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2021 7 Best Monitors for Graphic Design

Hello, everyone, my name is Adrian Boysel, and today I am going to tell you what you should think of when buying monitors for graphic design in 2021. Many different factors go into selecting the best monitor for your graphic design needs. 2021 is a year of change and innovation, meaning we will see more monitors with new technologies than ever before. We have compiled a list of six great options, with affiliate links for easy shopping, to consider when looking for a new monitor, all within budget ranges from $200 to $450, and then a single outlier monitor, which is the best overall.

Panel

One of the many things that you should consider is what panel your monitor is using. The reason for this is to make sure that you are getting accurate colors so you can know that what you are seeing is correct. The best way to know this is to make sure that the panel on your monitor is IPS. There are 3 main types of panels which are IPS, VA, and TN. You would want IPS because they are known to have the best color accuracy out of the 3. However, by going with an IPS display, the prices tend to get higher.

Resolution

The next thing you should consider is the resolution. The resolution of monitors for graphic design helps you know how many pixels there are, and the more pixels, the better since it means that it is of higher quality. There are many different monitor resolutions, but nowadays, it is more common to find monitors that start at 1080p and others at 4 or even 8K. Generally, for a monitor, the minimum that you want is 1080p, which has over 2 million pixels, and a maximum of 4K with over 8 million pixels. However, if you want more than 1080p, but not 4K due to limitations, 1440p is another option as it is considered the sweet spot for all resolutions.

Refresh Rate

The third thing that we are going to talk about is the refresh rate of a monitor. Not many people know about this as it is not necessary or important as a graphics designer unless you are working in videos, but even then, you will not likely be editing one that is more than 60 FPS (Frames Per Second). So what the refresh rate does is refresh or reset what is on the screen to any new pixels that are incoming. So, for example, if you have a video running at 120 FPS but the monitor you are watching it on has a refresh rate of 60Hz, you will only see 60 FPS.

Curve

The fourth detail is the curve of the monitor. This is only if you are interested in having a curved display to give a more encompassed look, but it can make it quite costly. There are a couple of different curvatures in a monitor, with the most common one being 1800R and the most aggressive one being 1500R. The number means millimeters, and the R is the radius of a circle. This means that the lower the number, the more curved the monitor.

Anti-Screen Tearing

The fifth and final thing is anti-screen tearing. Screen tearing is something that you do not want as it is a cause of your monitor and output device not fully being synced together, meaning that certain parts of new frames may appear, but scenes from old frames will remain. This will cause a torn-up look in the image/video or even from just moving your mouse around. The best way to combat screen tearing is to get a monitor with Nvidia G-Sync or AMD Freesync, depending on what graphics solution you have in your output device.

Adrian’s Picks

According to the criteria I described above, these are the 7 Best Monitors for Graphic Design in 2021:

ASUS ROG Swift PG27UQ

  • Panel: IPS
  • Resolution: 3840×2160 (4K/2160P)
  • Refresh Rate: 144Hz
  • Curve: N/A
  • Anti Screen Tearing: G-Sync
  • Description: Best 27 in. monitor without a budget

Dell S2721QS

  • Panel: IPS
  • Resolution: 3840×2160 (4K/2160P)
  • Refresh Rate: 60Hz (to be honest, anything above this is overkill on a 4k display for graphic design)
  • Curve: N/A
  • Anti Screen Tearing: Freesync
  • Description: Best budget 4K monitor under $350

LG 27UN850-W

  • Panel: IPS
  • Resolution: 3840×2160 (4K/2160P)
  • Refresh Rate: 60Hz
  • Curve: N/A
  • Anti Screen Tearing: Freesync
  • Description: Best $450 Budget 4K monitor (Is not as good as #2 which is shocking)

GIGABYTE G27Q

  • Panel: IPS
  • Resolution: 2560×1440 (1440P)
  • Refresh Rate: 144Hz
  • Curve: N/A
  • Anti Screen Tearing: Freesync Premium
  • Description: Best 1440P monitor under $300 (Pre Inflation)

GIGABYTE G27QC

  • Panel: VA (Almost as good as IPS)
  • Resolution: 2560×1440 (1440P)
  • Refresh Rate: 165Hz
  • Curve: 1500R
  • Anti Screen Tearing: Freesync, G-Sync
  • Description: Best curved 1440P monitor under $300 (Pre Inflation)

AOC 24G2

  • Panel: IPS
  • Resolution: 1920×1080 (1080P)
  • Refresh Rate: 144Hz
  • Curve: N/A
  • Anti Screen Tearing:
  • Description: Best non-curved monitor under $200 (Pre Inflation)

AOC C24G1

  • Panel: VA
  • Resolution: 1920×1080 (1080P)
  • Refresh Rate: 144Hz
  • Curve: 1500R
  • Anti Screen Tearing: Freesync
  • Description: Best curved 1080p monitor under $200 

Final Thoughts

Thank you all for watching today’s video, but remember these are just my own recommendations and what I think is important for a monitor. Now with all other things aside remember to keep moving forward, keep positive, and keep pursuing your dream of a career in graphic design.

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