Budget 0-20k Monitor Suggestions & Buying Advice

[john1911]

If you can get hold of an SBI card, you'll get ~1300 discount. So no reason to wait for sale.

However, I must tell you that if your laptop has a full HD panel, then this is going to look really pixelated. Full HD at 24" has very low pixel density.

I'm asking for SBI cards in my circle, let's see.

For now, I had borrowed a 27" Samsung M7 monitor from my uncle till mine arrives. I asked if it a 1080p panel or 1440p panel which he had had no idea about. I plugged in the monitor and it surely looked much much better than my current laptop screen. I thought this has to be 1440p monitor because I was under the impression that 1080p at 27" should look like shit. I went into display options and it was 1080p monitor. I was amazed, even thought about ordering 27" 1080p panel. I surely can see the pixels when I come closer but at a distance of around 2 feet, the individual pixels aren't visible. I can see some aliasing in slant lines like this ----> / but other than that, this seems perfectly fine.

FHD seems fine at 27" size and it would be perfectly fine at 24" size. All this is pretty much subjective though. Some might see 1080p at 27" abominable. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[gourav]

At 40-50cm or so distance, 24" at 1080p is good enough. You keep a laptop relatively closer to your eyes, phones are even closer. 27" 1080p is usually considered low ppi for monitors, also any 768p ones.

I guess it starts to look pixelated once you get used to something higher. I felt my 768p laptop was fine till I got a new laptop with full HD screen. Then the 768p screen started looking unbearably pixelated. Same for when I got 27" 4k monitor. I was ok with 23" full HD till then, but once I moved to 4k, 23" full HD just looks too pixelated to use.

Which is also why I mentioned "If you have a full HD laptop". If you've not used higher density screen, then 24" full HD should be fine. But personally, I would not use a screen with <100 ppi density except as TV where I sit at least 8' away.

This is also similar to refresh rate debate, where I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I see no reason to use anything higher than 60 Hz. I guess I'll see the difference only when I actually start using such a display on a regular basis.

 

[SangeetDev]

I'd say try to get a 1440p monitor at the very minimum. Regardless of the screen size, there's only so much you can fit in a 1080p resolution before you start running out of space. 1440p is a good balance between ample resolution to work with while still giving decent sharpness at 27 inch size.

I personally use a 4k 60Hz monitor as I really need all the real estate I can find. I also splurged a bit and got a VA panel with HDR600, 400 nits, DCI-P3 and am extremely happy with it for work and sometimes playing games using HDR. Costed me 40k, but you can find decent 1440p monitors for your budget.

I'd just suggest strongly against 1080p for a new monitor unless you really want ultra high refresh rate gaming on a budget. 1440p is a very nice sweet spot for PC.

 

[OMEGA44-XT]

I guess it starts to look pixelated once you get used to something higher. I felt my 768p laptop was fine till I got a new laptop with full HD screen. Then the 768p screen started looking unbearably pixelated. Same for when I got 27" 4k monitor. I was ok with 23" full HD till then, but once I moved to 4k, 23" full HD just looks too pixelated to use.

Which is also why I mentioned "If you have a full HD laptop". If you've not used higher density screen, then 24" full HD should be fine. But personally, I would not use a screen with <100 ppi density except as TV where I sit at least 8' away.

This is also similar to refresh rate debate, where I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I see no reason to use anything higher than 60 Hz. I guess I'll see the difference only when I actually start using such a display on a regular basis.

That is an entirely different case. Now after using 27" 1440p, sometimes my 24" 1080p seems a bit pixelated, but I seriously doubt OP is downgrading.

 

[john1911]

@SangeetDev 1440p is beyond my budget. Obviously 1440p is better than 1080p and 4k is better than 1440p and 8k is better than 4k and so on. Doesn't mean 1080p isn't good at 24". I'm liking 1080p at 27" so I'm pretty sure I'll like 1080p at 24" aswell. And believe me, it isn't a downgrade from my current laptop screen. PPI isn't everything, being able to see things on a large display without squinting or coming closer to the screen is also a plus point.


UPDATE: Placed an order for Acer Nitro VG240YS. Thanks a lot everyone for all your inputs. I really appreciate it. I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my replies regarding resolution, it is a very subjective topic. Thanks again.

 

[john1911]

UPDATE: Received the monitor today. The screen and colours are pretty, my laptop (HDMI 1.4) supports maximum 1920*1080 @120Hz so yeah, but I'm definitely seeing increased motion smoothness as compared to 60Hz. The size is also close to what I had wanted, not occupying too much desk space like 27" Samsung Monitor (returned that to uncle), I thought 24" might feel smaller but it is kind of perfect. Earlier I had some reservations against 1080p that it might look blurry or it might bother me but it doesn't.

Thanks a lot folks for guiding me through this, specially @OMEGA44-XT .

PS: What all should I check in the monitor before the return window closes?

 

[OMEGA44-XT]

UPDATE: Received the monitor today. The screen and colours are pretty, my laptop (HDMI 1.4) supports maximum 1920*1080 @120Hz so yeah, but I'm definitely seeing increased motion smoothness as compared to 60Hz. The size is also close to what I had wanted, not occupying too much desk space like 27" Samsung Monitor (returned that to uncle), I thought 24" might feel smaller but it is kind of perfect. Earlier I had some reservations against 1080p that it might look blurry or it might bother me but it doesn't.

Thanks a lot folks for guiding me through this, specially @OMEGA44-XT .

PS: What all should I check in the monitor before the return window closes?

Looks for excessive backlight bleed, if you can observe it in normal use. Also check for dead pixels.

Enjoy

 

[john1911]

Looks for excessive backlight bleed, if you can observe it in normal use. Also check for dead pixels.

Enjoy

Thanks.

A noob question: Will a 27" 1080p monitor at 100% resolution scaling have more working area as compared to 24" 1080p at 100% resolution scaling?

 

[OMEGA44-XT]

Thanks.

A noob question: Will a 27" 1080p monitor at 100% resolution scaling have more working area as compared to 24" 1080p at 100% resolution scaling?

Physically the display is better, so maybe you can have more stuff together on display, but at the same res, everything will just be bigger. Maybe get 27" 1440p as 27" 1080p has low ppi.

 

[john1911]

I remember when I was using 27" 1080p panel at 100% resolution scale last week, I was able to fit more content on the screen. Now in the 24" 1080p panel at 10% resolution scale, I think there is a little less content fitting in the screen. I was wondering since both were 1080p panels running at 100% resolution scaling, shoudn't they fit the same amount of content. Not that I'm dissatisfied with the current 24" panel, just curious how it all works.

 

[spindoc12]

@SangeetDev 1440p is beyond my budget. Obviously 1440p is better than 1080p and 4k is better than 1440p and 8k is better than 4k and so on. Doesn't mean 1080p isn't good at 24". I'm liking 1080p at 27" so I'm pretty sure I'll like 1080p at 24" aswell. And believe me, it isn't a downgrade from my current laptop screen. PPI isn't everything, being able to see things on a large display without squinting or coming closer to the screen is also a plus point.


UPDATE: Placed an order for Acer Nitro VG240YS. Thanks a lot everyone for all your inputs. I really appreciate it. I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my replies regarding resolution, it is a very subjective topic. Thanks again.

Please give a short review of your newly acquired monitor

 

[john1911]

Please give a short review of your newly acquired monitor

I'm a very poor candidate for reviewing this monitor as I'm coming from the shittiest TN panel there is and this is my first monitor. I'm very satisfied overall.

The colours are beautiful. The panel is very very bright for me, I use it at approx 20% brightness. The screen is matte so reflection are reduced. I can very easily tell 60Hz apart from 144Hz, it feels much more smooth. Pixel density is adequate IMO. It has speakers as well, although not that important but still a plus point for me as I don't have any desktop speakers yet.

PS: The bezels are pretty thin aswell.