The best monitor for your gaming PC can dramatically improve your experience, whether you’re a competitive gamer or playing solo. High-end gaming monitors outperform regular PC monitors, optimizing and improving every frame of your gaming sessions. 

Picking the right gaming PC monitor requires a little technical knowledge. In this gaming monitor guide, we’ll teach you about refresh rates, input latencies, and resolutions, and help you purchase the best new gaming monitor for your needs. 
 

What is a gaming monitor?

A gaming monitor is like a regular PC monitor that includes extra features that optimize it for playing video games. 
 

Gaming monitor versus regular monitor: What’s the difference?

While you can play games using a regular monitor, gaming monitors tend to have high refresh rates, lower input latency (or the lag between when you press a button and something happens onscreen), and even hardware that works directly with your graphics processing unit (GPU).
 

What to look for in a gaming monitor

In this section, we’ll talk about some common gaming monitor features and explain how they relate to your gaming experiences.
 

Resolution

Your gaming monitor’s resolution determines how sharp and clear your image appears on screen. Monitors have physical resolution limits—a finite number of built-in pixels to display an image. 

Your graphics card's capabilities affect your gaming monitor choice. In short, the greater a monitor’s default resolution, the more powerful your GPU must be to take advantage of its full capabilities. That said, your 4K monitor will happily display 1080p content, and you’ll get the resolution benefit outside of gaming, so it might still make sense to buy a 4K monitor even if you don't have a PC that can play games at native 4K. 

The baseline resolution for modern gaming monitors is 1080p. It’s commonly used for competitive gaming at many eSports tournaments and events. 1080p monitors are less expensive than their higher-resolution counterparts. 1440p (sometimes known as 2K) is the next step up. After that, you’re looking at a 2160p (shorthanded as 4K) monitor. 

If you’re going to invest in a 4K gaming monitor, consider those with High-Dynamic Range (HDR). In broad strokes, HDR monitors are capable of producing both brighter and darker images than their SDR (standard dynamic range) counterparts. 

8K monitors exist, but they’re on the high end of the high end and require cutting-edge GPU power to drive natively. 

Resolution can also be affected by aspect ratio. Ultrawide gaming monitors, for example, have different resolutions than those with a standard 16:9 aspect ratio. We’ll talk more about that in detail below. 
 

Refresh rate (Hz)

A gaming monitor’s refresh rate determines how many times per second a new image is displayed. A refresh rate of 30 Hz means that your monitor refreshes the screen 30 times every second. 

Higher refresh rates make games feel smoother. They’re helpful for fast-paced games like first-person shooters, racing games, and competitive esports titles. Conversely, low refresh rates can make games look choppy. 

Many standard PC monitors target 60 Hz, but some may even be as low as 30Hz, making them less than ideal for gaming applications. A refresh rate of 60Hz is a solid baseline for a gaming monitor. However, many gaming monitors have refresh rates of 144 Hz or more. 
 

Screen size and pixel density (PPI)

Pixels are the tiny dots that, combined, create the image on your gaming monitor. The more pixels per inch (PPI), the sharper and more detailed the images on your screen look. If your PPI is low, your display may look grainy or blurry. 

Your PPI is tied to the size of your gaming monitor and its resolution. For instance, if you have a 24-inch monitor with a resolution of 1080p, you’ll have about 90 PPI. If the resolution is 1440p at 27 inches, you’ll have around 122 PPI. 
 

Aspect ratio

Your gaming monitor’s aspect ratio is determined by the ratio between your screen’s width and height. 

The most common aspect ratio is 16:9. That’s the same aspect ratio as a modern widescreen TV. Monitors in this class have native resolutions of 1920 x 1080 for 1080p, 2560 x 1440 for 1440p (or 2K), and 3840x2160 for 4K. 

If you play things like RPGs and racing games, consider an ultrawide monitor, which is optionally curved. They offer a wider native field of view (FOV). Their aspect ratio is often 21:9 with native resolutions of 2560 x 1440 and 3440 x 1440. 

Beyond that, you can find 32:9 ultrawide gaming monitors with native resolutions of 5120 x 1440 and 7680 x 2160. These monitors tend to be significantly more expensive and require high-end systems to power at their full potential. They’re also huge. A current ultrawide gaming monitor from a reputable brand has a native resolution of 7680 x 2160 and measures 57” diagonally. 
 

Color, High-Dynamic Range (HDR), and brightness

Color gamut describes the range of colors that a monitor can display. Gaming monitors often use the sRGB (standard RGB) colorspace. It’s a safe assumption that games target sRGB. HDR-capable monitors use the DCI-P3 and the Rec. 2020 specs. 

HDR technology in a gaming monitor is a premium feature that significantly expands peak brightness (the brightest areas on your screen) and deep blacks (or shadow detail). If you’re opting to purchase and use an HDR monitor, you’ll want to make sure it has strong brightness capabilities to get the most out of its color range and resolutions. Your monitor’s brightness is measured in nits. The more nits, the brighter your monitor can be. 
 

Panel type

Typically there are two panel types that are common among gaming monitor options. IPS (In-Plane Switching) and TN (Twisted Nematic) are both popular options. VA (Vertical Alignment) and OLED (Organic LED) are also available. We’ll explain their pros and cons below. 

IPS (In-Plane Switching)

• Pros: Good with sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts, wide viewing angles, solid response times, high refresh rates.
• Cons: Less contrast than VA panels, blacks aren’t as deep as VA and OLED monitors.

The most common gaming monitor panels are IPS. They offer a good balance of colors, refresh rates, and overall response times as well as more dynamic viewing angles than TN and VA panels. They offer a balanced gaming experience. 

TN (Twisted Nematic)

• Pros: Fast response times, high refresh rates, good for players who value response time over visual quality.
• Cons: Weaker color gamut, poor viewing angles.

If you want to prioritize response time, you may opt for a TN gaming monitor. However, the viewing angles on a TN panel are limited, meaning moving your head can affect the color and quality of the image you’re seeing.

VA (Vertical Alignment)

• Pros: Deeper blacks, high contrast ratios, works well with HDR games.
• Cons: Slow refresh rates can cause ghosting, color gamut not as good as IPS panels.

VA panels have high contrast ratios and some of the deepest blacks and most vibrant colors. That said, VA panels have a slower pixel response rate than IPS or TN, which can result in ghosting when traces of previous frames remain visible longer than intended. 

OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode)

• Pros: Vibrant colors, deep blacks, excellent refresh rates and HDR performance.
• Cons: Expensive, risk of screen burn-in.

OLED panels’ biggest strengths are excellent color reproduction, high contrast, near-instantaneous response times, and deep black levels. 

At the moment, though, OLED gaming monitors are more expensive than alternative technologies. They also carry some risk of image burn-in, which can occur when a monitor displays static images (like in-game HUDs and taskbars) for prolonged periods. Modern OLED panel manufacturers understand this, and some monitors are designed to mitigate this risk.  
 

Response time

Your gaming monitor’s response time determines the speed at which it can change the color of its pixels. 

A lower response time produces smoother motion, reduces ghosting, and increases clarity in fast-moving images—all advantages when gaming. Monitors with higher response times produce what look like blurrier images and are more prone to ghosting. 

A monitor’s response time is measured in milliseconds (ms). Opinions vary, but a response time of 1 - 3 ms provides a smooth gaming experience. Above that, and you’re entering ghosting territory. 

Ultra-fast response times are in the realm of 1 ms or less, which encompasses most OLED displays. These produce sharp moving images and less motion blur than higher values. TN monitors also have low response times, as we wrote above, but the tradeoff is that you’ll sacrifice color range and viewing angle.
 

Premium Features

Depending on the make and model of your gaming monitor, it may come with some proprietary or premium features. Many of these improve your gaming monitor’s overall performance. Let’s take a look at some of the more common premium gaming monitor features.
 

Adaptive sync

When your monitor’s refresh rate and your GPU frame rate are out of sync, it can create problems like input latency and screen tearing or stuttering. A PC gaming monitor with adaptive sync technology can communicate with your GPU and adjust its refresh rates on the fly, decreasing the potential for such problems. 

Unlike the long-running V-Sync technology, which introduces the potential for input lag, adaptive sync technologies reduce tearing without compromising the performance of your game.

Two of the most common types of adaptive syncs available are Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync. 
 

Connection ports

HDMI 2.1 is necessary for uncompressed 4K 120 Hz video. If you want a higher refresh rate, consider DisplayPort 1.4 or 2.1. 
 

Explore more resources from the Epic Games Store

Now that you’re an expert on refresh rates, resolutions, color gamuts, panel types, and everything in between, you’re ready to get out there and find the perfect gaming monitor for your PC. Be sure to browse our extensive catalog of games to discover new titles and see how they look on your new gaming monitor, and check out the Epic Games Store's news page to catch up on the latest from all of your favorite developers about all of your favorite games.