46 JANUARY2021|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE395
01
Abasic24inLCDmonitorcosts
around£100.Itwillbefinefortypical
Windows work but is likely to have poor
viewing angles, so you’ll need to sit straight
on forthe bestpicture quality.Its colour
accuracy maynot be very good, either.
02
AVGA input lets you use the monitor
with any PC, but the quality maynot
be as good as it is over DVIorHDMI. Both
are digital connections and require a
compatible graphics card but theyavoid the
need fordigital-to-analogue or analogue-to-
digital conversions, which can reduce image
quality.Adigital connection achieves the
best picture automatically,soyou won’t have
to adjust clock or phase settings as you do
with analogue connections.
Choosinga... Display
Many DVIand allHDMIconnections
support HDCP,which lets you watch
protected video content, such as Blu-ray
movies. DisplayPort is becoming more
popular,but you’ll need agraphics card with
aDisplayPort output (mini or full-size) to
use this input on your monitor.
03
Alarger monitor will be easier on the
eyeand mayhaveahigher resolution.
Most monitors have aresolution of at least
1,920x1,080 (1080p), which provides lots of
room forworking with multiple windows at
the same time.For even higher resolutions,
you’ll need alarger display. Some 27in and
30in screens have 2,560x1,600 or even 4K
resolutions. You’ll need agraphics card with
adual-link DVIoutput and adual-link DVI
cable or either HDMI or DisplayPort to usea
monitor at these resolutions.
04
If you want better picture quality,
look foramonitor with ahigh
contrast ratio.The higher the ratio,the
whiter thewhitesand theblacker the blacks.
You’ll also be able to see more fine detail in
images with high contrast levels. Viewing
angles are important, as wider angles mean
you don’t have to sit directly in front of the
monitor to get the best picture.Wider
viewing angles also allow more people to
view the screen at the same time.
Fast response times reduce ghosting,
but don’t be dazzled by the numbers. A
response time of 25ms or quicker is fine
forall applications.
DISPLAYS
LG27GL850
★★★★★
£439•www.currys.co.uk
LENOVO
ThinkVisionM14
★★★★★
£228•business.currys.co.uk
AOC 24B2XH
★★★★★
£105•www.uk.insight.com
ACERNitroVG270UP
★★★★★
£337•www.amzn.to/3iCjVSR
Thismonitor’ssizeand
resolutionhitthesweetspot
forseriousgaming,andit’s
helpedfurtherby bothG-SyncandFreeSync
support,aswellasaninnovativeIPSpanelthat’sfasterandmore
responsivethanthetechnologyusuallyis.
WiththeThinkVisionM14,portableUSBType-C
monitorsfinallyreachmaturity.It’srazor-thin,hasan
adjustablehingeinsteadof afixedangle,anditsIPS
panelisleaguesaheadof thecompetition.
Agreatall-roundgaming
monitorwithoutthepremium
price.BothFreeSyncand
G-Syncaresupported,andtheIPSpanelcombinesa144Hzrefresh
ratewithvibrantcolours,highaccuracyandthekindof
responsivenessyou’dnormallyonlygetfromaTNpanel.
SCREENSIZE27in•RESOLUTION2,560x1,440•REFRESHRATE144Hz•SCREENTECHNOLOGY
IPS•VIDEOINPUTSHDMI,DisplayPort•WARRANTYOneyearparts and labour•DETAILS
http://www.lg.com•PARTCODE27GL850-B•FULLREVIEWOct2020
SCREENSIZE14in•RESOLUTION1,920x1,080•SCREENTECHNOLOGYIPS•VIDEOINPUTS
USB Type-C•WARRANTYThreeyears RTB•DETAILSwww.lenovo.com•PARTCODE
D18140FX0•FULLREVIEWMar 2020
SCREENSIZE24in•RESOLUTION1,920x1,080•SCREENTECHNOLOGYIPS•REFRESHRATE
75Hz•VIDEOINPUTSHDMI,VGA•WARRANTYThreeyears RTB•DETAILSeu.aoc.com•
PARTCODE:24B2XH•FULLREVIEWSep 2020
SCREENSIZE27in•RESOLUTION2,560x1,440•SCREENTECHNOLOGYIPS•REFRESHRATE
144Hz•VIDEOINPUTSHDMI,DisplayPort•WARRANTYTwoyears RTB•DETAILSwww.acer.
com•FULLREVIEWDec 2019
IPSmonitorsdon’tcome
anycheaperthanthis,
and theAOC24B2XH
backsupthisinitialpromisewithvibrantonscreentones,excellent
colouraccuracyandevengoodcontrast–somethingevenexpensive
IPSpanelscanstrugglewith.
AOC CQ32G1
★★★★★
£320•www.ballicom.co.uk
SCREENSIZE31.5in•RESOLUTION2,560x1,440•SCREENTECHNOLOGYVA•REFRESHRATE
144Hz•VIDEOINPUTSHDMI,DisplayPort•WARRANTYOneyearrepair andreplace•DETAILS
eu.aoc.com•FULLREVIEWNov2019
AOChasahabitof
makinggreat-value,
large-screenedVA monitors,
andtheCQ32G1isanotherto addto thelist.A144Hzgamingdisplay
firstandforemost,it’sasfastandgood-lookingasitneedsto be,and
supportsbothAMDFreeSyncand,unofficially,NvidiaG-Sync.
IIYAMAProLiteXUB2792UHSU
★★★★★
£335•www.scan.co.uk
Ifyoudon’tneedallthebells
andwhistlesof acurved
ultrawide,theProLite
XUB2792UHSUnailsthebasicsatavery
attractiveprice.4Ksharpness,highbrightnessand
fullsRGBcolourgamutcoverageaddupto asuperbmonitor.
SCREENSIZE27in•RESOLUTION3,840x2,160•SCREENTECHNOLOGYIPS•REFRESHRATE
60Hz•VIDEOINPUTSDisplayPort, HDMI,DVI•WARRANTYThreeyears onsite•DETAILS
http://www.iiyama.com•FULLREVIEWNov2019
ors,
stA 144 Hzgamingdisplay
92 UHSU
