that figure as high as 240Hz. The higher your frame rate, the smoother visuals will be while playing the game. Be sure to consider how much strain higher frame rates put on your GPU.
G-Sync or FreeSync?
Nobody likes screen tearing or input lag in their video games. For this reason AOC offers monitors with Nvidia’s G-Sync technology as well as monitors which support AMD FreeSync. Both of these solutions perform similarly although G-Sync monitors often run a higher premium. As FreeSync is open, you are likely to find more monitors with support for the standard and it is compatible with Nvidia GPUs. With that having been said, we recommend Nvidia users opt for a G-Sync monitor where possible to take full advantage of the solution. AOC’s 27G2 and 24G2 support G-Sync and FreeSync respectively.
HDR On
High Dynamic Range (HDR) has been a topic of discussion for some time now but with wider support featured in games, this is now a consideration worth considering.
In short, HDR offers greater contrast, a wider colour gamut, better luminance and as a result, a more vivid image. This standard is now better supported in Windows 11 and this is great news for gamers and content creators.
The AOC U28G2X is a 4K display with an IPS panel that has support for DisplayHDR 400 and has been certified by VESA. This means you can expect a massive visual improvement if you’re coming from a Standard Dynamic Range monitor. The U28G2X also covers 98 percent of the DCI-P3 gamut making it perfect for the gamer who is creating content as well.
All AOC monitors come with a four-year swap out warranty as well as a 30 day dead pixel policy where your monitor will be replaced if a pixel dies within 30 days.
There is an AOC monitor that matches your needs whether you’re simply looking for a resolution upgrade or you want to upgrade to something more impressive such as the U28G2X. To find out more about AOC monitors head to your favourite retailer and search “AOC”.
