5 ms·

Why are these monitors sold as "gaming" monitors?

wcoenen 2y ago
Low response time (i.e. time it takes for a pixel to change color) to reduce ghosting, and a high refresh rate up to 240 Hz. These monitors are expensive and do not have very high resolution. If you're not a hardcore fast reflex gamer, and you spend a lot of time looking at text, then IMO it's better to buy a higher resolution monitor for less money.
- jsheard 2y ago
  4K gaming monitors do provide a reasonable middle-ground between "extremely fast but only 100-110ppi" and "extremely high res but only 60hz" now though. You can get 163ppi at 144hz without breaking the bank, which isn't quite retina by Apples definition, but it's good enough for me considering the benefit of high refresh rate.
- bufferoverflow 2y ago
  These days you can buy 4K/240Hz displays that have a 1080p/480Hz mode. Even 240Hz is usually enough for really good players. 480Hz is just for the 0.01% who can take advantage of it. https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Swift-Gaming-Monitor-PG32UCDP/dp/B0D7NNK43H/ https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Swift-Gaming-Monitor-PG32UCDP/dp... https://www.amazon.com/LG-‎32GS95UE-Ultragear-DisplayHDR-DisplayPort/dp/B0CV1Y7NLT https://www.amazon.com/LG-‎32GS95UE-Ultragear-DisplayHDR-Dis... https://www.amazon.com/LG-‎32GS95UV-Ultragear-DisplayHDR-DisplayPort/dp/B0DH8PT8TJ https://www.amazon.com/LG-‎32GS95UV-Ultragear-DisplayHDR-Dis... https://www.amazon.com/Predator-Monitor-FreeSync-Premium-1000nits/dp/B0D9PCJ3TR https://www.amazon.com/Predator-Monitor-FreeSync-Premium-100...
  - jsheard 2y ago
    Note that these are all 32" panels so the PPI is on the lower side of 4K monitors. If you want pixel density first and speed second then you should go for a 27" 4K instead.
    - bufferoverflow 2y ago
      Or just sit a bit further, you will get the same exact FoV.
  - outworlder 2y ago
    > 480Hz is just for the 0.01% who can take advantage of it. I'm skeptical that any human can take advantage of that. Even 240Hz is stretching it.
    - bufferoverflow 2y ago
      I have a 144hz monitor and a 240hz. I can definitely see the difference.
      - Aeolun 2y ago
        I think at that point it’s not really conscious any more? It always takes me a little while to realize my monitor somehow went to 30hz, and that’s why I’m feeling something is off.
diggan 2y ago
I'm guessing because it allows you to set the Field-of-Vision to be pretty wide? I mostly play simulation games, particularly flying, and having a wider FoV makes things easier, until you're ready to go to the top step of using VR instead so you also get depth perception and essentially 360 FoV since you can rotate your head.
- thfuran 2y ago
  A curved, very wide fov screws up the camera projection for most games though.
  - saltcured 2y ago
    I wonder what the math would look like to properly render 3D scenes onto a curved display. Could it be accelerated as well as the regular matrix operations used for perspective projection onto planar screens? During the pandemic I did try out my 4K TV as a game monitor. I had a combination of furniture so that I could sit rather close with my eyes approximately half way up the screen, with a keyboard and mouse in a reasonable position. Then, using an older FPS game I got it to where my laptop GPU could hit good frame rates and I adjusted the game's viewing angle to match how the screen fit my field of view. It was deeply immersive in spite of me being so close I could "see the pixels". The only time I've felt more immersive was demoing Quake in a 3 wall + floor CAVE at a national lab decades ago.
    - outworlder 2y ago
      > I wonder what the math would look like to properly render 3D scenes onto a curved display. Could it be accelerated as well as the regular matrix operations used for perspective projection onto planar screens? The math is pretty simple to account for a curved viewport, even though I don't think any apps actually care about that. Most displays aren't curved enough to make it a meaningful difference. We don't have fixed function pipelines anymore either so that could definitely be handled by hardware.
  - giobox 2y ago
    This used to be much more true, but almost all PC games support 21:9 now and 32:9 support pretty common too. "most games" screwed up is an exaggeration IMO. Even on games that don't officially scale, on PC they almost always have customizable FoV that gets the perspective correct again. Many modern games are even smart enough to rearrange the UI so that the critical info (health bars, ammo counts etc) is in the center of the display and not attached to the edges. PC games have kinda been forced to support ultrawides whether they like it or not - the 21:9 class especially has exploded in popularity for gaming PCs. I've gamed in 32:9 for years now - I wouldn't go back. The curve is not exaggerated enough to be a meaningful projection issue on most curved displays and games.

Low response time (i.e. time it takes for a pixel to change color) to reduce ghosting, and a high refresh rate up to 240 Hz. These monitors are expensive and do not have very high resolution. If you're not a hardcore fast reflex gamer, and you spend a lot of time looking at text, then IMO it's better to buy a higher resolution monitor for less money.

jsheard 2y ago
4K gaming monitors do provide a reasonable middle-ground between "extremely fast but only 100-110ppi" and "extremely high res but only 60hz" now though. You can get 163ppi at 144hz without breaking the bank, which isn't quite retina by Apples definition, but it's good enough for me considering the benefit of high refresh rate.
bufferoverflow 2y ago
These days you can buy 4K/240Hz displays that have a 1080p/480Hz mode. Even 240Hz is usually enough for really good players. 480Hz is just for the 0.01% who can take advantage of it. https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Swift-Gaming-Monitor-PG32UCDP/dp/B0D7NNK43H/ https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Swift-Gaming-Monitor-PG32UCDP/dp... https://www.amazon.com/LG-‎32GS95UE-Ultragear-DisplayHDR-DisplayPort/dp/B0CV1Y7NLT https://www.amazon.com/LG-‎32GS95UE-Ultragear-DisplayHDR-Dis... https://www.amazon.com/LG-‎32GS95UV-Ultragear-DisplayHDR-DisplayPort/dp/B0DH8PT8TJ https://www.amazon.com/LG-‎32GS95UV-Ultragear-DisplayHDR-Dis... https://www.amazon.com/Predator-Monitor-FreeSync-Premium-1000nits/dp/B0D9PCJ3TR https://www.amazon.com/Predator-Monitor-FreeSync-Premium-100...
- jsheard 2y ago
  Note that these are all 32" panels so the PPI is on the lower side of 4K monitors. If you want pixel density first and speed second then you should go for a 27" 4K instead.
  - bufferoverflow 2y ago
    Or just sit a bit further, you will get the same exact FoV.
- outworlder 2y ago
  > 480Hz is just for the 0.01% who can take advantage of it. I'm skeptical that any human can take advantage of that. Even 240Hz is stretching it.
  - bufferoverflow 2y ago
    I have a 144hz monitor and a 240hz. I can definitely see the difference.
    - Aeolun 2y ago
      I think at that point it’s not really conscious any more? It always takes me a little while to realize my monitor somehow went to 30hz, and that’s why I’m feeling something is off.

diggan 2y ago

I'm guessing because it allows you to set the Field-of-Vision to be pretty wide? I mostly play simulation games, particularly flying, and having a wider FoV makes things easier, until you're ready to go to the top step of using VR instead so you also get depth perception and essentially 360 FoV since you can rotate your head.

thfuran 2y ago
A curved, very wide fov screws up the camera projection for most games though.
- saltcured 2y ago
  I wonder what the math would look like to properly render 3D scenes onto a curved display. Could it be accelerated as well as the regular matrix operations used for perspective projection onto planar screens? During the pandemic I did try out my 4K TV as a game monitor. I had a combination of furniture so that I could sit rather close with my eyes approximately half way up the screen, with a keyboard and mouse in a reasonable position. Then, using an older FPS game I got it to where my laptop GPU could hit good frame rates and I adjusted the game's viewing angle to match how the screen fit my field of view. It was deeply immersive in spite of me being so close I could "see the pixels". The only time I've felt more immersive was demoing Quake in a 3 wall + floor CAVE at a national lab decades ago.
  - outworlder 2y ago
    > I wonder what the math would look like to properly render 3D scenes onto a curved display. Could it be accelerated as well as the regular matrix operations used for perspective projection onto planar screens? The math is pretty simple to account for a curved viewport, even though I don't think any apps actually care about that. Most displays aren't curved enough to make it a meaningful difference. We don't have fixed function pipelines anymore either so that could definitely be handled by hardware.
- giobox 2y ago
  This used to be much more true, but almost all PC games support 21:9 now and 32:9 support pretty common too. "most games" screwed up is an exaggeration IMO. Even on games that don't officially scale, on PC they almost always have customizable FoV that gets the perspective correct again. Many modern games are even smart enough to rearrange the UI so that the critical info (health bars, ammo counts etc) is in the center of the display and not attached to the edges. PC games have kinda been forced to support ultrawides whether they like it or not - the 21:9 class especially has exploded in popularity for gaming PCs. I've gamed in 32:9 for years now - I wouldn't go back. The curve is not exaggerated enough to be a meaningful projection issue on most curved displays and games.