Key Facts: PC Monitors
This page is Pixel Lab's maintained fact reference — the specification facts our guides are built on, restated in plain prose. We report verified specifications, never fabricated benchmark numbers.
Panel technology
IPS gives the widest, most consistent viewing angles and the best color accuracy off-axis, at the cost of lower native contrast than VA. VA panels roughly double or triple native contrast ratio versus IPS but shift color and gamma more at extreme angles. TN is the fastest LCD response and cheapest, with the narrowest viewing angles and weakest color. OLED (WOLED and QD-OLED) is emissive — each pixel produces its own light — giving near-infinite contrast and the fastest real pixel response, with a genuine long-term burn-in risk class that LCD technologies don't share. QD-OLED ships in monitors today (not just TVs); it is not the same thing as QDEL/electroluminescent quantum dots, which do not yet ship in consumer displays. Full comparison: IPS vs VA vs OLED for My Use, full table: The Monitor Numbers.
Response-time claims
A "1ms" spec-sheet claim is almost always MPRT (Moving Picture Response Time), measured with backlight strobing turned on, not GtG (gray-to-gray, the actual pixel transition time). The two are not comparable numbers, and strobing MPRT to 1ms often introduces visible flicker or reduced brightness when enabled. OLED panels can post genuine sub-1ms GtG without any strobing trick. Full breakdown: Is 1ms Response Time Real?.
Refresh rate vs frame rate
Refresh rate is how many times the panel itself redraws per second (a hardware ceiling); frame rate is how many frames your GPU actually delivers (a software/hardware-pipeline result). A 240Hz monitor displays nothing faster than the frame rate your GPU feeds it — pairing a high-refresh panel with a GPU that can't sustain matching frame rates in your games wastes most of the panel's ceiling. Perceptible smoothness gains diminish above roughly 120–144Hz for most viewers, though competitive players report edge cases up to 240Hz+. Full breakdown: Do I Need 240Hz?.
Adaptive sync tiers
AMD's FreeSync program has three tiers: base FreeSync (variable refresh, no further certification testing), FreeSync Premium (adds a minimum 120Hz at FHD plus low-framerate compensation), and FreeSync Premium Pro (adds HDR certification testing). NVIDIA's "G-Sync Compatible" label means a monitor passed NVIDIA's validation testing for variable refresh over its existing adaptive-sync hardware — it is a validation badge, not a dedicated chip. Native "G-Sync" (and "G-Sync Ultimate") monitors contain a dedicated NVIDIA hardware module, which historically enabled a wider variable-refresh range and stricter certification, at a real cost premium and often no FreeSync fallback. Full breakdown: FreeSync vs G-Sync Explained.
HDR certification tiers
VESA's DisplayHDR spec defines certified tiers by minimum peak brightness and other measured criteria: DisplayHDR 400 requires only 400 nits peak brightness with no local dimming requirement, which most reviewers consider a marketing-adjacent minimum rather than a real HDR experience. DisplayHDR 600 and 1000 require higher peak brightness plus local dimming. DisplayHDR True Black (400/500/600) is the OLED-specific tier, certifying near-zero black level instead of high peak brightness. A monitor advertising "HDR10 compatible" with no DisplayHDR certification at all is only claiming it accepts an HDR10 signal — not that it can reproduce HDR brightness or contrast. Full breakdown: DisplayHDR 400 vs 600 vs 1000.
Resolution, size, and PPI
Pixels-per-inch (PPI) is what actually determines perceived sharpness, not resolution alone. 27" at 1440p (~109 PPI) and 32" at 4K (~138 PPI) are the two most common "sweet spot" combinations that look sharp at normal desk viewing distance (roughly 24–30") without requiring OS display scaling. Going to 4K at 27" (~163 PPI) looks sharper still but usually needs 125–150% OS scaling to keep UI text a usable size. Full table: What PPI Do I Need at What Size?.
Subpixel layout and text rendering
Most LCD monitors use a standard RGB stripe subpixel layout, which ClearType and modern OS text renderers are tuned for. Some panels use BGR order (reversed), which can make ClearType-rendered text look subtly fringed with color unless the OS ClearType tuner or ClearType ID setting is corrected for it. OLED monitors commonly use a triangular (delta) or non-standard subpixel arrangement, which can make small text render slightly differently than on an RGB-stripe LCD — a genuine, if usually minor, real-world difference worth knowing about before using an OLED monitor for all-day text work. Full table: The Monitor Numbers.
Port bandwidth
DisplayPort 1.4 (32.4 Gbps) can carry 4K at up to 120Hz with Display Stream Compression (DSC), or 4K/60Hz uncompressed. DisplayPort 2.1 raises usable bandwidth substantially (UHBR tiers up to 80 Gbps), enabling higher combinations such as 4K at 240Hz or beyond without relying on compression. HDMI 2.1 (48 Gbps) supports 4K at 120Hz with VRR — but many devices only wire full 48Gbps bandwidth to one or two ports even when "HDMI 2.1" appears on the spec sheet, so the specific port matters more than the headline spec. Full breakdown: What Cable for 4K 144Hz?.
Color gamut claims
sRGB, DCI-P3, and AdobeRGB are different, non-overlapping-in-scope color spaces — a monitor's percentage coverage of one says nothing about its coverage of another. sRGB is the web/general-content baseline; DCI-P3 is the digital cinema/HDR-content standard, roughly 25% larger than sRGB; AdobeRGB is print-workflow focused, with more coverage in cyan-green tones than DCI-P3. A "99% DCI-P3" spec does not imply "99% AdobeRGB" — they are measured separately, and marketing sometimes cites whichever number is highest without labeling which space it refers to. Full table: The Monitor Numbers.
Curvature radius
Curvature radius (1000R, 1800R, etc.) describes the radius, in millimeters, of the circle the screen's curve would complete — 1000R means the screen matches a circle with a 1000mm radius. A smaller number is a tighter, more aggressive curve. 1000R is generally considered close to matching the natural curvature of human peripheral vision at typical desk viewing distances; 1800R is a gentler curve more common on ultrawide productivity panels. Curvature is a comfort/immersion preference, not a certified performance spec.
How these facts are maintained
These facts are drawn from VESA's published DisplayHDR specification, AMD's and NVIDIA's published adaptive-sync program requirements, DisplayPort/HDMI Forum bandwidth specifications, and manufacturer datasheets, reviewed against our guides and updated on the date shown above when a spec or program changes. We do not publish exact prices or star ratings, every pick names an honest drawback, and we separate certified specifications from uncertified marketing claims. Our full methodology is at How We Evaluate PC Monitors.