If you’re looking to upgrade your gaming monitor set up, or build a new gaming set up from scratch, it may be difficult to know where to start. The monitor market is huge, with a large number of factors that can completely change the strengths and weaknesses of the monitor – meaning that you need to be informed on these factors, and how they will affect your gaming experience personally.
There are some aspects of buying a gaming monitor that you may be familiar with – choosing the resolution will dictate the maximum picture quality, with modern options ranging from 1080p through to 4K gaming, while there are a range of screen dimensions that can fit in the smallest or the largest of gaming set ups.
However, these are not the only influential factors when considering your next gaming monitor – a less well-known, but nonetheless important aspect of purchasing a monitor is choosing the TFT LCD type.
All modern-day monitors use a TFT LCD set up, (short for Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) which has been the default method for monitors since the 1950s – of course, the technology has dramatically changed and improved over time, but the type of TFT you choose could have a big impact on your gaming experience.
Read on to find out more about TFT LCD set ups and their respective qualities.
1. Twisted Nematic
Twisted Nematic monitors, or TNs, are the most traditional type of screen set up – which in a world where the latest technology is hailed as the greatest, doesn’t sound like a great introduction.
However, these older monitors can present gamers with a number of benefits. For starters, due to their older nature, they are the cheapest type of monitor, which during a cost-of-living crisis, is a very important starting point for many.
As well as this, Twisted Nematic monitors offer unparalleled speed – in that their pixel update response can be around 1ms, while refresh rates for frames per second can reach 240Hz, much more than the limit of 150-200Hz on more modern devices.
2. In-plane Switching
For gamers who insist on nothing but the best quality, In-plane Switching or IPS monitors will provide the best graphical performance. If you’re in the market for high-performance monitors such as Lenovo 4K Gaming Monitors, IPS will provide all the faultless graphics and immersion that you are looking for.
Framerates do lag slightly behind the other two options as a result, but the 178/178 viewing angle matches VA systems and allows for clear views at nearly any angle.
3. Vertical Alignment
If you’re looking for a jack-of-all-trades monitor that can deliver pleasing results in any format, then Vertical Alignment or VA monitors may be the ideal choice for you.
When compared to the TN, VA monitors offer far superior picture quality, owing to the richer colour clarity and variation, as well as improved viewing angles. While pixel update and framerates cannot match the maximised TN, the VA has improved significantly in recent years in these regards, offering 2-3ms updates and refresh rates of up to 200Hz.
Due to their rich colour quality and high contrast rates of 3000:1, VA monitors are the usual choice for TVs, but will deliver great gaming performance too.
