Advantages and disadvantages of gaming monitors

Although the lines between TV panels and monitors have been blurring lately, both formats are generally designed for different gaming experiences. Playing in front of a monitor is usually associated with sitting in a chair with a tense face trying to take down more frags. Whereas TV is more of a couch experience that helps you relax over a game.

The standard monitor is a gaming classic, especially for FPS, RTS and MOBA games.

Immersive effect

Gaming monitors typically range from 24 to 32 inches with a classic 16:9 aspect ratio, considered optimal for gaming. The smaller size reduces eye fatigue and improves the gaming experience by bringing the screen closer to the eyes. This is particularly beneficial for genres like shooters, isometric RPGs, online MOBAs, and strategy sims where precise control over a small area is essential. To enhance immersion, a curved screen option is available. On the other hand, larger TV panels are more suitable for console projects like third-person shooters, Action RPGs, fighting games, and sports simulators.

Low input lag

Most gaming monitors have low input lag so that the image on the screen is updated in sync with the user's commands, rather than being slightly delayed. This is critical for so-called back-and-forth shooters like Titanfall 2 or old-school Quake. A few years ago, 4 – 8 ms was the standard for IPS panels, and fast display types with response times of a few milliseconds were expensive. In 2023, many mid-range monitors show responsiveness of 1 – 2 ms. LCD TVs are still lagging behind in this regard. There are not so many models with low input lag in the range of 6-7 ms on sale, and OLED TVs with a response of less than 1 ms, although cheaper, are still beyond the budget of most gamers.

Curved Monitors

Update frequency

The display refresh rate, indicating how often the image refreshes per second, significantly impacts the visual smoothness of motion. Historically, 60 Hz was the standard for TVs and monitors, but gaming monitors have since advanced to 144 Hz, 240 Hz, and beyond. While most gamers may not discern the difference between 144 Hz and 240 Hz, professional players, especially in games like CS: GO, value even milliseconds as it can impact team success. Modern TVs typically offer 60 or 120 Hz, with the latter being pricier. High refresh rates are now essential for gaming monitors, and a 60 Hz display is considered subpar in the gaming community.

Adaptive Sync

In fact, AMD FreeSync has become the gaming industry standard for gaming monitors.

FreeSync and G-Sync are competing adaptive sync technologies designed to eliminate tearing, stuttering, and other artifacts caused by mismatches between a monitor's refresh rate and the game's FPS. AMD's FreeSync operates at the software level and is an open project, while NVIDIA's G-Sync requires a special converter, although they have recently introduced a hardware version called G-Sync Compatible. In the gaming monitor industry, FreeSync has become somewhat of a standard due to its prevalence and cost-effectiveness compared to the pricier G-Sync. VESA Adaptive-Sync is another alternative. On TVs, a free equivalent of FreeSync called VRR is more common, but its full capabilities require HDMI 2.1. An old alternative is v-sync, but many players opt to disable it immediately.

Convenience

We just want to point out that in a gaming monitor, literally every element of the design is aimed at improving efficiency and comfort. In particular, any good monitor is equipped with a solid stand with which you can quickly adjust the height and angle, improving the fit and reducing the stress of muscles and eyes during prolonged use. At the same time, no one forbids you to remove the stand if necessary and hang the monitor on the wall as a normal TV. Also, many samples for gamers are equipped with small and convenient things like USB-hub for connecting peripheral devices, a separate output for headphones or headset stand. Also, a gaming monitor is usually more compact than a TV, so it's easier to set up on a table or in a small room. In contrast to the above, a TV is essentially a giant screen that can either be placed on a table or hung on a wall with a mount and that's it.

AMD FreeSync Monitors

Design

Despite the current trend towards minimalism in computer technology, many manufacturers still embrace a gaming aesthetic characterized by aggressive designs, decorative inserts, and abundant backlighting. The market offers both AA and AAA-level models, featuring subtle logo illumination or customizable RGB lighting that syncs with other components. Bloggers and streamers, aiming to give their PCs a distinctive personality, particularly appreciate such features. Unlike computers, TVs generally lack extensive design variations, with only Samsung Frame TVs coming to mind as an exception.

Advantages and disadvantages of TV

TV + console + sofa = love.

The pros and cons of gaming on a TV may seem apparent, but without firsthand experience playing on large modern TVs and high-performance gaming monitors, the comparison might bring unexpected insights. Fortunately, both TV panels and monitors are undergoing active development, presenting significant differences from what was available in the market 7 – 8 years ago.

Large screen size

Perhaps the most obvious advantage of the TV concerns a large selection of sizes: on sale you can find both compact 24 and 27 inch models, which differ little from monitors, classic 32-inch TVs, which were considered the gold standard 10 years ago and numerous modern panels with a spread of sizes 45 to 85 inches. Given that consoles are dominated by numerous third-person action games, indie platformers, racing games, sports games, and fighting games, gameplay is usually designed to sit not directly in front of the screen, but at distance from it. But it's still unusual to play shooters, a regular monitor is definitely more convenient.

Resolution

In terms of resolution, most TVs have quietly transitioned from 1080p to full 4K, though 2K or 4K gaming monitors are still expensive. However, this is a two-way street, as higher resolution increases the load on the game console or PC graphics card, so in the new generations of PS5 and Xbox there are separate modes of image quality with different settings for resolution, graphics settings and refresh rate. In order to increase FPS it is often necessary to sacrifice the resolution, because of which Full HD image on a 4K panel may seem blurry to someone. If it's blurry, you can play with the upscaling settings on the TV itself. This will increase the delay time, but in most third-person console games this is not critical.

Honest HDR and Dolby Vision

Comparison of a regular SDR image with HDR: the difference is obvious.

HDR (high dynamic range) technology extends the range between the brightest and darkest points on the screen. In other words, on an HDR-enabled display, whites appear lighter and blacks appear deeper. What is especially cool is that the quality of HDR depends on the level of the screen and does not affect the loading of the graphics card in any way, that is, HDR can make the image more beautiful and juicy, but without SMS, registration and the gamma slider turned 200%. There are plenty of great HDR-enabled titles on PC right now, and Sony and Microsoft are actively rolling out support for these formats, kicking developers along the way so they don't forget about it.

To perceive the distinction between standard and extended dynamic range, a display with a brightness range of approximately 1000 - 1400 cd/m² is necessary. TV panels equipped with OLED or other types of display employing full-array local dimming excel in handling these formats. In contrast, monitor manufacturers have introduced their standards such as HDR 400 and HDR 600, which, in terms of technical specifications, do not precisely align with the classic HDR. Exceptions are rare and pricey, including QLED and mini-LED monitors supporting HDR 1000 and HDR 1400.

OLED TVs

Convenient control

Nobody can dispute the convenience of the remote control. With the old-fashioned remote control you could change channels on the TV, control the volume and manipulate the menus. Today's remotes are designed to control a complex TV system with smartphone-like apps, search, Google services, and lots of settings. So they're often equipped with handy things like a touchpad or microphone for voice search and control. It's a shame that the remote gets lost all the time, but that's a worldly matter. In monitors remote controls are rare, and a set of buttons is usually responsible for the control, which is hidden somewhere on the side or on the back panel. Needless to say, the remote is much more convenient?

Number of connectors

A TV is not just a gaming screen, but a multifunctional device that allows you to connect many home devices, including a home theater receiver, multi-channel audio system, router, game console and much more. Therefore, any modern TV is equipped with a large number of a wide variety of ports, including USB, LAN, HDMI, RCA, AUX and optics. Few monitors can boast such an abundance of interfaces.

So what is more convenient?

TV or monitor? The difference is in the details.

To summarize, despite the blurring of formats and the growing popularity of TVs among PC gamers, nothing has really changed much. In our opinion, the TV is still preferable for console expiriences and people who like to play in company or prefer to play The Witcher 3, Last Of Us and Hogwarts Legacy on a sofa. In turn, a monitor with low input-lag and high refresh rate is better suited for experienced FPS, RTS and MOBA players who need maximum control and lightning-fast response.