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If You’re About to Buy a Monitor, Watch This First — Transcript · YTtoTranscript

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If You’re About to Buy a Monitor, Watch This First

Aman · 2,654 words · 13 min read · EN-ORIG

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Below is the complete, readable transcript of If You’re About to Buy a Monitor, Watch This First by Aman on YouTube. Read the full text, copy any part you need, or generate a transcript for any video with our free tool.

Trust me, 90% of people makes mistakes when choosing a monitor. Back in the day, the monitor was probably the least important part of your setup. It was just there. But now it's completely different. There is so many technologies, so many panel types, and honestly, it gets confusing really fast. But that's exactly why you're watching

this video. I'm going to walk you through the most important specs you actually need to care about, and then we'll finish with the stuff that still matters, but won't be a deal breaker. So, watch this video till the end and use this as your formula. Let's get started. Step one, resolution and screen size.

First of all, let's start with the most important step when you look at monitors, and that's the resolution and screen size ratio. To be clear, that's not hard to choose right now, because it's pretty understandable for most people. But here's the thing, even though more resolution is better, you have to remember that for different

tasks, higher resolutions isn't always ideal. Let me give you an example. First of all, we have 1080p, 2K, and 4K on the market, right? Now, if you play games, especially games like CS:GO, Valorant, or Fortnite, and you like playing in a 4x3 aspect ratio, then remember that traditional 16x9 4K monitors don't support them as well as 1080p and 2K

monitors do. I mean, you can set it up, but still in those games, it's not worth buying a 4K resolution. It's better to invest the money in panel type or refresh rate, which we are going to discuss later. If you're wondering why am I making this example, I'm just referring to the idea that more

resolution is not always better. Before buying, list what you do on your PC first, and then look at the resolution. Also, make sure that your GPU can run games at that resolution if you like gaming more. Just type on YouTube your game and your GPU with the specific resolution you're looking for. If it

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shows low FPS, forget about that resolution and look for lower ones. [music] And here's another important thing that comes up, and that's the screen size. That's measured in inches, and here's the simple formula. If you're buying 1080p, choose 24, 25 [music] inches or less, because anything bigger will look pixelated. If you're buying

2K, choose between 24 to 27 in. More than that is not worth it. And if you're buying 4K, then 27 to 30 in is ideal in a standard 16 by 9 aspect ratio. If you're going to buy an ultra-wide monitor, then we will discuss it later. Now, I hope you understand this step. Let's move on to the next

one. Step two, panel type. And the next important thing is panel type. Look, on the market there are four types of panel types: TN, VA, IPS, and OLED. Now, don't worry. You don't need to understand how each one works on a technical level because honestly, that's just going to waste your time. What actually matters

is knowing how they feel to use. Let's start with TN. This is the cheapest option and yeah, it's fast, which is why some competitive players still use it, but everything else about it is just bad. The viewing angles are terrible, meaning if you don't look at it straight, the image starts looking almost gray. Colors are also not

accurate at all. So, unless you're playing at a real high competitive level, just don't buy TN 2026. And the next panel type is VA. This is already better than TN in terms of color and the viewing angles, but it's a little slower and has ghosting problems in competitive games. The biggest advantage of this

monitor is that it has deeper blacks, so it would be good for watching movies in dark rooms and playing AAA games with story. And the third type is IPS. This is my favorite because it offers better color accuracy and good viewing angles. It is good for photo designers and video editors where color correction is an

important part of the work, but you might struggle with response time compared to TN panels. You can still play games, don't get me wrong, but not at a super high level where every millisecond is important. And on top of that, because of the backlight, you might not see deeper blacks in dark scenes. Instead, it will look gray. But

if you don't mind that, like me, consider buying it. It's worth the money. And finally, OLED. This one is in a completely different level, but also way more confusing because you've got QD OLED, WOLED, different generations, different technologies. It's a mess if you're new. If you want to understand it deeper, watch this video right here

where I explained it. But let me simplify it for you in this video. If you're thinking about buying an OLED, first understand this. [music] It's not great for working with text because of color fringing. It's better now on newer models, but still not ideal if you sit and read or edit text all day. Where the

OLED shines is everything else. Gaming in a dark room, watching movies at night, anything like that looks insane because you got true blacks, crazy contrast. Just don't confuse that with color accuracy because IPS is still more consistent in that area. Also, OLED is expensive, so be ready for that. And if you see a cheap OLED, just skip it. Go

for a newer generations like Gen [music] 5 for QD OLED or Gen 4 for WOLED because those fix most of the older problems like low brightness and color fringing. Good options are MSI MPG, LG, and the ASUS [music] PG models. And yeah, this might sound weird, but I'd personally avoid Samsung OLED monitors even though

they created QD OLED. That's pretty much everything you need to know about panel types. Now, let's move on to the next step. Step three, brightness. All right. Now, we're going to an important part even though it doesn't seem like it, but choosing the proper brightness actually saves your eyes in the future. Listen, brightness in

monitors is measured [music] in nits, and more nits are always better. That's pretty obvious, but not many people know how many nits are considered the minimum standard. [music] So, when buying a monitor, if everything's all right, but you don't know if the nits are enough, then this is for you. Most monitors range everywhere from 250 up to crazy

numbers like 3,000 nits. Although, realistically, most people don't go anywhere near that. In normal use, especially if you're at home in a room without direct sunlight hitting [music] your screen, around 350 nits should be your minimum. Anything below that is basically cheap office-level brightness that feels just dim, which can strain your eyes over time. But if your setup

is near a window or you're in the really bright room, then 500 nits should be your minimum. And ideally, you want something close to 1,000 nits. In bright environments, even 500 can feel a bit weak. At the same time, if you're just a normal user sitting in a controlled environment, going for 1,000 nits is

kind of overkill, especially if everything else about the monitor is already good. Once you understand this, you won't accidentally end up with a screen that's too dim for your setup. Now, let's move on to the next step. Step four, refresh rate. To be clear, this is not as important as resolution, size, or even brightness, but it still

matters more than a lot of other specs. The easiest way to understand is to just ask yourself what you're actually going to do with the monitor. If it's mostly work, then [music] honestly 60 hertz or even 120 hertz is completely fine. Higher refresh rates don't really make a difference in most work apps. [music]

And that's exactly why work-focused monitors don't prioritize it. They focus more on things like sharpness and pixel density instead. But if you actually play games regularly or even combine gaming with work, then 120 hertz or 144 hertz should be your starting point. The jump from 60 hertz to 144 hertz is huge. You'll feel it immediately. Everything

just becomes way smoother. But going higher than that is optional. Before you spend extra money on very high refresh rate monitors, there are a few things you should understand. Because even in gaming, it really depends on what you play. Competitive FPS games are completely different from story-based [music] AAA games. So, your setup should

match your type of games. Here's a simple rule you can follow. Your refresh rate should make sense for your FPS. If your PC can push high FPS in your main games, then you can get a higher refresh rate to match it. For example, if your games runs at around 300 FPS, then getting up to 300 hertz refresh rate

monitor actually makes sense. But if your system can't reach those numbers, then there's no reason to spend extra on something you won't even use. Once you match your refresh rate to your usage on your FPS, you're good. Step five, response time. This one is getting less and less important over time. It was

never the biggest deal to begin with, but I still want to mention it, especially if you're more into gaming than work. Response time is measured in milliseconds, and it basically shows how fast pixels change color. Lower is better, that one is simple. And higher response time can cause things like ghosting or smearing in fast-moving

scenes, especially in games. That's something you might have been hearing over the years. But here's the thing, most people won't even notice the difference between something like 1 ms and 5 [music] ms. It's just not that visible in real use. So yes, it matters, but not as much as people think. And if

you're mainly working, then don't even stress about it. These only really matters if you're playing at a high competitive level. Now, let's move on to something that actually matters for work. Step six, pixel density. This one is the easiest thing to understand. [music] Basically, pixel density means how many pixels you have in 1 in [music] of your

screen. And it's measured in PPI, pixel per inch. The higher the PPI, the sharper everything looks, especially text. And this is actually way more important for work than something like refresh rate. But here's the catch, you can't just add more PPI to your monitor just like the hertz. To get it, you either need higher resolution or a

smaller screen size. For example, a 32-in 4K monitor gives you around 138 PPI, which is pretty solid. But at the same time, 32-in monitor at 2K drops to around 91 PPI. And that's where the text already starts looking less sharp. And if you go 1080p at 32 in, you're at around 68 PPI, which is where you

literally start seeing [music] pixels. And if you're buying a monitor for gaming, it's better to stay with those balanced combinations, like 1080p at 24 in or 2K at 27 in. But if your focus is work, then you want the opposite approach, which is a smaller screen but higher resolution. And that gives you

more PPI. That's what makes text and everything on the screen look clean. A good example is something like the LG UltraFine 5K display at 27 in, which gives you around 218 PPI, or the Apple Studio Display, which is basically the same in terms of sharpness. And yeah, those monitors might not have crazy

refresh rate or the fastest response time, but they're not built for that. They're built for work, and in that case, things like pixel density and the panel quality matters way more. Step seven, aspect ratio. All right, aspect ratio is not really hard to choose, so you won't make a serious mistake here. But there are still things you should

know before you going into buying your monitor. Right now, you'll see a few main options on the market: 4 by 3, the standard 16 by 9, 21 by 9 ultrawide, 32 by 9 super ultrawide, and 16 by 10. In most cases, whether you're gaming or working, 16 by 9 is still the safest

choice. But at the same time, you shouldn't ignore the other options because they actually have some underrated advantages. [music] For example, 21 by 9 ultrawide is now supported in most games and apps, [music] and it makes everything feel more immersive. And if you edit videos, that wider screen gives [music] you a longer timeline, which honestly makes

your workflow way more comfortable. Then we got 32 by 9, which is basically like having two 16 by 9 monitors stuck together. You get all the benefits of ultrawide, but even more space to work with, which is great for multitasking. [music] As for 4 by 3, I wouldn't recommend it as your main monitor. Maybe

as a second or a third display if you really need it, but it's more of an old format from the SRT days. Today, it just doesn't make much sense anymore. I hope you get it. Step eight, coating type. This is something most people completely ignore, even though it actually makes a difference. In [music] the market,

you've basically got two options of it: matte and glossy. Back in the day, all monitors were glossy, and the biggest problem was reflections. Then matte coatings came in, solved that issue, and everyone just switched to them. But now, glossy is slowly coming back again. If you've only ever used matte displays, I'd honestly recommend trying glossy at

least once. The image just looks more vibrant and clear because there's no layer dulling it down. The downside is obvious though, reflections. If there's light hitting your screen, you're going to see it. Matte is the safer choice, especially if you're working in a bright room. It reduces glare and makes the screen easier to use during the day, but

the trade-off is slightly less punchy colors compared to glossy. So, if you're going for somewhere like an OLED monitor, I'd personally choose glossy. That's where it really shines, especially for watching movies or playing games. Step nine, ports and built-in speakers. Well, now this is considered bonus features. Most budget monitors don't even have much here

because realistically, all you really need is HDMI or DisplayPort. And honestly, built-in speakers are not that important either. Once you start looking at more expensive monitors, you'll see more of these extras like USB ports or built-in speakers. But [music] here's how you should think about it. If you actually need things like USB-C or

USB-A, then sure, look for a monitor that includes them. It can be convenient, but still optional. When it comes to speakers, don't make them a priority at all. In most cases, even cheap external speakers or headphones will sound way better than anything built into a monitor. It's not a TV after all. So, if your monitor has

speakers, that's nice bonus, but it shouldn't affect your decision. All right, at this point, you should be able to find the right monitor for yourself just by following everything in this video. And if something still feels confusing, you can join my Discord, the link is in the description, and ask there. People are pretty active, well,

kind of, and usually help out. And sometimes I jump in myself if I see your question. Also, if you join before I hit 100K subs, you'll get a special role. That's it for this video. Thanks for watching and take care.