144Hz Monitor Buying Guide
What type of 144Hz monitor is right for you? It’s a question that can be more difficult to answer than many people realise.
So, to help you select the perfect 144Hz monitor for your purposes, the team at CCL have written this quick buying guide which features all of the handy shopping tips you need to know.
What is a 144Hz monitor?
This seems like a question with an obvious answer, but there are many different types of 144Hz monitors that you can buy.
144Hz refers to only one aspect of a monitor; its refresh rate.
The refresh rate of a monitor is measured in hertz (Hz) and indicates the number of times per second the monitor refreshes the image on its screen. The higher the refresh rate, the more times per second the monitor refreshes its image.
As such, refresh rate is a really important metric for gamers. This is because the refresh rate will affect how you experience your games. With a low refresh rate monitor, you’ll find that the image on your screen tears and ghosts, which can lead to a really frustrating gaming experience.
For today’s gamers, 144HZ is the perfect refresh rate for playing the top AAA titles.
What are the different types of 144Hz monitor?
As we mentioned earlier, refresh rate refers to only one aspect of a monitor.
Because of this, it’s possible to buy 144Hz monitors which have different resolutions, screen sizes, panel types, aspect ratios and inputs and more.
To put this into context, it’s possible to buy a 23.8 inch HD IPS monitor with a refresh rate of 144Hz for £159.
At the other end of the scale, it’s also possible to buy a 32 inch 4K ultra HD IPS monitor with a refresh rate of 144Hz for over £2,100.
In other words, 144Hz monitors span the whole gamut from budget friendly monitors to high-end performance monitors that are packed with the latest tech and features.
What they have in common is a shared refresh rate.
Things to consider when buying a 144Hz monitor
The majority of people who are searching for a 144Hz monitor are doing so because they want a monitor for gaming.
If that’s the case for you, then you’ll want to check what gaming-related features and specs a monitor has. The first of these is response time.
Response time
In addition to refresh rate, the other important gaming-related metric for monitors is response time.
Response time refers to the amount of time it takes for a pixel on a screen to change from one colour to another and back again (e.g. black to white and then back to black again).
This is measured in milliseconds (ms).
Response time is important as it improves the quality of the image on the screen and also makes your gaming experience smoother, with less blurring of the image on screen.
For the best gaming experience, you should select a 144Hz monitor which has a response time of 1ms or less.
Inputs
The way in which you connect your PC to your monitor is an important factor to consider as this will affect the way in which your monitor displays games etc.
The most common input type currently in use is HDMI, which allows you to transfer high-resolution video and audio data from your PC to your monitor.
However, there’s a newer input type which is increasingly being embraced by gamers; DisplayPort.
DisplayPort is particularly good if you have a high-end graphics card in your PC. This is because it utilities packetised data data transmission, meaning it can more effectively transmit data from high-performance graphics cards to the monitor.
Other input connections you can find on 144Hz monitors are:
- DVI connections
- Thunderbolt connections
- USB-C connections
- VGA connections
Panel type
Another key consideration when buying a 144Hz monitor is what type of panel it has.
This refers to the LCD panel which displays the images.
The three most common types of LCD panel that you’ll find on 144Hz monitors are IPS, TN and VA.
Each panel type has its pros and cons, with some more suited to some purposes than others.
Below we’ve provided a brief outline of each panel type.
TN (Twisted Nematic)
TN panels typically have fast response times, are able to display motion well and are often available at competitive price points.
However, they can struggle a little when it comes to colour reproduction, contrast ratios and viewing angles.
Great for: gaming on a budget.
IPS (In-Plane Switching)
IPS panels have excellent colour quality, with very good colour accuracy and viewing angles. They create great all-round monitors, but do tend to be more expensive than other types of panel.
Great for: gaming, watching media and content creation
VA (Vertical Alignment)
VA panels offer excellent colour reproduction and good viewing angles, however don’t have the same sort of image clarity as IPS panels.
Having said that though, VA panels do have great contrast ratios and provide brilliant image depth and contrast.
Great for: content creation.
G-Sync and FreeSync
If you’re buying a 144Hz monitor for gaming, then you absolutely want to check if your chosen monitor has either G-Sync or FreeSync.
G-Sync and FreeSync are technologies which are designed to synchronise the refresh rate (Hz) of a monitor with the frame rate (FPS) of a graphics card.
In effect, they ensure that your monitor and graphics card are working together in order to produce the best visual experience. This eliminates the kinds of bugbears which have plagued gamers in the past such as tearing and ghosting.
An important point to consider is that G-Sync is brand specific.
With FreeSync, both AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards can use the technology, but only NVIDIA graphics cards can use G-Sync. So, if you’ve got an AMD graphics card in your PC, then you’ll need to make sure the monitor you choose has FreeSync, but if you've got a NVIDIA graphics card then you can choose either a FreeSync or G-Sync monitor.
Where to buy the best 144Hz monitors UK
144Hz monitors are now the go-to monitor for performance oriented gamers across the UK.
If you want to get in on the action and give your graphics card the monitor it deserves, then check out our huge selection of 144Hz monitors today.
You’ll find everything from 4K 144Hz monitors ideal for watching media and browsing the web through to dedicated 144Hz gaming monitors with features such as FreeSync or G-Sync.
Plus, when you buy a 144Hz monitor from CCL, in many cases you’ll get free delivery (in some cases priority next day delivery), and you can spread the cost with our range of payment options including PayPal Credit and Klarna.
And, if you have any questions about a particular monitor, our friendly, expert team will be happy to help! You can reach them on 01274 471200 or at: sales@cclonline.com
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