Monitors Thinking about a large monitor, but confused about what to go for

G

gourav

Skilled
I have been using my old 22" LG TV as monitor for a while. It works quite well. Especially having inbuilt speakers is quite helpful as it requires less cabling and is hassle free. However, it's Full HD and I'm now looking for something bigger (27-28") and higher res (2k/4k), so that I can accommodate more windows side by side. So please help me decide on some of the points below.

The monitor is mainly used for web browsing and office work. I often work on VS Code and browser side by side, which most programmers do. It connects to a laptop and an NUC. So it needs to have at least two HDMI inputs. A total of three inputs (excluding VGA) would be helpful. I know some monitors come with 2 HDMI and 1 DP or 2 DP and one HDMI. Those will work for me. I don't want to keep plugging and unplugging HDMI cables.

In built speaker will be a good to have. Since I don't watch movies on this (I have a separate TV setup for that), I don't need the speakers to be high quality. This speaker is only needed for office meetings and YouTube videos. Alternatively, if there are clip-on speakers, which can be mounted on the side/top of the monitor like webcams and can be powered through the monitor's USB port, that would work as well.

Since I'll be connecting to laptop and more than one devices, having a USB hub will also be helpful, but not an absolute necessity.

The monitor should support wall mounting.

I don't play games and don't plan on playing them in future either. So I guess 60/90 Hz will be enough (do 90 Hz monitors exist?). I don't need high refresh rates.

The two main points where I'm quite confused are:
  1. Type of the panel: Should I go for TN, VA, or IPS? I don't do a lot of colour sensitive work, but I do some photo editing once in a while. I haven't used a TN panel in a very long time and don't know how bad it would be after having used IPS panels for almost 5 years.
  2. Display resolution: Should I go for 2k (1440p?) or 4k? I haven't used a monitor higher than 1080p and bigger than 24". So I'm not entirely sure if 2k on a 27" monitor will be enough or I should go for a 4k monitor. The thing is, if 4k seems too dense, I can always just increase the scaling in Windows, but I can't do anything if 2k doesn't seem sharp enough. So I'm leaning towards 4k. At the same time, I wonder if even a normal 4k output will have some performance penalty on the laptop/NUC since neither of them are very high powered (no dedicated GPU).
My budget would be around 30k. However, I'm not planning on buying immediately, maybe 2-3 months down the line. The reason I'm asking now is that I'm getting the furniture in my bedroom redone. Knowing what monitor I'll be getting will help me design the computer+study table properly. The main points I need to decide on are whether I should have dedicated space for speakers or not, how much space do I need to keep for the monitor, and whether I can use wall mount or I'll have to use the stand. Without knowing these, it's difficult to optimise the table design for my usage.

Please suggest what kind of models are available. I'm open to suggestions at higher price points as I can reschedule the purchase somewhat and therefore extend my budget, if needed.

TL;DR:
Need to buy a 27-28" monitor in 2-3 month's time for ~30k. Need to decide whether to go for 2k or 4k resolution and which pane among TN, VA, and IPS.
 
Hi, just dropping in here to say DON'T buy Viewsonic monitors. They have offerings in 27" and 32" segments but the panels themselves are quite bad.
 
you will find at least a couple of 27" 4K IPS options (primarily LG) in your budget.
With VA, you will be able to get even 32" for around the 30K mark.

The rule of thumb would be to get IPS if text is primary use case with acceptable (but not great) video rendering
or
VA if Video is primary use case with acceptable (but not great ) text rendering

As for 4K/2k, definitely 4K - scaled text looks much crisper/ nicer than 1:1 on QHD with no scaling - Plus videos will naturally look better in 4K than 2K
The only exception to that would be that if your laptop/ system is old and has a very weak video card,
In that case, it may not even support 4K 60 or even if it does, GPU may be overtaxed rendering in 4k60
 
superczar said:
you will find at least a couple of 27" 4K IPS options (primarily LG) in your budget.
With VA, you will be able to get even 32" for around the 30K mark.
Click to expand...
Don't want to go for 32", seems too big to me. I had a 32" TV at home. I did look at LG. They don't seem to come with speakers or USB Hub. I've shortlisted them nonetheless.

superczar said:
The rule of thumb would be to get IPS if text is primary use case with acceptable (but not great) video rendering
or
VA if Video is primary use case with acceptable (but not great ) text rendering
Click to expand...
Can you explain this or give some link which explains this? I was under the impression that better colour reproduction of IPS would be better for video.

superczar said:
As for 4K/2k, definitely 4K - scaled text looks much crisper/ nicer than 1:1 on QHD with no scaling - Plus videos will naturally look better in 4K than 2K
The only exception to that would be that if your laptop/ system is old and has a very weak video card,
In that case, it may not even support 4K 60 or even if it does, GPU may be overtaxed rendering in 4k60
Click to expand...
Agree. My laptop is Ryzen 5 3500U, it can handle 4K, I've used it with my 55" 4k TV just for testing. Haven't tried the NUC though. But I suppose 7th gen Core i5 with Iris graphics should be capable enough. I will actually give it a try on my TV to check if it stutters.
 
For your budget, look for 4K IPS 32 inch. 2k resolution seems to be a sweet spot for a 27" monitor while 4K needs 32" or higher.

If you prefer a 2K monitor I can recommend (picked one recently) LG 27QN600, a 2K monitor for everyday work. It does not excel at one thing but rather a great walkaround monitor that caters to work-play-create needs.

It has speakers, 2 x HDMI and 1 x DP ports. I have my gaming rig and laptop connected all the time and allows seamless switching with 2-3 clicks.

For coding, I believe you might use the monitor vertically, in such cases, you need to add a VESA mount (another 2-3k) which is supported by this monitor.
 
Yes 4k IPS 32 is fine as suggested by kalph09. As per your requirements my only suggestion is to get a 32" monitor, avoid anything less than 32" if possible.
 
looking for something similar, budget under 30K , IPS panel LG 27QN600 & LG 34WL500, one is ultra wide, what are your opinions, mostly for work office and autocad browsing, often watch movies, may buy one in amazon sale tomorrow,thanks for you time
 
gourav said:
Don't want to go for 32", seems too big to me. I had a 32" TV at home. I did look at LG. They don't seem to come with speakers or USB Hub. I've shortlisted them nonetheless.


Can you explain this or give some link which explains this? I was under the impression that better colour reproduction of IPS would be better for video.


Agree. My laptop is Ryzen 5 3500U, it can handle 4K, I've used it with my 55" 4k TV just for testing. Haven't tried the NUC though. But I suppose 7th gen Core i5 with Iris graphics should be capable enough. I will actually give it a try on my TV to check if it stutters.
Click to expand...
I am not sure if you will find specific articles on this. I am speaking more from first hand experience with VA and IPS monitors and TVs as well as information gathered from multiple places (largely rtings though)

Think of it this way, you will hardly ever find an IPS TV that is rated well or preferred by anyone.
That is because for video, IPS does not bring anything to the table other than better viewing angles - which doesnt matter much for a TV because you sit far enough and usually do not watch from a far edge
The top rated TVs are always OLED (if you prefer deep blacks) or VA LCDs (i.e. QLED if you prefer higher peak brights / are in a brightly lit room ) - and for good reason


OTOH, for monitors, VAs achilles heel of viewing angles gets amplified because you sit a lot closer to a monitor while working - so the narrow FOV it offers gets exacerbated as you can notice contrast/ gamma shift even from one edge to another - (This is not a problem when you are sitting more than a couple of feet away but a huge issue when you are 1.5-2 feet from screen).
OLEDs would have made for great monitors but there are none available in a reasonable size - so that leaves IPS as the only viable good choice when working on a monitor that is actually being used as a monitor

At the same time, IPS do not do very well with contrast - while they do good contrast for text and work stuff (as you dont expect much contrast to begin with)- but fares much worse than OLED or VA when it comes to the contrast expectations one has from videos

To put it simply, I would not use a VA monitor unless I do not have a choice
I would not use a IPS TV unless I do not have a choice

However, and this is important - IPS makes for a more acceptable TV than a VA as a monitor
 
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I know it is not 2k, but I got a 27 inch Samsung curved screen HD monitor, which works really well for me. Didn't find any problems of pixelated screen either. Here is what I got:
www.samsung.com

Samsung 27" Curved Monitor - Price, Reviews & Specs | Samsung India

Buy Samsung Cured Monitor online. Learn all about 27" Curved Monitor 3 Side Bezel Less including prices, offers, specifications & shop from Samsung India
www.samsung.com www.samsung.com

Perhaps you can look at a curved screen option as well. I really liked it, in terms of immersion. It has two decent 5W speakers. I am not sure if the model is still in circulation, but something similar with higher res might work for you too!
 
Trdz said:
spend 1500 more n get this Benq EW3270U otherwise get this Benq EW2780Q personally using it gr8 monitor for the price.
Click to expand...
This looks like a nice option. Thanks
Mr.J said:
TVs are notoriously bad with text.
Click to expand...
The sharpness setting of the TV needs to be reduced to close to zero to make rendering good. Otherwise text is bad. Basically sharpness is like Anti-AA. Windows does Cleartype, sharpness setting just reverses the effect.
 
Buy a 4K IPS, 27-28". It is much much better than QHD. I would not recommend 32 inch because of too much vertical movement required to see the full screen. VA panels are not good because of poor viewing angles.
 
gourav said:
I have been using my old 22" LG TV as monitor for a while. It works quite well. Especially having inbuilt speakers is quite helpful as it requires less cabling and is hassle free. However, it's Full HD and I'm now looking for something bigger (27-28") and higher res (2k/4k), so that I can accommodate more windows side by side. So please help me decide on some of the points below.

The monitor is mainly used for web browsing and office work. I often work on VS Code and browser side by side, which most programmers do. It connects to a laptop and an NUC. So it needs to have at least two HDMI inputs. A total of three inputs (excluding VGA) would be helpful. I know some monitors come with 2 HDMI and 1 DP or 2 DP and one HDMI. Those will work for me. I don't want to keep plugging and unplugging HDMI cables.

In built speaker will be a good to have. Since I don't watch movies on this (I have a separate TV setup for that), I don't need the speakers to be high quality. This speaker is only needed for office meetings and YouTube videos. Alternatively, if there are clip-on speakers, which can be mounted on the side/top of the monitor like webcams and can be powered through the monitor's USB port, that would work as well.

Since I'll be connecting to laptop and more than one devices, having a USB hub will also be helpful, but not an absolute necessity.

The monitor should support wall mounting.

I don't play games and don't plan on playing them in future either. So I guess 60/90 Hz will be enough (do 90 Hz monitors exist?). I don't need high refresh rates.

The two main points where I'm quite confused are:
  1. Type of the panel: Should I go for TN, VA, or IPS? I don't do a lot of colour sensitive work, but I do some photo editing once in a while. I haven't used a TN panel in a very long time and don't know how bad it would be after having used IPS panels for almost 5 years.
  2. Display resolution: Should I go for 2k (1440p?) or 4k? I haven't used a monitor higher than 1080p and bigger than 24". So I'm not entirely sure if 2k on a 27" monitor will be enough or I should go for a 4k monitor. The thing is, if 4k seems too dense, I can always just increase the scaling in Windows, but I can't do anything if 2k doesn't seem sharp enough. So I'm leaning towards 4k. At the same time, I wonder if even a normal 4k output will have some performance penalty on the laptop/NUC since neither of them are very high powered (no dedicated GPU).
My budget would be around 30k. However, I'm not planning on buying immediately, maybe 2-3 months down the line. The reason I'm asking now is that I'm getting the furniture in my bedroom redone. Knowing what monitor I'll be getting will help me design the computer+study table properly. The main points I need to decide on are whether I should have dedicated space for speakers or not, how much space do I need to keep for the monitor, and whether I can use wall mount or I'll have to use the stand. Without knowing these, it's difficult to optimise the table design for my usage.

Please suggest what kind of models are available. I'm open to suggestions at higher price points as I can reschedule the purchase somewhat and therefore extend my budget, if needed.

TL;DR:
Need to buy a 27-28" monitor in 2-3 month's time for ~30k. Need to decide whether to go for 2k or 4k resolution and which pane among TN, VA, and IPS.
Click to expand...
IPS is best for work.
I recommend BenQ, they have very good IPS panels and as well some of the features they provide are good for long hours work.
I am using "BenQ EX2780Q". It has 3 speakers(2 front facing) with pretty decent audio output for multimedia ent and as well for voip calls.
In case you are keen on 4K, pls go with 30" or more. anything less will feel cramped.
 
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