Five great monitors for gamers

Samsung S27D590CS 27 " black

Modern monitors are increasingly adopting technologies that have already been tested successfully on TVs. Thus, the monitor from Samsung was one of the first to boast a curved screen, which, according to the developers, is more pleasant for work and play. And already here initially I would like to touch upon the issue of appearance.

The screen is concave inward, which is clearly noticeable when viewed from the side. Elegance is also emphasized by the leg-stand, which repeats its curve. The whole concept looks quite elegant. Around the display is a thin black frame made of glossy plastic, but the trim on the edges is silver. In addition to the control joystick, there are speakers with a power of 5 W each at the bottom. By the way, many users consider the rejection of the usual keys a successful move, but you need to get used to such control. The quick menu items will help you adjust the basic settings in a few seconds: colour, gamma, brightness, contrast, etc.

And now let's move on to the most important parameters. The diagonal of the monitor is as much as 27", the resolution is 1920x1080 pixels. Viewing angles can be identified as a strong point. With a deviation, the brightness, of course, decreases, and the colour gamut adds warm shades, but there are no obvious distortions, according to tests of specialized publications. The response time is 4ms, which is not very good for gaming, but let's be honest, this monitor does not have a pronounced gaming focus.

The highest quality picture can be obtained in the standard video mode, which has been proven by the monitor's factory tests. But despite this, a special gaming mode is also provided, by turning on which the user will see a sharper and brighter picture. In this mode, the auto contrast function works, which increases the saturation of colours.

Asus VG248QE 24 " black

The Asus VG248QE can be described as a 24-inch monitor specially designed for gaming with a frame rate increased up to 144 Hz, which provides smoother action scenes.

Featuring a TN+Film matrix, the monitor will allow you to use nVIDIA 3D Vision 2 technology. The monitor also supports Lightboost technology, which will definitely be a pleasant surprise for those who encounter such things for the first time, because "smart" blur in dynamic scenes greatly increases their entertainment.

The recommended resolution is 1920x1080 pixels, and the response time reduced to 1 ms, which will avoid black trails behind moving objects on the screen. As journalists in specialized publications note, the viewing angles of the monitor are better than those of competitors with a similar type of matrix, this is especially noticeable when testing the screen along the horizontal axis.

Control is carried out using six mechanical keys that are located on the bottom edge of the case. Pleased with the presence of special menu items, sharpened for various gaming aspects. As standard, the monitor comes with power cables, a 3.5 mm audio cable and DVI.

The creators tried to ensure that the design of the VG248QE does not have distracting elements, and all attention is riveted directly to the screen: straight lines, black edges made of glossy plastic, matte finish of the stand. The only way the designers hinted at the monitor's gaming orientation is red plastic inserts that serve to fix cables on the stand and the 3D logo.

A stable and strong leg will allow you to easily adjust the height of the monitor and change the angle of inclination. Thanks to a custom mount, users can position it in portrait mode or mount it on a wall.

BenQ XL2720T 27 " gray

As the creators themselves say, the BenQ XL2720T is the successor to the already iconic XL2420T gaming monitor. The new product was developed with an eye on professional Counter Strike gamers, therefore it will fully justify the initially high requirements. Developers distinguish design and special functional orientation among its other advantages, which we will discuss below.

Compared to the previous generation, the screen size has been increased from 24 to 27". It is based on a TN + Film matrix, the frame rate reaches 120 Hz, which brings it close to the leaders of our top. The monitor resolution is the same as that of most competitors — 1920x1080. The response time is only 1 ms, but this refers to the transition of the pixels of the matrix from grey to grey. The brightness remains at 300 cd/m2, which is only 50 points behind the previous member of our review ASUS VG248QE. Note that both devices support 3D Vision nVIDIA and Lightboost technologies.

The screen itself has a matte finish and is framed by a thin black frame. The control buttons are in the lower right corner. All this is supported by an ergonomic stand that allows you to change the height of the display position, angle and orientation, leaving it "portrait" or "landscape". For special tasks, the display can be rotated 45 degrees left or right.

Unlike other models in the XL and RL series, the 2720T features a completely new gaming monitor control menu. The main feature is the flexibility in assigning the device control keys, which allows you to use them situationally, assigning one or another function to each of the keys. Implemented SmartScale system, which can be described as "intelligent image scaling". It allows you to customize the picture depending on the requirements of the player. But the Black eQualizer function will allow you to better control the situation in the game, because with its help dark elements become clearer and easier to distinguish. The "chips" can also include a GML function that allows you to load ready-made settings from professional players.

Iiyama ProLite XB2779QS-B1 27 " black

By releasing their version of the 27-inch gaming monitor, the developers from Iiyama set themselves the goal of showing that a quality product can be obtained without overpaying for the brand. Many users consider Apple LED Cinema Display 27" 27 " black which is almost twice as expensive.

The ProLite XB2779QS is equipped with an AH-IPS panel supplied by LG. The resolution of the monitor compares favorably with its competitors — 2560x1440 pixels. It is quite obvious that in connection with this, the sides of the monitor have a ratio of 16:9. But despite such excellent performance, the response time is as much as 5 ms, which is worse than some of the models presented in this TOP. Network users also note excellent viewing angles and high brightness of the image, which will be a plus in games, because contrast is easily adjusted to it, maintaining a harmonious balance.

The ProLite XB2779QS has a stylish silver stripe at the bottom of the display, which houses control buttons, but, alas, they are not backlit. The absence of visual borders and frames makes a positive impression. The back of the case is made of matte plastic, which makes it less susceptible to external factors such as fingerprints. The stand looks modern and practical thanks to smooth curves and a special hole for attaching cables.

The monitor has a rather impressive weight — 8.2 kg, 2.5 kg of which fall on the stand. Regarding the connectors, everything is according to the standard: VGA, DVI, display port and HDMI. Iiyama did not forget about the speakers either, equipping the display with two 2W speakers. Thanks to its interesting appearance, the monitor may seem ergonomic at first glance, but its real dimensions say otherwise — 650 x 565 x 230 mm.

Asus PQ321QE 32 " black

Our TOP ends with the undisputed leader in almost all indicators, from resolution to cost. The only monitor in our review that supports state-of-the-art 4K resolution, i.e. 3840x2160 pixels. The Asus PQ321QE has a conservative design familiar to many: straight lines, dark colours, a matte finish interspersed with silvery plastic on the stand. The design of the stand allows you to change the angle of inclination, the height of the screen and rotate it around the vertical axis.

The PQ321QE uses an IGZO matrix from Sharp. The diagonal of the monitor is an impressive 32", but the response time of the matrix has increased to 8 ms, which is quite excusable for a screen of this size. As a key advantage, you can specify the presence of a special proprietary technology from Asus, which allows you to place pixels much closer to each other, increasing the overall clarity of the picture. The lack of a built-in scaling mechanism significantly affects the operation of some applications that have not been optimized, but in general, the system programs of the OS itself successfully cope with this task.

When dealing with Internet surfing, high resolution in 4K is unlikely will be especially noticeable, not taking into account the smoothness of the fonts, but in the process of processing photos or games, the quality of the picture will impress instantly. For example, gamers will not need to turn on additional anti-aliasing, and photographers will be able to work almost pixel by pixel. It is worth saying that the viewing angles correspond to the level of the product itself and will by no means disappoint, because even with the maximum deviation, the colour reproduction remains excellent, despite the overall decrease in brightness and contrast.

Regarding connectors, everything is modest here — on the back are a display port and a 3.5mm audio jack. At the top right there are mechanical buttons for control, but at the same time they are not very conveniently signed, and therefore most often you will have to adjust them blindly. The menu itself resembles, rather, the menu of a full-fledged TV than a monitor.