T
he arrival of 4K was
greeted with much
fanfare, but it has
taken a few years to
become affordable.
Now, however, prices have
dropped and graphics cards have
become powerful enough to run at
4K resolutions, making it a great
time to invest.
There are caveats, of course.
Upcoming screens will be able to
run at 144Hz, making for a much
smoother experience. They’ll also
be monstrously expensive. If
you’re on a budget, the current
60Hz screens are the way to go.
For this test, we’ve picked a
broad spectrum of models to give
an idea of what’s available now.Q&A
Which LCD panel type
should I get?
It’s always the same
question when buying a
monitor: IPS, TN or VA? And
the usual rules apply: IPS is
best for overall image
quality, VA is great for video
and TN is cheap and suitable
for gaming. However, with
4K refresh rates at a current
maximum of 60Hz, TN is less
appealing as there’s little
gaming advantage.Large screen or small?
You’d need a 40-inch
monitor at 4K resolution to
get the same pixel density as
a 27-inch 1440p display. If
you do a lot of reading or
writing on your PC, you’ll
need as big a screen as
possible. However, if you
only need your monitor for
video, pictures and gaming,
a smaller screen will get you
an incredibly sharp image.Why only 60Hz?
The main limitation with 4K
screens right now isn’t the
panel itself but the
interconnect. Older
DisplayPort and HDMI
standards don’t support the
1.2 trillion pixels per second
that are required to run such
a massive resolution at
144Hz. The latest
DisplayPort will support this,
and the latest HDMI
supports up to 10K at 120Hz.Dictionary
Colour temperature:
A measure of colour as
related to the temperature
of a very hot object. The
cooler the object, the redder
the light. The hotter it is, the
bluer the light. Our sun’s
daylight is 6500K so this is
the standard for monitors.Hz: The refresh rate, as
measured in hertz (Hz), is
how many times a monitor
changes image in a second.
100Hz+ feels best for
gaming, but 60Hz is the max
for current 4K monitors.DisplayPort and HDMI: The
two current PC and
multimedia video
connection standards. Both
support audio and video and
come in a variety of versions.Windows scaling: In order
to make most programs on
your desktop readable when
using high-res displays,
Windows has a setting that
lets you ‘zoom in’. This
makes things appear larger
and allows apps to bypass it
if needed, letting you view
pictures, videos and games
at full resolution.Group test
4K MONITORS