

You can now buy 4K monitors with up to 144 Hz refresh rates, but they’re more expensive than 60-Hz monitors, most laptops’ integrated graphics processors don’t support them, and most people don’t need them. Older versions of HDMI and DisplayPort topped out at 30 Hz for 4K monitors or relied on multiple cables to achieve 60 Hz.

Refresh rate: A 60-hertz (Hz) refresh rate over either HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2 keeps things smooth and prevents laggy animations and mouse movements.A good dead-pixel policy that protects your purchase from bright- and dark-pixel defects is also important. Warranty: 4K monitors are bigger investments than budget monitors, so a good warranty is important-we looked only at monitors that came with warranties lasting three years or longer.But because good monitor arms can cost an additional $100 to $200, we prioritized 4K monitors with stands that can tilt front to back, swivel side to side, slide up and down, and pivot into portrait mode. The most ergonomic option, and a requirement for our picks, is a monitor’s ability to attach to a monitor arm via a VESA mount. Stands and VESA mount support: If your monitor doesn’t allow you to properly align it for correct posture, your body can pay the price.
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Though the accuracy of factory-calibrated monitors is generally great, professional calibration can usually improve it. If you’re doing professional image work on the monitor, we recommend either calibrating it yourself or hiring a professional to do it. Coverage of the wider DCI-P3 color gamut is also a plus. For the best image quality, your monitor should also cover as much of the sRGB color gamut as possible the more gamut coverage a monitor provides, the wider the range of colors it can accurately represent. The best 4K monitors, which come calibrated from their manufacturers, have better color accuracy than ones that don’t.

Color accuracy and color gamut: For any kind of photo, video, or graphics work, a monitor’s color accuracy ensures that your images look the way you intend them to when they appear on another screen or in print.Having a good contrast ratio is a little more important than having accurate color-you can often fix inaccurate color after the fact by calibrating the monitor yourself, but a poor contrast ratio is harder to address. A contrast ratio of 1000:1 or higher (note that higher is better) is typical of IPS panels. We measured each monitor’s contrast ratio during our testing, instead of relying on the manufacturer’s listing.
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Contrast ratio: A good contrast ratio makes the dark areas of a screen easier to see when you’re watching a movie or playing a game.Great monitors should also include a USB 3.0 hub so you can connect peripherals like keyboards, mice, and webcams, since modern laptops come with fewer and fewer ports of their own. Ports: HDMI and DisplayPort connections are both requirements for any decent 4K monitor, and the best ones will also include a USB-C port that can send a display signal and charge a connected laptop at the same time.You’ll pay between $700 and $900 for a great 32-inch model. Price: A great 27-inch 4K monitor should cost less than $600, and decent budget models should cost less than $400.Display technology: Your 4K monitor’s display should be IPS, not TN (or VA), because IPS panels provide far better viewing angles and color reproduction.We didn’t look at any 4K monitors bigger than 32 inches because they take up too much desk space. Size: A 27-inch monitor is large enough to take advantage of some of 4K’s extra screen resolution without being too large to use on a desk.
