The monitor you choose for your gaming PC is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your setup. It’s your window into the virtual world, and it directly affects how much you can get out of your PC’s rendering power.
But with so many specs and buzzwords, buying a new monitor in 2026 is just as confusing as it is exciting. So, instead of telling you which monitor to buy, here’s a quick checklist of features your next gaming monitor shouldn’t be missing.
A panel that matches your use case
The panel is one of the most important factors when buying a new monitor, as it directly determines how the display looks and behaves. OLED is the undisputed king of display technology thanks to its instantaneous response times and pitch-perfect blacks that can make any game pop.
However, it also suffers from burn-in when interface elements are displayed for a prolonged period, which isn’t ideal if you spend hundreds of hours in a single game at a time or also use the monitor for work. It’s also on the pricier side, though they’ve been getting cheaper—the Samsung 27-inch Odyssey OLED G5 (G50SF) is frequently on sale for $380, well under its $550 MSRP.
If you still want good contrast ratios for cinematic gameplay but don’t want to risk burn-in or want a cheaper alternative, VA panels are a good choice.
However, a major downside of poorly made VA panels is that they’re prone to “smearing” (a visual artifact where moving objects leave a trail in high-contrast situations) due to their slow pixel response times.
Higher-end VA panels handle this better than lower-end units, but the slow response times are a limitation of the technology. They also have poor viewing angles that make them hard to use if not viewed head-on.
That’s why many hardcore gamers still opt for IPS. While almost all IPS panels suffer from backlight bleed and inferior contrast ratios, they also have faster response times (not as fast as OLED), the image stays consistent across all scenarios, and they tend to cost quite a bit less than OLED.
Keep in mind that these are oversimplifications, so I encourage you to read up on these different panel technologies, determine which works best for you, and only then start shopping for a monitor.
HDR that’s actually HDR
HDR (High Dynamic Range) allows a display to make bright parts brighter and dark parts darker while preserving detail. It allows cinematic games to truly pop.
There’s a lot of confusion about HDR in monitors, but what you need to know as a consumer is that the higher the number on VESA’s DisplayHDR certification is, the better its capacity to display HDR content is.
The general consensus is that DisplayHDR 600 is the bare minimum where you’ll notice an improvement over SDR, but DisplayHDR 1000 or above is where content truly shines—and it’s also where full-array local dimming becomes a requirement. It’s often enabled thanks to mini-LED, which allows for hundreds of dimming zones, almost approaching OLED levels of contrast.
OLED monitors follow a slightly different DisplayHDR True Black certification, as they can produce far better contrast and shadow detail but struggle to reach the same peak brightness as LED-backlit monitors. Which approach to HDR you prefer ultimately comes down to personal preference.
Note that HDR isn’t a priority for competitive gamers. In some cases, it can even introduce noticeable input lag, particularly on monitors with full-array local dimming.
Proper VRR support
VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) is an essential feature that allows a monitor to dynamically adjust its refresh rate to match your FPS. This prevents image tearing and stutter, especially when frame rates fluctuate.
Virtually all gaming monitors on the market today support some form of VRR—usually AMD FreeSync or NVIDIA G-Sync. If a monitor explicitly mentions support for one type, there’s a good chance it also supports other VRR standards, including VRR over HDMI for consoles. Still, it’s worth double-checking the manufacturer’s site and reviews to make sure the monitor you want supports VRR for your specific graphics card or console.
Does Your Monitor Flicker in Games? It Could Be VRR!
Make your monitor flicker-free when playing games.
Refresh rate of at least 180Hz
The refresh rate tells you how many times a monitor can update its image per second. It’s one of the most important specs for gaming monitors because a higher refresh rate provides noticeably smoother gameplay and lower input lag.
While the difference becomes less noticeable at higher numbers (and you need a powerful PC to push high FPS), you should aim for the highest refresh rate you can get. 180Hz displays are now common and fairly affordable, so it’s generally best to avoid 160Hz, 144Hz, or lower refresh rate monitors.
Even if you don’t notice a huge visual difference, the reduced input lag can still give you an edge in competitive games.
Proper motion handling features
How your monitor handles motion is a surprisingly complex and overly technical topic that competitive gamers love to obsess over. While I can’t cover everything here, there are at least a couple of features worth mentioning.
The first is backlight strobing—or, in the case of OLEDs, black frame insertion. This motion blur reduction technology flashes the display on and off between each frame, in rapid sync with the monitor’s refresh rate. You can’t see the black frames with the naked eye, though the overall brightness is noticeably lower, and some people report seeing flicker (usually at lower frame rates).
Backlight strobing is a phenomenal feature that improves clarity for fast-moving objects, which can give a real edge in competitive games.
A related technology is NVIDIA G-SYNC Ultra Low Motion Blur 2 (ULMB 2), which promises extreme clarity thanks to more precise backlight strobing and tighter synchronization with NVIDIA GPUs. It works surprisingly well, but the technology is mostly limited to high-end monitors like the ASUS ROG Swift PG27AQN.
There are also a bunch of proprietary motion blur reduction technologies that use similar techniques, such as BenQ’s DyAc, ASUS’s ELMB, Samsung’s MBR, and so on.
Buying the right gaming monitor isn’t just about picking the best-reviewed, most expensive unit that fits your budget—it’s a surprisingly personalized experience. Once you determine what features you care about the most, it’s much easier to pick from a selection of monitors that fit your bill.
Keep this checklist in mind, do a bit of research, and you’ll feel much more confident in your monitor choice!