Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV, since most of us started gaming on TV, we find it helpful and enjoyable to continue playing that way.
However, if you intend to take your gaming experience to the next level, it might be a good idea to upgrade.
One key difference between consoles and PC gamers is the monitor they use. The main difference is that console gamers use monitors built by their platform, hence the name “gaming monitor”.
While some have tried using both a console and a PC monitor with their consoles and have gotten mixed results.
Most report a much greater sense of immersion while using either integrated display hardware or external hardware such as an Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive or other suitable HDD.
Is a gaming monitor better than a TV? TV or monitor, Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV which seems to be the better choice for use with gaming? That depends.
Monitors give you more screen space, but maybe that isn’t a problem for you if your main concern is lower latency and higher refresh rates.
There are many factors to consider when choosing between monitors and TVs such as response time, supported resolutions, and depth of color compared to others.
Now that we’ve covered the reasons why gamers need to get a gaming monitor, let’s take a closer look at what kinds of games they need to play on their new monitors so that they can really start enjoying their gaming experiences.
Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV?
What’s The Difference Between OLED, QLED, LED, and LCD?
You should have a general idea about things that are similar or different between the two.
Maybe even side by sides of images will help to make important points real when being visually shown how two products stack up against one another.
We have now made sure to update and refresh the article with up-to-date information! Thank you for pointing this out.
LED is an acronym and can either stand for Light Emitting Diode or Light Emitting Diode Array. Both of these are components found in a display.
The function of an LED is to provide light, but then on an LCD TV or monitor it goes through several color balancing layers before reaching the screen.
In addition to the general term “LED TVs,” you may research other types of televisions called OLED, QLED and LCD.
QLED technology is behind the colors that are vibrant and bright unlike LCD which don’t have such accuracy.
Quantum-Dot technology was developed by Seiko’s display R&D team as a means to create brighter, more accurate colors in LCD televisions.
Quantum dots are what they call a specific kind of Nano-material which is capable of emitting colors of light by using small particles or molecules.
These Nanos, as they’re sometimes referred to, create new benefits line those listed above in their respective categories.
LED displays have been around for longer than QLED, but they lack the qualities that make QLED stands out and shine.
OLED is a type of screen technology that makes the screen have amazing quality. It can be thin, it has great color, and the technology behind it creates better design options for products.
OLED technology is a great replacement for existing LCD. Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV It’s lighter, thinner, and can fit into more diverse shapes than previous screen technologies.
OLED is much thinner than LED because it doesn’t need as many layers to display pictures. Individual OLED pixels can be turned off and on so you can control the brightness of each pixel at any given time.
This creates perfect blacks due to the contrast created by brighter colors surrounding dark portions of the picture or movie and vice versa.
This creates an overall more vibrant picture which makes for a more enjoyable viewing experience, especially when looking at simpler content that you want to look rich in detail.
The LCD left more up to chance since it had to use edge-lit LEDs. The problem with the LCD was that it couldn’t control the light nearly as much as OLED since each pixel couldn’t control its lighting.
The edge of the smartphone’s display shows the light originating in individual LEDs, being spread across the screen, then being processed by several layers of the phone until it projects on to our eyes as colored pixels.
OLEDs have individual pixel-by-pixel control to impart the specific color and luminosity needed at any given moment.
Now that you know the different types of displays in general, let’s talk about which type is the best to use if you’re a gamer.
Do Gaming Monitors Have Better Picture Quality Over TVs?
While gaming monitors outperform TVs in several key areas (like color accuracy and contrast ratio), the most common resolutions for both products are virtually the same.
When thinking about purchasing a new gaming monitor there are three main options to consider: 1080p, 1440p or 4k.
It’s common to debate over which resolution is right for you depending on your budget and if you prioritize picture quality or not.
If you don’t have very powerful PC, then try and choose 1080p, this will give you both a great picture quality with less chance of problems such as lag and freezes.
There are a lot of TVs on the market. Most often, they have resolutions of 1080p or 4k but there is also an 8k resolution you can purchase for a higher price.
Many consumers are now buying 4K TVs as they have gone down in price quite significantly .
Which resolution you need depends on what type of gaming graphics card you have. If you have a low to mid-range, 1080p for the best performance is better than going for 4K unless you plan on getting an Xbox One X or PlayStation 4 Pro.
If you have a higher-end PC, Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV you will want that cleaner upgraded look from either 1440p or 4k.
Lastly, if you own a television, going for a 4k screen is a great way to play games. The latest consoles are capable of running at 4k, 120 FPS in many games.
The smaller the resolution, the lower the quality will look. If you want an image to be better and clearer, it’s best to increase its resolution.
However, for a game optimization company , it’s better to look at things like the resolution and frame rate options which are key factors in optimizing and refining the visuals of a video game.
Going from 1080p to 1080p is almost the same number of pixels, just in a higher resolution format.
If you are upgrading from HD to 4K, the difference is about 4 times or in pixel increase about 6 million more pixels in the image.
There are always many changes that happen to an image when scaling it. However, the majority of these changes happen outside of the resolution.
In my opinion, color quality is more important for a display’s picture quality than even resolution.
Color quality is measured by score based on the color gamut and it greatly depends on the type of panel.
Liquid crystal display screens are a type of panel themselves. However, there are types of LCD panels including VA panels and IPS panels. These all have their strong suits that make them better than the others.
OLEDs are technically a part of the display panel family and can be thought of as ‘close cousin’, but this concept can often be alienating for people who aren’t sure about what exactly is an OLED.
So if you feel like you find yourself in this category, here’s some background low down on what makes it different from your regular flat screen TV.
OLED displays superior viewing angles
Additionally, they’re quite thin and have a better contrast ratio for darker scenes, but the colors are also vibrant and brighter.
The color quality of OLED displays is much more advanced than regular LCD displays. Each pixel can control its brightness levels, resulting in a picture that’s crisper and has deeper colors.
When it comes to LED and LCD, there is a key difference between the two. In an LED TV, the LEDs are mostly along the edge of the display and then spread across the middle. If there are three different light colors on the screen, it can have a significant effect on color clarity.
The light cannot be so accurate to the point where it will turn into a laser pointer. So it makes sense that colors would not be as consistent either.
LCDs require multiple layers of glass to create the illusion of color and still require Light-emitting diodes to provide the backlight because they cannot produce it on their own.
LCD Screens can appear brighter than OLED screens, but either one is bright enough to be viewed during the daytime.
Another type of display is QLED, or Quantum-Dot LED. Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV We described this technology in the beginning of the article but we wanted to reiterate how it is created with special particles that show a wider range of colors.
QLEDs are LCDs in form but not necessarily in function. QLED TVs offer an accuracy of color that exceeds other regular LCD screens.
OLED displays are better when it comes to darker viewing. The color quality is still the best when it comes to dark content but QLED displays are much better in brighter conditions.
With all that being said, we rank picture quality like this:
OLED
QLED
LCD
Keep in mind, LCD stands for liquid crystal display which is in fact a type of display screen. Many people probably don’t know that they do not refer to LED displays but LCDs even if they are manufactured by the same company.
Many people get LED displays confused with LCDs. It’s easy to see why – LEDs are a layer of an LCD. But in reality, they only provide the light needed to display images.
Now that you know OLEDs have better picture quality, it’s time to look at some of the other categories in terms of what will likely be more impacting to gamers themselves.
Do Gaming Monitors Have Better Performance Than TVs?
As it was mentioned before, gaming monitors are the ones which usually have the most impressive specs that would matter the most to hardcore gamers. These include but are not limited to response times and refresh rates.
Gaming monitors can have high refresh rates such as 240 or 360, depending on their capability level. They should be able to reach almost any frame rate maximums of today’s gaming consoles and PCs.
Although even the lower refresh rates can be as high as 144hertz or 100-hertz. The average TV is going to be around 60hz although some much more expensive models can reach 120hertz.
The danger of buying some TVs is that some channels intentionally mislead viewers by creating ads like the one above in hopes of seducing you into buying their product without thinking about how much money you’ll be wasting down the road when you end up disappointed with the result.
This means the picture will be able to process up to 200-hertz. However, in reality, this television can only process 60-hertz.
When choosing a television for your home entertainment system, always check to see if the TV has a native refresh rate of 120Hz (120 frames per second) or 240Hz.
This is the only way to guarantee that you are getting a true high definition image and will not be affected by the downsides associated with LCD TVs
If you are a PC gamer, the results of this survey still don’t concern you nearly as much. Currently, the average frame rate for most PC games is 60 frames per second.
So owning and operating a monitor capable of reaching that or higher at least tends to be considered acceptable by most users.
However, some games are getting support for 120 frames per second so having a display that has a 120 Hz refresh rate would allow you to future-proof your setup.
Next, we have TV response time. This performance factor is nearly a tie, with OLED TVs having a slight advantage.
Response time is the measure of how quickly a pixel can change from one color to another, typically from black to white.
When pixels change faster, they are clearer and more defined – which is why games that require quick movements like first person shooters have a faster response time rate of 8ms as opposed to monitors with a slower response time of 15ms.
Ghosting is a blur effect that you may notice when the response time of your monitor (in milliseconds) is high. Luckily on many gaming monitors, they try to make their response times to be under 5ms in order to avoid the blur from occurring.
When using higher response settings on most monitors, you can create a ghosting effect. Because of this, many reviewers will go through settings by setting to see which one has the least ghosting.
Response time is an important factor when it comes to choosing a monitor. When shopping around, look for monitors which only have a response time of up to 1ms.
1 MS response time is considered optimal, but a monitor with more than 5ms of delay is typically considered not suitable for playing games because it’s considered too slow.
While most LCD TVs feature a good response time, many will not. Many of them are slow at about 10ms response time.
If a TV is not gaming-friendly or doesn’t have the best speed (less than 8ms), it might be worth waiting for a new model to come along that has faster speeds and better picture quality.
A lot of people end up buying a TV and find out when it arrives home that it is not good for watching fast-moving images like sports.
OLED TVs are very impressive in terms of response time
While gaming monitors may boast of a lightning-fast 3ms response time, they still appear blurry while in use.
The blur is caused by how long a frame is left on the screen before moving to the next one, thus causing a static effect.
A faster refresh rate can reduce latency. For example, you can use a monitor with a refresh rate of 75Hz instead of 60Hz to reduce the delay between the time that you execute an action and its response is displayed on the screen.
If you have 60 frames per second, that means there are 16.67 milliseconds between each frame.
If there are 144 frames per second, that means there are 6.94 milliseconds between every frame.
Every frame is a change in the picture for one exhibit to show.
As the number of frames in each image increases, the smoother the animation will appear, or conversely, the faster it will appear to flicker.
When frames are on-screen for less time, that will result in much less pixel persistence thus reducing the possibility of having any sort of blur.
Finally, we have input lag. This is often confused with response time, but these are two very different measurements.
Input lag is a video game problem. It’s the time delay between pressing a button on your controller and seeing that transfer to on-screen action
Input lag can be the difference between your moves registering on screen before you enemies’ and your team winning or losing.
Unlike response time, lower input lag is better.
In a game like Street Fighter, when you press a button on your joystick to punch, the command will travel from your computer to your monitor.
An OLED TV could give you a significant disadvantage in fighting games if it has a slower response time than a gaming monitor.
Other factors outside of refresh rate affect input lag. Some of the other factors that can potentially affect input lag are High Dynamic Range (HDR), increased bit-depth, and Black Frame Insertion (BFI).
Most TVs automatically adjust the picture settings based on what’s being watched to compensate for the lighting in the room. Most newer models also have a game mode that reduces lag even more.
Typically, this monitor will still provide a good amount of input lag for gamers. However, the process of turning it into a gaming monitor has resulted in its input lag being significantly faster than it was before.
Drawbacks of game mode in TVs is that often times picture quality must sacrifice when it comes down to reducing input lag.
The colors can look more washed out on your TV depending on what game mode you’re using.
At the end of the day, gaming monitors are generally faster and more reactive to inputs.
Where other monitors might have a bit more visual quality in terms of color or resolution, gaming monitors tend to have snappier visuals without sacrificing as much detail.
Now, to balance things out let’s take a better look at the amazing LG 50″ TV here!
Which Is The Better Size For Gaming, A Gaming Monitor, or a TV?
If you’re a console gamer, a TV is an excellent choice for you. It’s not just the larger screen that can be seen at any distance in your living room which makes this option more suitable.
It’s also the fact that you don’t need to buy a film controller or any other type of specialized input hardware because the games are built right into the hardware itself.
Gaming monitors may be great at displaying performance on, but for people who want a bigger display, you’re better off with regular HDTV’s since most of today’s gaming monitors happen to fall in the 24-inch to 32-inch range.
When the day comes to an end and you’re ready to kick off your shoes at the door, Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV take a seat on the couch, and turn on your gaming console of choice to play some games with friends before calling it a night – that’s a good feeling in itself.
It’s also not like a very good thing for console gamers. TV’s will probably be better for them to play the game on.
If you are a PC gamer and want to go beyond playing on a computer, then you’re going to want to use a gaming monitor.
Most PC gamers play on desktops, which are ideal for gaming monitors. So if you want to free yourself of being stuck in front of your computer all the time, then this is the best option for you.
While the size of a TV screen is bigger than that of a monitor, we recommend gamers opt for monitors instead because the viewing position is close range.
If you tried using a TV for gaming it would be difficult to see all of the action on the screen clearly due to lack of focus.
Also, gaming monitors come in higher resolutions such as 1080p or 1440p which gamers prefer over full HD.
4K gaming is magnificent, but the performance hit is going to be extremely noticeable when compared to either of the other resolutions.
1440p can provide a good balance, but most people prefer to play games on their computers at 1080p. Therefore, to reach a 144-hertz refresh rate you would need a high-end machine.
1080p is the most common performance resolution today, but image quality on 1440p monitors (which are sharper and more pixel-dense than 1080p) isn’t far off.
If you have a mid to low range machine and care more about performance over resolution, I would recommend getting 1080p.
High-definition displays can still have display quality that’s comparable to 1080p resolutions.
An IPS-panel offers some great color reproduction and allows you to turn up the graphical settings higher at 1080p.
The next benefit that TVs have over gaming monitors is superior experience for local multiplayer gaming.
The large size of a TV allows many people to gather around it for fun multiplayer games like Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros., Mario Party, and other games with multi player features.
If you’re planning on having multiple people view your big new TV, Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV I would recommend getting an OLED TV.
A 4k TV is much better than a 1080p one, as it can display pictures in more detail. A 4k TV has more pixels, and this equals greater quality in the picture.
Gaming monitors are much more personal than televisions when it comes to gaming as a pastime.
I think bigger sizes might be good for the public, but if you just have one or two people over, you’ll probably prefer an OLED television. Just my opinion.
Are TVs Better Than Gaming Monitors For Watching Movies?
Their screen offers stunning sight-lines however the new technology means that they’re also more expensive to produce and much heavier as a result.
Don’t get me wrong, gaming monitors can still provide an optimal viewing experience for watching movies, but OLED TV’s were created specifically to bring the best possible viewing experience when it comes to movie watching.
You also revisit the previous topic of size. If you are watching a television from your bed, it is much easier to see an OLED television in your peripheral vision than an LED TV.
OLED displays that have higher static levels of contrast will produce a much clearer, more crisp image than other models, specifically in darker scenes.
The contrast ratio is the difference between the darkest black and the lightest white.
The higher the contrast ratio, Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV the more colors will stand out and less washed out when light colors appear in a dark scene.
OLED TVs have strong, scarlet-colored accuracy that makes every TV show or movie you watch look as if it were made using color pencils.
When it comes to watching a movie, I would recommend an OLED TV. If you prioritize movies over gaming and do it more often, you should get an OLED TV.
Gaming monitors might look good, but usually have a poor contrast ratio and will make certain scenes in particular look poor.
If you use a monitor with VA technology – much like IPS and TN panels that are frequently favored, you’re likely to work with a better color contrast ratio than you would find in other monitors but it is important to realize that using this type of style will limit the amount of detail visible when it comes to color accuracy.
It’s important to get a good monitor if you’re going to watch movies in the dark, because otherwise there is a risk of backlight bleeding and IPS glow becoming an issue.
Since LCD displays use fluorescent backlighting, certain types of lighting can make it so that there are more shadows and darker areas being shown on the edges.
The LCD displays that utilize fluorescent backlighting can sometimes be seen in more accentuated lights, so if you’re using a lot of bright lighting behind the display.
You may notice it producing more shadows and darker areas within the edges of the display.
There is also another similar looking issue on IPS monitors referred to as IPS glare.
This has the same bright effect in dark scenes, Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV but it takes place towards the corners of the screen.
The downside of OLED TVs compared to other types is that they do suffer from screen burn-in problems, but depending on your tolerance for it this could be a trade-off worth making.
Are Gaming Monitors Better For Competitive Gaming?
You should use a gaming monitor if you’re interested in gaming competitively. They tend to be faster and more responsive than typical monitors, which is important when you need to make split second decisions.
If you are into games such as Fortnite, Paladins, or other competitive titles, speed is crucial.
Before you reach the highest level of competition in the game then getting used to playing at a rate that others around you may not be used to can pay off with big-time rewards.
Having a monitor that keeps up with your quick motions, and opponents’ is imperative to your ultimate success.
Believe it or not, persistence, refresh rate, response time, and input lag can all be responsible for the differences in whether or not a product will rise to the top of its market or plummet down into obscurity.
Starting, with the refresh rate, a higher refresh rate can greatly reduce input lag and the time between each frame shown on-screen.
This means if an enemy is scattered across a doorway, you would see them for longer than usual because their character model will continue to refresh itself more frequently as they pass by.
This is because the image is refreshed more frequently, so the image has a shorter delay between reflecting both your and the enemy’s movement.
The caveat to refresh rates is that you need a pretty high-spec machine to reach frame rates that are equivalent to your refresh rate.
The refresh rate of your monitor is the number of frames per second (fps) your monitor can handle which is what you’re actually looking up here.
Frames Per Second or FPS is how many times your graphics can cycle through per second and is out of the control of what a monitor can do.
To see the benefit of a higher refresh rate, your graphics card and monitor need to both be capable of handling the same frame rate.
For example, a 144-hertz (Hz) refresh rate monitor means every frame will be displayed 144 times per second for smoother motion and lower input lag.
Another important competitive feature is how companies react to their customers, especially in the case of an emergency.
So Which Is Better, The Gaming Monitor Or The TV?
When it comes to noticing and caring about a difference in display resolution, there are three types of gamers:
Choosing the right type of gaming monitor may prove challenging. Is A Gaming Monitor Better Than A TV And that’s why their are experts out there to assist you if you take advantage of your local Best Buy store’s Geek Squad services.
Gaming monitors will have a higher refresh rate, a better response time, the lowest motion blur, and great visual quality too. They will also feature big ultra-high definition screens that can make your games look breathtaking.
Now both console gamers and PC gamers can experience higher refresh rates and buttery smooth FPS.
Gaming monitors can have many options than gaming televisions if you are a PC player, one of which being a much higher refresh rate.
If you are a gamer who wants to play on a console but you want a higher refresh rate than what is available on the standard TV your friend has, you don’t have to spend as much as you would if you just purchased a whole new TV.
OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) is an incredible new technology that produces some of the clearest and crispest images ever placed on a screen size.
OLED TV’s don’t require you to look at them from a specific angle in order for them to produce great images. This is unlike LCD screens and monitors, which require a specific viewpoint in order to see an image.
Why Buy OLED? OLED display technology eliminates the need for backlight units and filters, resulting in a more flexible panel.
These features work together to produce images with amazing contrast – leading to stunningly lifelike photographs and videos.
The pixels are self-lighting, so no internal light is required: hence ‘OLED’ (organic light-emitting diode). The result is perfect black reproduction, which enhances detail that would have been lost on older displays.
Movies will look better than ever. Story-driven adventures like of War, RDR2, and Ghost Of Tsushima will shine on an OLED screen.
You can comfortably relax and play some of your favorite video games on the X-Box ONE and PlayStation 4 game consoles.
And lastly, we have LCD TVs that may not be as extravagant or new as OLED ones but can still provide a great experience to watch your favorite content.
IPS LCD displays can often provide you with decent viewing angles, and rich colors, so you can enjoy nearly any game currently on the market.
There are many different sizes of televisions. It is also true that depending on your personal preferences, you may choose either a reclined position while gaming or an upright position.
I prefer to game at my desk where my PC is. This allows me to check out another screen when I am not visiting a website or checking social media channels. Because of this, a gaming monitor is what I need.
A higher refresh rate, 1440p resolution, lower response time and the rest is much better when it comes to enjoying the games I like to play.
I also have a unique form factor as my resolution is perfect for many types of single-player games and strategy games.
