In an article about improving your home, particularly focusing on your gaming room Porch.com recently published a compilation of expert advice in their article about the ultimate game room. We were asked the question of “what should people consider before choosing a screen for gaming and streaming?” and we were asked for a short answer. Here’s my response:
“This is actually a very dense subject as there are a lot of factors that come into play when choosing a monitor for gaming and streaming but if you are only choosing one then the initial question is how much are you willing to spend? If your budget is in the lower $200 or $300 range, then you choice is already made up for you as you will be confined to bargain 24-25″ 1080p 144hz screens or occasional great deals on 1440p 144hz.
If you’re going to be playing fullscreen, its best to monitor chat on a separate display or even your phone for best performance on your PC but playing on Borderless Windowed or plain ol’ Windowed mode should allow more responsive interaction with your viewers if you are streaming. As your budget increases, restrictions loosen up and you definitely have a lot more options in terms of capabilities, panel size and extra features. There are definitely specific things here that can compliment your gaming and streaming experience.”
Expanding on that, there is a lot more choices right now. Modern standards suggests that the sweet spot is 1440p with a high refresh rate and for a varied gaming experience that may be true but say you like to play most AAA adventure titles? You most likely don’t need that >144hz refresh rate but anything with >120Hz is certainly great. If you have the budget and the build to power it, a 4K 144hz is definitely the cinematic experience you want for these kinds of games. If you can get OLED, that’s definitely better.
There’s plenty more to talk about and we discuss this and more in our monitor buying guides. I’ll update it soon, so look forward to it.
