LED or LCD gamer monitor?

One of the factors that most vary between monitors is the size of the screen, whose diameter is measured in inches. However, the size is more related to your taste and adaptation than to the performance of the screen.

The variable most affected by screen size is the price, where smaller screens tend to cost less, while larger screens follow the opposite direction. If you value performance more, one of the possible approaches to your purchase is to sacrifice screen size for a better configuration.

However, a very small screen may not give you the best immersion in the game, so it is important to align the size of the monitor well with the four factors we mentioned earlier and we will explain further below.

Video card

The first factor to pay attention to is your computer’s video card.

This part is responsible for processing and sending the images to the monitor, and if your specifications are not aligned with your gamer monitor, you will not be able to enjoy the best that both can deliver.

For example, if a video card is capable of delivering images at a maximum frequency of 60 hertz, there is no point in buying a monitor that has the capacity to deliver 120 hertz.

As our alleged video card delivers only 60Hz, the monitor will receive only 60Hz and will not use its maximum capacity. Other details that you should note regarding compatibility are resolution and input type (VGA, HDMI, and DVI), for example.

Comparing the specifications of your video card, the purchase of your gamer monitor will certainly be much better!

Panel type

The main types of gamer monitor panels today are TN and IPS.

TN panel

Generally cheaper, they have important positive points, such as shorter monitor response time and also allow monitors with this technology to reach 120Hz frequency.

These two factors are very important if you are a more hardcore gamer and attentive to the smallest details to optimize your performance.

IPS Panel

This type of monitor addresses some shortcomings of the previous panel type, such as higher quality in the display of colors and better images from different angles.

Despite being in constant improvement in improving aspects in the areas where TN panels are better, as in response time for example, IPS monitors, in general, have not yet matched these details.

However, if your profile is more casual and your preference is for more beautiful images, a gamer monitor with an IPS panel will certainly be an excellent choice, since the performance differences are getting smaller.

Refresh rate

No monitor plays videos. This statement may sound strange, but technically it is true.

Any game played on your computer screen is composed of several images per second, which gives us the feeling of movement and makes the experience of playing our favorite game fun and realistic. The traditional frequency of monitors is 24 frames per second, which is widely used in films.

Our eyes are able to capture these groups of images being displayed in such a short time and transform them into continuous action. The frequency unit used to measure the display of these tables is the Hertz. The most basic monitors reproduce images between 30 to 60 Hertz per second.

This frequency is more than enough to provide us with a good experience, however, with the improvement of technology, monitors, video cards, and games capable of reproducing at a higher frequency began to appear.

Some examples of this are monitors of 120, 144, and 240Hz. These units are practically imperceptible to distinguish, however, these higher rates provide greater fluidity and naturalness of the images displayed. Look:

A higher frequency makes your experience more pleasurable and detailed since the reproduction of images gets closer to reality, which besides being an advantage for the most demanding gamer, will also cause less fatigue of your eyes.

Response time: Input lag

Contrary to the previous factors, input lag is an indicator that provides the best result when expressed in smaller numbers.

It is one of the factors where the gamer monitor stands out in relation to conventional televisions and other monitors, making it worth your investment in a gamer monitor.

Input lag is the total time that elapses between the moment that a given command is given on the keyboard, mouse, or joystic and the moment that that command is played on the monitor.

In the case of the gamer monitor, the input lag is measured by the response time, and one of the parameters used to make this measurement is the time it takes a pixel to traverse all the light spectra.