Ten years ago, monitors were nothing more than necessary accessories. Today, they can be luxury items that dramatically improve all aspects of computing and content consumption. There are so many types of monitors that suit so many different needs.
Screen resolution, response time, panel weight: everything should be considered when choosing a personal device or an enterprise fleet. Unfortunately, all of these specs can be confusing. We've compiled this roundup to help you sort through the abundance of options available.
1. Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC
Screen size: 34-inch | Aspect ratio: 21:9 | Resolution: 3440 x 1440 Brightness: 340 cd/m2 | Response time: 14ms | Viewing angle: 172/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 100% | Weight: 7.9kg
Super build quality
Great picture
Relatively good value
No G-Sync or FreeSync
Philips' Brilliance BDM3490UC should be your top pick if you're looking to watch movies or work from home. Its IPS display is bright and inviting, effectively emulating the movie theater experiencing (just make sure you bring the popcorn and close the curtains). The 21:9 curved display can be a bit disorienting, however, if you're accustomed to standard flat screen displays. Still, this one takes the cake for gaming. In the absence of both G-Sync and FreeSync, though, don't forget to tick the vertical sync box in all your games. Plus, as long as you're set on a 21:9 cinematic panel, the Brilliance is competitively priced as well.
2. Acer Predator X34
A gaming monitor with attitude
Screen size: 34-inch | Aspect ratio: 21:9 | Resolution: 3440 x 1440 Brightness: 300 cd/m2 | Response time: 4ms G2G (grey-to-grey) | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 100 million:1 | Colour support: SRGB 100% | Weight: 9.9kg
See more Acer Predator X34 deals
Aggressive design
Perfect color accuracy
Limited port selection
Underpowered speakers
Cinematic monitors are a great alternative to 4K ones when it comes to gaming. In fact, you might say they're even better due to their ultrawide 21:9 aspect ratio. The Acer Predator X34 certainly looks the part, featuring an eye-catching aluminium bezel and angular, crow's foot-shape stand. It comes with a number of gaming mod cons in tow, including Nvidia's G-Sync frame-smoothing tech, an immersion-boosting curved shape and fantastic color reproduction that brings games to life. Short of strapping on a virtual reality headset, the Predator X34 is about as immersive as gaming gets.
3. Philips 258B6QJEB
Thin bezels feature on this well-connected QHD monitor
Screen size: 25-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 2,560 x 1,440 | Brightness: 350 cd/m2 | Response time: 14ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 87% | Weight: 15.4 pounds
See more Philips 258B6QJEB deals
Image quality
Adjustability
Small footprint
High response time
Tinny speakers
In terms of price, size and sharpness, QHD often hits the sweet spot, and Philips' 258B6QJEB is one of the most stylish 25-inch models arouund. Packing a pixel-resolution of 2,560 x 1,440, it provides more than enough room on the desktop to get productive, and because the monitor is compact it won't take up much room on your desk. It's versatile too thanks to its built-in rotate and height adjustability
Philips loaded the 258B6QJEB with an abundance of connectivity options that include two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports (one with a high-current output), VGA, DVI-D, DisplayPort, HDMI, a 3.5mm audio-in and headphone output sockets.