I regularly review gaming monitors here at Windows Central, so every now and then I like to check online retailers to see if there are any awesome discounts on my favorite brands and models. Black Friday is a ways off still, but even so, in my latest search I discovered that several acclaimed and highly-rated gaming monitors are seeing early Black Friday deals. Notably, one of our favorites, the HP OMEN 27qs reviewed by my colleague, is down from its usual $429.99 MSRP to just $299.99 at Best Buy while this deal lasts. It's a fantastic monitor that offers 240Hz, 1ms response time, and VRR support.
🎃The best early Black Friday deals🦃
- 📺LG Curved OLED Monitor (32-inches) | $839.99 at Amazon (Save $660!)
- 🎮Amazon Fire TV Xbox Game Pass bundle | $74.99 at Amazon (Save $62!)
- 💻Alienware m16 R2 (RTX 4060) | $1,399.99 at Dell (Save $300!)
- 🔊2.1ch Soundbar for TVs & Monitors | $44.99 at Walmart (Save $55!)
- 💻HP OMEN Transcend 14 (RTX 4050) | $1,099.99 at HP (Save $500!)
- 🎧Sennheiser Momentum 4 ANC | $274.95 at Amazon (Save $125!)
- 📺LG C4 OLED 4K TV (42-inches) | $999.99 at Best Buy (Save $400!)
What to look for in a gaming monitor
As you likely already know, there are hundreds of gaming monitors on the market today; this amount of selection is great, aside from the fact that choosing the best one for your gaming needs can be a bit daunting. Never fear. I'll go over the most important aspects to consider when buying a gaming monitor.
Panel type: Every panel type has its pros and cons. For instance, IPS panels tend to be more affordable and can be easier to view in bright light, but they can have slower response times or might not display imagery as vibrantly as other options.
There's a lot of debate on the subject, but generally people see OLEDs as the best for gaming due to their abilities to support high refresh rates, fast response times, a true black contast, and an excellent color range. However, some OLEDs can suffer from screen burn-in and they tend to not get as bright as some other displays out there. That all said, these days many manufacturers include OLED care software or built-in features to help prevent screen burn-in, so you don't have to worry about that.
RELATED: OLED vs QD-OLED vs QLED vs AMOLED vs Mini LED monitor comparison
Color gamut, HDR, and contrast: We've touched on these things a bit in the previous section, but together these things affect a display's overall image quality. Color gamut refers to the range of color that the display can produce and it is often measured in DC. The wider the range, the more color the screen displays, which means better visual representation overall. Typically, you'll see a gaming monitor's color gamut represented as a percentage of DCI-P3 or sRGB. The closer the DCI-P3 or sRGB percentage is to 100%, the better the color range is.
Meanwhile, High Dynamic Range (HDR) is a technology that adjusts exposure levels on visuals to make them look more dynamic and easier to view. Things are a bit confusing when trying to understand what HDR is exactly, so I'll just explain it as you'll usually see it in gaming monitor spec sheets. VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) has created a certification convention by which to gauge HDR quality and brightness; this is denoted by the numbers that follows "HDR" in specs sheets. For instance, HDR400 means a monitor offers a peak of 400 nits when displaying its colorful technology. Overall, the higher the number, the better the HDR quality.
Finally, contrast alludes to the minimum and max brightness provided by the monitor. As an example, 1000:1 is the minimum contrast ratio you'll want for gaming, and it means that a white pixel can look 1,000 times brighter than a black pixel. Better contrast allows game details to stand out more rather than appearing flat. OLEDs can offer a far more impressive contrast ratio reaching up to 100,000:1, but you'll need to check with each panel to see what its specific contrast ratio is.
Motion Clarity: If you want a monitor that provides buttery smooth game visuals, then you'll want to make sure it offers a high refresh rate (120Hz or higher), speedy response time (preferably 1ms or faster), and supports the VRR (variable refresh rate) technology that works with your GPU — AMD GPUs work with AMD FreeSync while NVIDIA GPUs work with NVIDIA G-Sync. Each of these features is good on its own, but it's the combined grouping that really determines the overall motion clarity.
• Refresh rate signifies the number of times per second that a screen updates the image displayed — 120Hz means a new image is shown 120 times per second.
• Response time is different in that it refers to the amount of time in milliseconds that it takes for the display pixels to change color.
• VRR, also known as adaptive sync or video sync, is the technology that synchronizes the monitor's refresh rates to the GPU, which eliminates screen tearing for far smoother visuals.
Resolution & connections: When talking about monitors, resolution refers to the number of pixels on the screen. The more pixels there are, the clearer and crisper the imagery can be. However, the resolution a panel actually displays is affected by your GPU, ports, and the cables used.
The latest DisplayPort 1.4 can support up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 120Hz. Meanwhile, the latest HDMI 2.1 can support a max refresh rate of up to 4K at 144Hz on compatible gaming PCs. However, to get the full extent of these features, you need to use compatible cables and a GPU/monitor that can handle the resolutions and refresh rates you're going for. In other words, if your gaming PC's GPU cannot handle 4K, then there is no reason to buy a fancy gaming monitor that reaches that high of a resolution.
Some gaming monitors only offer HDMI or DisplayPort connections, if you want to connect other accessories or devices, then you'll want to check and see if the monitor also offers USB-A or USB-C ports. Pay attention to whether or not these ports are upstream (receives power), downstream (provides power), or both to best fit your needs.
Speakers: Many gaming monitors do not offer built-in speakers and the ones that do often don't have the best sound quality. My advice is to not worry about whether or not a monitor has speakers. You'll get a better in-game experience using external speakers or one of the best gaming headsets.
Space: Aside from actual gaming monitor specs, you'll want to consider the amount of space you have available for said monitor. For instance, ultrawide gaming monitors might have relatively small bases compared to the screen width, but you don't want your display sticking out far from the desk in such a way that it's easy to knock into when walking by. Make sure the monitor has enough desk space and that screen won't get bumped into.
Stand adjustments: The nicest monitors tend to have stands that can be adjusted up and down, pivoted sideways, rotated to the sides, and tilted up and down. However, some stands cannot be adjusted at all. If getting the perfect viewing angle is important to you, then you'll want to consider a monitor's stand adjustments. Just remember that ultrawide monitors usually cannot twist to portrait mode because they are so long.
Additionally, most big-name gaming monitors offer VESA mounts, which allow you to attach the monitor to a desk arm or a compatible wall mount rather than the included stand. But, you'll need to check each monitor's compatibility before planning on this.
Price: It's tempting to buy something based on the price or overall value of a discount alone, but you should really take everything mentioned before now into consideration when determining the best gaming monitor deal for your needs. Check around with various retailers to find the best prices available now.
You can also use tools like CamelCamelCamel to check a product's price history on Amazon and determine whether or not the current deal is actually a good one.
Which type of monitor is best for gaming?
There are several different panel types on the market today, each with it's own perks and downsides. However, OLED monitors are largely considered the best gaming monitor type due to their fantastic color range, high refresh rates, and fast response times. However, they don't tend to get as bright as some other displays out there.
What is the best size gaming monitor for gaming?
This really depends on how you plan to use your monitor. For fast-paced competitive gaming, many professionals prefer a smaller display window (24 inches to 27 inches) so they can see everything at once without having to turn their head at all. Meanwhile, if you're playing a single-player adventure and want to be able to take in more of a screen at once, then an ultrawide monitor (34-inches are wider) might fit your needs better.
What is a good refresh rate for gaming?
At a very very minimum, you want a monitor with a 60Hz refresh rate. That said, competitive gamers will want something with 120Hz or higher. However, keep in mind that the refresh rate is only good if other features are also included. For instance, for the best motion clarity, you'll want a monitor with a high refresh rate, speedy response time (1ms or faster), and VRR support (NVIDIA G-Sync or AMD FreeSync).
When is Black Friday?
Despite the official day of Black Friday being Nov. 29, 2024, retailers are increasingly dropping prices earlier and earlier each year. You can start seeing Black Friday deals as early as October on anything including tech.
When is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday is literally the Monday following Black Friday, so this year it will be on Dec. 2, 2024. Typically, Cyber Monday deals can last through the next couple of weeks and even up until Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2024.
As the name denotes, Cyber Monday is when online retailers tend to have the best deals compared to their brick and mortar counterparts (or rivals). That said, it's not unusual for the same Black Friday deal price to continue into the Cyber Monday period. However, it's guaranteed that a discount will continue on through this two part event, especially if availability goes down.
