Monitors for current-gen console gaming advice

[hudson]

Hi,

I'm not that tech savvy when it comes to refresh rates and the like, but I follow people in the fighting game community on Twitter and see post from one guy in particular regarding refresh rates on monitors and how this can affect gaming competitively. Always talking up the 144hz. Now, I'm currently hoping to get a new display and when I looked up monitors with 144hz (and 1440p for that matter - I'm only going to be able to house approx 27" on my desk) capabilities, I found that these displays are not hovering around the decent 200 quid mark.

BUT, then I got thinking about hz numbers and consoles - 144hz is surely a number that PCs hit, right? I have both a PS5 and Xbox Series S and I think these support up to 120hz? Actually, not sure if that's true for the S.

My question is, do I need to get a 144hz monitor? Will 144hz downscale to 120hz or is it better to get a display that has native 120hz - Im not sure what I'm talking about.

Then there's the case of whether this is even going to be a thing on fighting games on console? Surely, we will see 60hz?

Am I even talking about the right thing here? Hertz, FPS, refresh, latencies. What is a layman to do?

Bottom line, I want a nice zippy experience and I want a lovely looking monitor where the screen be popping off into my eyezballs.

[Asura]

Then there's the case of whether this is even going to be a thing on fighting games on console? Surely, we will see 60hz?

This; in terms of FPS on console, 60 is what you should expect (especially now 3D gaming has died off). TVs that advertise 120hz typically do it via interpolation, which you want to switch off anyway as it introduces some lag (you'll want to turn off most image-processing features), and every TV will do 60hz these days (we're 20 years past the point where you had UK TVs that would top out at 50).

[hudson]

So we saying a monitor that is 1440p/4k with at least 60hz is fine and futureproof? 120hz a nice to have?

[speedlolita]

Considering that most modern PC displays have VRR and related technologies I don't think 120Hz will be an issue. I guess my only concern would be if HDMI 2.0 (most lower end monitors will still be using 2.0 rather than 2.1) will be enough to support 1440p120, although I know that this supports up to 1440p144.

You do have TVs that properly support 120Hz and VRR at the high end now, you'd likely be paying around a grand for a decent set though.

I don't think that having a display capable of 120Hz is going to be a detriment to you even if only a handful of games support it. Additionally, getting something that also supports variable refresh rates is going to be a huge boon for keeping those frames from tearing.

[MartyG]

You're going to get less input latency with most PC monitors compared to TVs - do you plan on using it with a PC in the future or just consoles - budget is £200?

[hudson]

Mainly consoles. My PC is a Steam Deck
Budget is 200-ish yeah.

I'm happy with a monitor. It's what I use now. It has 1440p, but it's refresh rate is pish I think. HP Z27s. So any improvement on this would be great.

Monitor route seems cheapest - my use case, is simply a display for my console gaming. 27" screen size or a bit bigger is ideal.

[MartyG]

Okay, I think you're going to struggle to get to a 27" 1440P/144 at £200. You'll be able to find a good 1080P screen for that. You can get VA panels, but that will depend if ghosting will annoy you.

You can get a nice IPS LG 27" 144 for around £200, but at 1080P.

If you can stretch the budget, there's a similar LG panel at 1440P.

VA can be just fine, but the ghosting effect really annoys some people.

Forget using panels at this price point for HDR though, even if they claim to support it - they're definitely not up to the job.

[hudson]

Doing a quick search for 'monitor 1440p 144hz' seems to throw up some around the £200 mark. 1, 2, 3

[MartyG]

Yes, VA panels. You'll be lucky to find responsive IPS at that price.

You may be absolutely fine with them, not everyone is bothered by the ghosting.

[speedlolita]

That first link is IPS fwiw. Seems to have a pretty good rating on rtings.

[Cepp]

Okay, I think you're going to struggle to get to a 27" 1440P/144 at £200. You'll be able to find a good 1080P screen for that. You can get VA panels, but that will depend if ghosting will annoy you.

You can get a nice IPS LG 27" 144 for around £200, but at 1080P.

If you can stretch the budget, there's a similar LG panel at 1440P.

VA can be just fine, but the ghosting effect really annoys some people.

Forget using panels at this price point for HDR though, even if they claim to support it - they're definitely not up to the job.

Looks pretty good, I've been looking for a cheapish second monitor to use for work / occasional gaming, assuming 1080p still looks decent enough at 27".

[MartyG]

That first link is IPS fwiw. Seems to have a pretty good rating on rtings.

That one might well be worth a look then.

Looks pretty good, I've been looking for a cheapish second monitor to use for work / occasional gaming, assuming 1080p still looks decent enough at 27".

If you're sat 2-3ft from your screen you will be able to see the difference in resolution at that size screen, but if it's just for casual gaming and you favour higher refresh rates, the LG will be the better screen. The rtings review seems pretty positive for that Benq tho, maybe even "screen be popping off into my eyezballs" from what they're saying. It's not a brand I'd normally look at tbh, which is why I'd assumed it was VA at £210.

I've bought IPS, VA and TN panels in the past, but I don't think I'd want to have gamed on the VA, but if I really wanted to splash the cash, I'd probably be looking at a Samsung Odyssey G7.

[Cepp]

It's about 2ft, maybe a bit less. I'm using one 24" monitor with a 13.3" laptop screen and it's killing me. The PCs old TBF, I don't need a lot of fancy features, just something decent enough until I do a full upgrade, maybe with Freesync.

Lots of reading to do over the weekend.

[dataDave]

I'm happy with a monitor. It's what I use now. It has 1440p, but it's refresh rate is pish I think. HP Z27s. So any improvement on this would be great.

What’s so bad about the refresh rate of your existing monitor? It’s already 60Hz. Street Fighter is 60fps, so a monitor capable of higher refresh rates isn’t going to provide any benefit in the slightest. You can’t play a 60fps game on a 144Hz display and expect any kind of advantage, because the monitor will drop to 60Hz to facilitate the content it’s being fed.

[dataDave]

But yeah, higher refresh is where PCs blow consoles away. It’s very difficult to go back to 60fps after sampling 144fps and beyond, especially for anything competitive like first-person shooters. Ask [MENTION=25]charlesr[/MENTION] about Overwatch.

I’ve had a 1440/165Hz IPS since early 2018 and I’ve had loads out of it. I only really need to upgrade once HDR gaming on the PC catches up. At a guess Cyberpunk 2077 will be pushing 1440p/165fps once the RTX5080 comes around (late 2024?) so I’m probably going to be good until 2026, if it lives that long of course.

I’ll probably go ultrawide next.