Best Gaming Monitor for 2025
For gamers looking to get the best value for their money, the trick to finding the right gaming monitor is getting enough performance, display area, contrast, and color to play games at an affordable price without sacrificing too much in other areas. Here’s our expert advice on what to consider to get the best gaming monitor for your money.
Size
All things being equal, if you have the space and budget, bigger is almost always better. Screen size labeling is based on diagonal measurement: This made it easier to compare monitor sizes when almost all screens had the same aspect ratio – essentially the proportions of the screen rectangle, which is the ratio of horizontal to vertical pixels. Wide and ultra-wide screens on desktops and newer aspect ratios on laptops (such as 3:2 or 16:10) make comparisons between sizes a little more difficult. You may need to consider the aspect ratios supported by your favorite games. If they only offer 16:9 options, setting them up for a 21:9, 24:10, or 32:9 widescreen monitor can be boring and frustrating; you may also be able to save money.
If you remember your geometry and algebra, you can calculate the width and height of the screen if you also know the aspect ratio. (Because width/height = aspect ratio and width² + height² = diagonal²) The further the aspect ratio is from 1:1, the wider the screen and the more sideways it will be – and therefore in your peripheral vision if you’re sitting close. It will also allow you to determine the physical dimensions of the screen, including width, to ensure it will fit in the allocated space.
The DPI calculator can do the math for you, but keep in mind that the numbers only represent panel size, not screen size, which includes bezels and stand. It also doesn’t take into account curved displays, which tend to have smaller horizontal dimensions than their flat-screen equivalent.
Resolution
Resolution, or the number of vertical and horizontal pixels that make up the image, is inseparable from screen size when choosing a monitor. What you really want to optimize is pixel density, the number of pixels per inch that the screen can display, because this is what primarily determines how sharp the screen is as well as how large interface elements, such as icons and text, can appear. If you’re playing with a controller at farther distances than if you were sitting at a desk, this can be critical. For example, I found that I couldn’t read text well enough to even follow a 1440p tutorial on a 32-inch monitor from more than about 4 feet away.
Standard resolutions with a 16:9 aspect ratio include 4K UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels), QHD (Quad HD, 2560 x 1440 pixels), and FHD (Full HD, 1920 x 1080 pixels): It’s best to look at the numbers rather than the alphabet soup, because when you get to variants like UWQHD, they can get incredibly ambiguous. When you see references to “1080p” or “1440p”, this is shorthand for vertical resolution. Examples of widescreen resolutions, which you’ll tend to see on curved displays 34 inches and above, include 3440 x 1440 pixels (21:9) and 5120 x 1440 pixels (32:9).
On a 27-inch screen, 1920 x 1080 has a pixel density of 81.59 ppi. On a 24-inch screen, 1080p is 91.79 ppi. Because higher density is better (to a point), FHD will look better on a smaller screen. It also depends on your vision: for me, too low a resolution and I can see the pixel grid and at a little better than that I only see slots on the small serif type. So “optimal” really depends on what you’re looking at and your personal preferences. My preference for functional and very detailed simulations, games with a lot of text, etc. is at least 100 ppi; If you’re moving so fast that you don’t have time to stop and photograph the flowers, you can probably go down to 90 ppi. Again, the DPI calculator can do the math for you. (A related specification is dot pitch, the size of the space between the centers of pixels, which is just the inverse of pixel density. For this, smaller is better.)
Because of how Windows (and macOS) works, it’s always best to have the highest resolution possible: you can always change settings to enlarge elements that are too small on a high-res screen and change settings to increase the frame rate, but you can’t enlarge elements that are too large on a low-res screen.
Screen type
OLED or QD-OLED monitors generally have the best contrast, color, and pixel refresh speeds, although they can exhibit artifacts on text because the one-pixel, one-color structure of an OLED display lacks antialiasing (essentially blurring character edges) as well as the filter array technologies (three-primary, one-pixel, one-backlight) used by other panel types. IPS displays with LED backlighting are cheaper but still good, and if they use Samsung’s Quantum Dot technology, they have better colors than without.
Refresh rate
Refresh rate is the number of times per second (in Hertz or Hz) that the display can update and can produce unwanted artifacts such as blurring, tearing, and stuttering that occur when there is a difference between the speed at which the graphics card powers the display and the speed at which the display updates. Pixel response, also known as motion picture response time or gray-to-gray time (although these two are not the same thing), is the rate at which an individual pixel can change state from black to white or gray to gray (the most commonly provided specification). This is measured in milliseconds. Faster is better, and you generally want a maximum of 5ms or less GtG for all but competitive games. Monitors sometimes offer a motion blur reduction mode, which performs pixel-based technological sleight of hand to reduce perceived blur. Your mileage may vary depending on these.
Refresh rate and pixel response time are inextricably linked to each other and inextricably linked to your computer’s gaming performance: a screen with a fast refresh rate will have fast pixel response unless something is seriously wrong. Both specifications are sometimes provided in overclocked mode. Current “stratospheric” refresh rates range from 360Hz to 480Hz, primarily aimed at competitive gaming. Most gamers should be happy with 120Hz to 240Hz. You can find everything you ever wanted to know about the subject and more at Blur Busters.
Color
The greater the color gamut covered by the screen, the better. At a minimum, you want 100% sRGB, but 90% or higher P3 (also known as DCI-P3) is best, as it offers more colors. Look for specific gamut coverage percentages rather than terms like “1 billion colors,” which are essentially meaningless.
HDR
High dynamic range refers to scenes rendered with brighter highlights, more detailed shadows, and a wider color gamut, for a more beautiful image. For gaming HDR, unlike TV HDR, this means more than just a prettier picture: the better you can see what’s hiding in bright and dark areas, the more likely you are to avoid hazards and spot clues and look much better than the black level boost settings a monitor may have.
Games used to also explicitly require HDR support, but Auto HDR in Xbox Series X/S and Windows 11 changes that: operating systems can automatically extend the brightness and color ranges of non-HDR games. It’s not the same as having a game that was rendered to use extended ranges, but it can give it a boost to make it better than it otherwise would be.
The HDR10 Plus Gaming standard, a variant of HDR10 Plus that has been available on TVs for some time, adds Source Side Tone Mapping, which adjusts the brightness range at the scene level based on data integrated by the game developer. HDR10 has a single range that should work for the entire game. monitors), as well as support for variable refresh rates in 4K at 120 Hz on consoles (still not implemented in the PS5 to date).
Price
Unless you can afford it, at least $300 (full price, no discount) for a current-gen model, closer to $600 minimum for an OLED screen and/or decent HDR.
