What is the absolute best monitor for gaming right now? I've been away for a long time...

[RaZoRbLaDeD]

I have been out of the game for a very long time now and have recently gotten back into PC gaming due to Diablo 2 coming out soon...the choices are overwhelming to say the least. I basically just want an awesome monitor for gaming - probably something 1440p for quickness. I was thinking maybe a Samsung Odyssey? I read some bad things about it right as I was about to order though.

Money is no issue, I can get a monitor for $500 or $2500, as long as its amazing and I wont have buyers remorse.

Im going to be using a 3090 if it matters.


Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[pippenainteasy]

I'm guessing an OLED if you don't care about price and can chuck the monitor every 6-8 months for a new one once burn in settles in.

 

[Epos7]

I'm guessing an OLED if you don't care about price and can chuck the monitor every 6-8 months for a new one once burn in settles in.

I game frequently on my 2 year old OLED and have no burn it. It's not my primary display however. TV/Movie/Gaming only.

 

[Seyumi]

Very subjective question/subject. But IMO these are the 2 "absolute best" monitors you can possibly buy today in 2021:

-LG OLED C1 48" ($1,300)
-4K 120hz 10-bit color
-G-Sync Compatible VRR
-HDMI 2.1 for next-gen consoles
-Best blacks in the world due to OLED
-Best response times in the world due to OLED
-Best contrast in the world due to OLED
-Best picture quality in the world due to OLED
-Semi-glossy screen = everything "pops" more (may be bad for bright environments though)
-Decent HDR performance (roughly ~800 nits)
-Can use a receiver for your audio and not be stuck with crappy PC "gamer" speakers or headsets (proper HDMI 2.1 receivers are now available as of this month - I have one with no issues).
-Readily available to buy any place at any time
-Has 4.8 out of 5 star reviews on Amazon (698 and counting)
-Has built in smart apps & features (if you even care about those things)
-Potential permanent burn-in after a few years (Been using my 2019 OLED for a few years now and have no dramatic burn in)
-Probably a bit too big for most peoples desks
-No tilt/swivel/height adjustments
-Not the best text clarity in the world due to pixel structure
-Need to babysit the screen to keep it alive as long as possible (black wallpaper, turn off when not in use, avoid static images, etc.) - aka annoying
-Not great for office use, automatic backlight limiter likes to kick in a lot so lots of varying degrees of automatic brightness adjustments when doing office work (can reduce a bit by reducing brightness and/or contrast)
-You'd only get the full use out of this monitor with a current gen HDMI 2.1 graphics card (like the RTX 3090 you said you'll be getting). Stuck with 60hz on anything RTX 2080ti and older.

-Asus ROG PG32UQX ($3,000)
-4K 120hz 10-bit color (can do 144hz, but believe you got to drop from 10-bit to 8-bit color)
-Best HDR performance you can buy on a monitor today (~1400 nits - out beats the OLED)
-More realistic 32" desktop size
-Full G-Sync ultimate, so VRR range extends all the down to 1hz (unlike 24hz on the OLED)
-Better matte screen for high-lighted environments
-Little OLED screen on the bezel where maybe you can put a FPS counter instead of it on your gameplay screen (handy IMO)
-Believe is more color-accurate than the OLED for critical office/professional type work
-Has tilt/swivel/height adjustments, unlike the OLED
-Has displayport unlike the OLED, so not confined to only using a current-gen HDMI 2.1 GPU
-Very hard to find/buy, most likely have to pay 3rd party scalper prices you want one now
-Only has 3.2 out of 5 star reviews on Amazon (only 24 reviews though) - isn't even listed on Newegg anymore
-"Blooming" images due to the variable backlight in HDR (night or star scenes look horrible). White cursor on a dark background having a big cloud around it, etc.
-Potential temporary screen retention for static items on the screen too long
-Doesn't have the best response times, even for a gaming monitor
-Lacks HDMI 2.1 - so don't bother using with next-gen consoles
-Lots of QC issues it seems from original owners
-Has RGB? lol

There's no such thing as a perfect monitor. Our [H]ardcore people on this forum own both monitors and use for different case scenarios. I personally prefer the OLED since I'm more of an "immersion" gamer versus some FPS competitive gamer (I only play simulator games, RPGs, RTS's, action/adventure games, etc.) Your also more limited on the ROG monitor, since one of its best features is only supported on a fraction of modern video games (HDR).

I may have missed something or misspoke, but this was my "napkin" math.

This site is also pretty helpful:

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/best/monitors

 

[Wiz33]

What size?

 

[T_A]

There's no such thing as simply 'Gaming' , if you play FPS you would want a different monitor than if you play racing or 4X or mainly console for example

 

[LukeTbk]

The 3090 is a clue that it will be pc gaming and we can suppose extremelly demanding to run 3d games.

 

[pippenainteasy]

I game frequently on my 2 year old OLED and have no burn it. It's not my primary display however. TV/Movie/Gaming only.

Which is not the OPs use case, but ok, cool?

 

[SeymourGore]

One thing to note: if the Odyssey you're looking at was the 32:9 variant of it to play Diablo2, Blizzard announced that Diablo2 remastered was no longer going to support ultrawide. Big bummer imo: that style of game seems perfect for ultrawide.

 

[RaZoRbLaDeD]

Thanks for all the information guys it was tons of help...as far as gaming I am going to be mostly playing games like D2 or Witcher 3 or RE8 (also classic games) but I am also wanting to get into newer demanding FPS games and from what I understand OLED is not good for that...but rather a good 1440p 240hz monitor?

I wont be watching movies or anything, basically just gaming but I dont like slowdown at all..it has to always be nice and buttery

Edit: As far as the size goes I would like to stay 32" or smaller

 

[MistaSparkul]

Thanks for all the information guys it was tons of help...as far as gaming I am going to be mostly playing games like D2 or Witcher 3 or RE8 (also classic games) but I am also wanting to get into newer demanding FPS games and from what I understand OLED is not good for that...but rather a good 1440p 240hz monitor?

I wont be watching movies or anything, basically just gaming but I dont like slowdown at all..it has to always be nice and buttery

Edit: As far as the size goes I would like to stay 32" or smaller

For 32" if you are after the best image quality then it would be the Asus PG32UQX. If you are after the fastest speed then probably the Samsung Odyssey G7 or Acer 1440p 270Hz IPS.

 

[Wiz33]

Thanks for all the information guys it was tons of help...as far as gaming I am going to be mostly playing games like D2 or Witcher 3 or RE8 (also classic games) but I am also wanting to get into newer demanding FPS games and from what I understand OLED is not good for that...but rather a good 1440p 240hz monitor?

I wont be watching movies or anything, basically just gaming but I dont like slowdown at all..it has to always be nice and buttery

Edit: As far as the size goes I would like to stay 32" or smaller

I would look for an HDR600 monitor with a lot of newer games supporting them.

One of the new old game worth looking at is Mass Effect Legendary Edition. They really improved ME1 a lot and clean up ME2 and added HDR support.

 

[TwistedMetalGear]

I'm guessing an OLED if you don't care about price and can chuck the monitor every 6-8 months for a new one once burn in settles in.

lol. Why do people insist on spreading misinformation?

5 year old LG B6 here. Not a hint of burn in. Anti-burn in tech has only improved since then.

 

[sharknice]

I have been out of the game for a very long time now and have recently gotten back into PC gaming due to Diablo 2 coming out soon...the choices are overwhelming to say the least. I basically just want an awesome monitor for gaming - probably something 1440p for quickness. I was thinking maybe a Samsung Odyssey? I read some bad things about it right as I was about to order though.

Money is no issue, I can get a monitor for $500 or $2500, as long as its amazing and I wont have buyers remorse.

Im going to be using a 3090 if it matters.


Thanks in advance for any advice.

LG OLED C1 48" is by far the best all around high end gaming monitor there is. Anyone that tells you otherwise is a noob.

Gsync is a must have, high refresh rate is a must have, and OLED picture quality absolutely destroys LCD. The LG G1 has it all. Your only other option is the Gigabyte equivalent which has issues.

If you don't have enough room for it MAKE ROOM. It's worth it.

 

[pippenainteasy]

lol. Why do people insist on spreading misinformation?

5 year old LG B6 here. Not a hint of burn in. Anti-burn in tech has only improved since then.

Tell me, do you consider RTings tests misinformation? So if I don’t repeat you anecdotal claim over science is what you posit as misinformation? Do you also use this line of thinking in other fields of life as well?

 

[Wiz33]

LG OLED C1 48" is by far the best all around high end gaming monitor there is. Anyone that tells you otherwise is a noob.

Gsync is a must have, high refresh rate is a must have, and OLED picture quality absolutely destroys LCD. The LG G1 has it all. Your only other option is the Gigabyte equivalent which has issues.

If you don't have enough room for it MAKE ROOM. It's worth it.

Only if you use it in a dim environment. Even SDR contents are regularly hitting 350 cd/m2 at 50% screen on my Q90T not to mention HDR contents. It wouldn't be possible on any OLED.

 

[lors]

Only if you use it in a dim environment. Even SDR contents are regularly hitting 350 cd/m2 at 50% screen on my Q90T not to mention HDR contents. It wouldn't be possible on any OLED.

SDR brightness in a very bright room is the one and only advantage of the Q90T over OLED. We have a Q90T in the living room. The HDR performance in terms high APL scenes isn't really impressive compared to OLED, because if you want accuracy you can basically only use filmmaker or movie mode without contrast enhancer enabled (CE blows out alot of details in bright scenes). Although HDR movies are not bad at all, overall, it just can't beat OLED. Where the Q90T for me really falls apart is gaming. It's nowhere near like OLED. Motion blur galore, insane VRR flickering at lower VRR range, DSE, obvious Blooming, no OLED like sharpness and clarity. Dealbreaker after dealbreaker.

 

[Wiz33]

SDR brightness in a very bright room is the one and only advantage of the Q90T over OLED. We have a Q90T in the living room. The HDR performance in terms high APL scenes isn't really impressive compared to OLED, because if you want accuracy you can basically only use filmmaker or movie mode without contrast enhancer enabled (CE blows out alot of details in bright scenes). Although HDR movies are not bad at all, overall, it just can't beat OLED. Where the Q90T for me really falls apart is gaming. It's nowhere near like OLED. Motion blur galore, insane VRR flickering at lower VRR range, DSE, obvious Blooming, no OLED like sharpness and clarity. Dealbreaker after dealbreaker.

I don't play a lot of fast action games and I've no problem with the few I play (FFXIV, ME:LE but I'm getting decent fps with a 3070). I had a 77" CX in the same spot before the Q90T and the reflections were killing me during daytime and I hate the aggressive ABL, over saturated color and high contrast as the picture you end up seeing is nowhere close to real life (QLED have the same problem but to a much lesser extend).

 

[lors]

I don't play a lot of fast action games and I've no problem with the few I play (FFXIV, ME:LE but I'm getting decent fps with a 3070). I had a 77" CX in the same spot before the Q90T and the reflections were killing me during daytime and I hate the aggressive ABL, over saturated color and high contrast as the picture you end up seeing is nowhere close to real life (QLED have the same problem but to a much lesser extend).

Doesn't matter which game genre, once you spin the camera the motion smearing is crazy obvious compared to OLED. The VA panel with it's response time just can't keep up with higher framerates. I'm also still seeing ghosting on this TV although it got better with firmware 2014, sadly not in terms of VRR flickering.

Do you really mean ABL? Or more likely ASBL (automatic static brightness limiter)? ASBL is the most annoying thing about OLED, especially if you want to use it as a monitor. I disabled it on my both LG OLEDs in the service menu. ABL dimming is only really visible in SDR when you crank up the brightness and you go to a fullscreen white window. The whites maybe do not get that bright white like on high nits LCD TVs in very bright scenes, but actual dimming in content is 99% of the time not visible.

Your over saturated color point is simply false. There is a reason why OLED TVs win every professional TV shoot-out year after year. After calibration, they are simply the most accurate consumer TVs you can get right now. With your last point you probably mean black crush. This is mainly because of LGs factory pre calibration. Sony always focus on shadow details, LG likes to show deeper blacks with some black crush. I personally calibrated my both OLEDs with calman home and the x-rite i1display pro plus, so that does not really affect me anymore.

 

[sethk]

Just like old times, all current monitors have compromises and downsides and are likely to be superseded by newer monitors. No matter what you pick, there will be people here who tell you why they hate that particular monitor - welcome back!

 

[vegeta535]

SDR brightness in a very bright room is the one and only advantage of the Q90T over OLED. We have a Q90T in the living room. The HDR performance in terms high APL scenes isn't really impressive compared to OLED, because if you want accuracy you can basically only use filmmaker or movie mode without contrast enhancer enabled (CE blows out alot of details in bright scenes). Although HDR movies are not bad at all, overall, it just can't beat OLED. Where the Q90T for me really falls apart is gaming. It's nowhere near like OLED. Motion blur galore, insane VRR flickering at lower VRR range, DSE, obvious Blooming, no OLED like sharpness and clarity. Dealbreaker after dealbreaker.

Don't argue with him. He is clueless.

 

[TerraPhantm]

As long as you’re not playing on the surface of the sun, an OLED panel is more than bright enough. The response time and contrast make it far superior to any LCD offering IMO.

Burn in is an eventuality, but should take years to become noticeable.

 

[Wiz33]

As long as you’re not playing on the surface of the sun, an OLED panel is more than bright enough. The response time and contrast make it far superior to any LCD offering IMO.

Burn in is an eventuality, but should take years to become noticeable.

Not everyone play games all the time and some are just not as sensitive to ghosting as others. You don't need to be on the sun for OLED to suck, this is in the afternoon at my sister's house.

When I have the 77" CX in my living room here. It's even worse. The Q90T is still not great but so much better by comparison

 

[Wiz33]

And then this is what I get with my Q90T with normal contents during the day even with the shade opened (except for the shear layer). I wouldn't even dare try that when I had the 77" CX in the same spot. This is about as bad as the reflections will get on normal daytime viewing.

And it's not even noticeable most of the time.

 

[sharknice]

You have buyers remorse and are trying to justify buying an inferior LCD TV spamming this thread with a bunch of crappy pictures that don't prove anything.

OP, don't end up like this guy.

 

[Wiz33]

You have buyers remorse and are trying to justify buying an inferior LCD TV spamming this thread with a bunch of crappy pictures that don't prove anything.

OP, don't end up like this guy.

At least I'm backing up my statements with pictures rather just sprouting off with nothing to back you up. Money doesn't matter to me at my age. It's more the hassle of removing and mounting a new TV than the cost. It's just how bad OLED can be in some situation. You do know that OLED have reach the end of the road as there's been no new break through in the last 5 years except minor tweaks while LCD have gone QLED, then Mini LED and with Micro LED coming next year. OLED have just been stagnant.

 

[DoubleTap]

The other best monitor is the LG 38GL950b

38" Ulrawide: 3840x1600 160hz IPS Gsync
A few other companies make monitors based on this panel.

Great form factor, great size and a perfect match for a 3090

 

[vegeta535]

You have buyers remorse and are trying to justify buying an inferior LCD TV spamming this thread with a bunch of crappy pictures that don't prove anything.

OP, don't end up like this guy.

Again it is pointless to argue with him. Let him enjoy his crappy LCD. You won't change his mind

 

[Wiz33]

Again it is pointless to argue with him. Let him enjoy his crappy LCD. You won't change his mind

And you can keep on enjoying you dead end tech OLED in the dark.

 

[vegeta535]

And you can keep on enjoying you dead end tech OLED in the dark.

It might not be the future but still the best tech you can buy at this moment.

 

[TerraPhantm]

Not everyone play games all the time and some are just not as sensitive to ghosting as others. You don't need to be on the sun for OLED to suck, this is in the afternoon at my sister's house.

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When I have the 77" CX in my living room here. It's even worse. The Q90T is still not great but so much better by comparison

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Not everyone plays games all the time, but this thread specifically is asking about the best gaming displays.

In any case, seems like your argument is that if you have a living space that is horribly setup for a TV, then a worse TV might give you a more visible, but still pretty shitty end result. And offer an inferior experience in every other context.

Feel like the answer there is to fix your living space than to put up with a crappy display.

For the rest of us who don’t have spotlights aimed at our TVs or monitors, the OLEDs offer a better experience.

 

[Wiz33]

Not everyone plays games all the time, but this thread specifically is asking about the best gaming displays.

In any case, seems like your argument is that if you have a living space that is horribly setup for a TV, then a worse TV might give you a more visible, but still pretty shitty end result. And offer an inferior experience in every other context.

Feel like the answer there is to fix your living space than to put up with a crappy display.

For the rest of us who don’t have spotlights aimed at our TVs or monitors, the OLEDs offer a better experience.

No , just that a lot of us does not really wants to live or work in the dark. Can you even use an OLED in a typical office environment? I pity anyone who would. Also. Lighting condition in any house with an open floor plan is going to be what you see in my pictures. Unfortunate, even 3.5 millions dollars (or in my sister's case $6 mil) does not get you a home with a theater room in my area 😛. But if I have one, I still will not use an OLED, I'll just put in a 4K HDR projector and a 150" screen.

 

[TwistedMetalGear]

Can you even use an OLED in a typical office environment?

Dude, it's not a 1989 Game Boy. It's not as bright as an LCD sure but it still works perfectly fine in an indoor setting.

 

[Supercharged_Z06]

At least I'm backing up my statements with pictures rather just sprouting off with nothing to back you up. Money doesn't matter to me at my age. It's more the hassle of removing and mounting a new TV than the cost. It's just how bad OLED can be in some situation. You do know that OLED have reach the end of the road as there's been no new break through in the last 5 years except minor tweaks while LCD have gone QLED, then Mini LED and with Micro LED coming next year. OLED have just been stagnant.

Baloney.

https://news.umich.edu/nanotech-ole...-light-could-slash-display-power-consumption/

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/qd-oled-hybrid-display-technology-fully-explained/

 

[Wiz33]

Baloney.

https://news.umich.edu/nanotech-ole...-light-could-slash-display-power-consumption/

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/qd-oled-hybrid-display-technology-fully-explained/

1st one is useless, a 20% improvement will still be under 1000 cd/m2 and bring the 100% bright level to what 165 cd/m2? pitiful.

2nd one maybe something but guess we'll see if it works out. It's ironic and it took Samsung and TCL to come up with a solution where LG can't. But then, I think we'll see Micro-LED at consumer level before QD-OLED or QDLE.

 

[TerraPhantm]

No , just that a lot of us does not really wants to live or work in the dark. Can you even use an OLED in a typical office environment? I pity anyone who would. Also. Lighting condition in any house with an open floor plan is going to be what you see in my pictures. Unfortunate, even 3.5 millions dollars (or in my sister's case $6 mil) does not get you a home with a theater room in my area 😛. But if I have one, I still will not use an OLED, I'll just put in a 4K HDR projector and a 150" screen.

You realize until fairly recently, no display got as bright as the OLEDs currently do right? We all managed to use those displays in our offices and homes without issue. I still watch TV and play games in the daylight with my curtains open and lights on. I just don’t point those light sources directly at my screen. I know for a fact that my OLED tv and monitor are much brighter than any of the craptacular displays I have at work.

Also funny you your $3.5 million to $6 million living rooms look to be on par with my old college apartment...

 

[MistaSparkul]

aaaaaand another thread has gone totally off the rails here lol.

 

[Wiz33]

Nice evidence, not. I can make my Q90T look worse if i want to, here comes my 8000 lumen flashlight:




Funny thing, your dark scene pictures doesn't even look impressive, it looks as unwatchable as OLED in these lighting conditions for HDR content. Speaks for itself that you only show dark scenes from "The Irregulars" in Dolby Vision on the OLED, probably not even in Cinema-Home picture mode. Sure thing that you also have no idea why OLEDs will never have anything but a glossy screen due to the fact that matte and anti-glare displays fuck up the clarity, colors and most importantly the contrast.



LOL. You really have no clue about displays. Micro-LED is a whole different technology and has nothing to do with a FALD Backlight LCD. It will still take at least five years from now on until Micro-LED can be mass produced at regular screen sizes and reasonable prices. And guess what, Samsung is joining the OLED market next year.



Yeah sure:





Worst millionaire living rooms I've ever seen.

Never said the dark scenes are freat on the Q90T but it's more watchable than on the CX. You can always make thing look worse but my picture is realistic living environment, Sure I usually have the shades closed but I took those pictures for someone else asking how the QN90A would look in a room worse than mine (ambient light wise). Why don't you shine your 8000 lumen flashlight at your OLED and see what happens.

OLED does have it's place, OLED is simplier and cheaper for the mid range TV market since it will look better than a cheaper LCD that doesn't get that bright or only has edge or low number of dimming zones. Micro LED is just the next step after mini LED with a 1:1 LED/LCD ratio so every pixel gets it's own LED for brightness and dimming.

Yea, house is due for a major renovation, It's being done now but material shortage is getting in the way. Took me 9 weeks to get new windows and my new front door is now 4 weeks overdue after a 2 months lead time. At least the outside got a new coat of paint. New kitchen and bathroom cabinets are stuck on a ship waiting to be offloaded at the port of Oakland (after a 6 weeks delay because the factory was down due to COVID), so new blackout curtains once the inside is done and get a new coat of paint. 😪

 

[Wiz33]

You realize until fairly recently, no display got as bright as the OLEDs currently do right? We all managed to use those displays in our offices and homes without issue. I still watch TV and play games in the daylight with my curtains open and lights on. I just don’t point those light sources directly at my screen. I know for a fact that my OLED tv and monitor are much brighter than any of the craptacular displays I have at work.

Also funny you your $3.5 million to $6 million living rooms look to be on par with my old college apartment...

What can I say about Silicon Valley home cost. 😪 My next door neighbor just sold their single story for 2.9 mil. Started with a 2.6 asking and ended up at 2.9 once all the offers are in.

 

[Supercharged_Z06]

1st one is useless, a 20% improvement will still be under 1000 cd/m2 and bring the 100% bright level to what 165 cd/m2? pitiful.

2nd one maybe something but guess we'll see if it works out. It's ironic and it took Samsung and TCL to come up with a solution where LG can't. But then, I think we'll see Micro-LED at consumer level before QD-OLED or QDLE.

Thank you for admitting you were wrong.