Color accuracy and color gamut: For any kind of photo, video, or graphics work, a monitor’s color accuracy ensures that your images look the way you intend them to when they appear on another screen or in print.

Having a good contrast ratio is a little more important than having accurate color-you can often fix inaccurate color after the fact by calibrating the monitor yourself, but a poor contrast ratio is harder to address. A contrast ratio of 1000:1 or higher (note that higher is better) is typical of IPS panels. Instead of relying on the manufacturer’s listing, we measured each monitor’s contrast ratio during our testing.

Contrast ratio: A good contrast ratio makes the dark areas of a screen easier to see when you’re watching a movie or playing a game.

Great monitors should also include a USB 3.0 hub so you can connect peripherals such as keyboards, mice, and webcams, as modern laptops come with fewer and fewer ports of their own.

Ports: Since most computers have either an HDMI port or a DisplayPort connection, having both is a requirement for any good monitor, and the best models also include a USB-C port that can receive a display signal and charge a connected laptop at the same time.

For most people, QHD monitors offer the best combination of detail, usable desktop space, and price. And 4K monitors, while excellent for photo or video work, are more expensive-this is part of the reason we have a separate guide for them. For a 27-inch monitor, 1080p is too low a resolution-text and images are likely to be visibly pixelated or blocky.

Resolution: The three most common monitor resolutions that we test across all our guides are 1080p, or 1920×1080 Quad HD/QHD, or 2560×1440 and 4K, or 3840×2160.Display technology: We test only those monitors that use IPS display panels, not TN (or VA) technology, because IPS panels provide far better viewing angles and color reproduction.

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