Q: What's the difference between IPS and VA panels for everyday use?

IPS panels are better for most everyday tasks — they offer wider viewing angles and more accurate colours, which matters if you're not always sitting dead-centre. VA panels have higher contrast ratios, making blacks look deeper, which is an advantage for film-watching in dark rooms. For office work, coding, or photo editing, IPS is the safer choice. VA can look washed out at angles and occasionally shows motion smearing on fast content.

Q: Is a 27-inch Full HD monitor worth buying in 2026?

Honestly, no — not if you're buying new. At 27 inches, Full HD (1920×1080) gives you a pixel density of around 82 PPI, which produces noticeably soft text and images. For the same money, you can almost always find a 24-inch Full HD panel with sharper visuals, or stretch slightly to a 27-inch QHD monitor. The only exception is if you specifically need a large screen for accessibility reasons and pixel sharpness isn't a priority.

Q: Are cheap monitors from lesser-known brands worth the risk?

It depends on the brand — 'lesser-known' covers a wide spectrum. iiyama, for instance, is not a household name but has a strong reputation among IT professionals and consistently delivers reliable panels. Genuinely unknown brands on Amazon marketplace are a different matter: warranty support is often non-existent, and panel quality control can be inconsistent. Stick to brands with a UK presence, a proper warranty (at least 3 years for office use), and verifiable reviews on sites like Trusted Reviews or Which?. The saving rarely justifies the risk.

Q: How important is response time — and are manufacturers' figures trustworthy?

Manufacturers' response time figures are almost universally misleading. The quoted '1ms' on many IPS monitors refers to MPRT (Moving Picture Response Time), a marketing measurement that bears little relation to actual pixel transition speed. The more meaningful figure is GtG (Grey-to-Grey), and even that varies wildly depending on overdrive settings. For competitive gaming, a genuine GtG of 4ms or under is what you're after. For office use, response time is essentially irrelevant. Always cross-reference with independent reviews from TechRadar or RTINGS before trusting a spec sheet.

Q: Is it worth waiting for Black Friday to buy a monitor?

Yes — monitors are one of the product categories where Black Friday discounts are consistently genuine and significant. Retailers like Currys, Amazon.co.uk, and John Lewis regularly cut 20–30% off mid-range and premium panels during November. If you're not in urgent need, tracking a specific model's price history on MagicPrices from October onwards will show you whether a 'deal' is real or just a pre-inflated price. Boxing Day and January sales are also worth watching for premium OLED and 4K displays.

Question 1

What's the difference between IPS and VA panels for everyday use?

Accepted Answer

IPS panels are better for most everyday tasks — they offer wider viewing angles and more accurate colours, which matters if you're not always sitting dead-centre. VA panels have higher contrast ratios, making blacks look deeper, which is an advantage for film-watching in dark rooms. For office work, coding, or photo editing, IPS is the safer choice. VA can look washed out at angles and occasionally shows motion smearing on fast content.

Question 2

Is a 27-inch Full HD monitor worth buying in 2026?

Accepted Answer

Honestly, no — not if you're buying new. At 27 inches, Full HD (1920×1080) gives you a pixel density of around 82 PPI, which produces noticeably soft text and images. For the same money, you can almost always find a 24-inch Full HD panel with sharper visuals, or stretch slightly to a 27-inch QHD monitor. The only exception is if you specifically need a large screen for accessibility reasons and pixel sharpness isn't a priority.

Question 3

Do I need G-Sync or FreeSync for gaming?

Accepted Answer

Adaptive sync (either G-Sync or FreeSync) is worth having for gaming, but it's not essential. Both technologies eliminate screen tearing by synchronising your monitor's refresh rate with your GPU's output. FreeSync is AMD's standard and is typically found on more affordable monitors; G-Sync is NVIDIA's and tends to carry a price premium. If you have an NVIDIA GPU, look for 'G-Sync Compatible' monitors — these are FreeSync panels that NVIDIA has certified, offering the same benefit without the cost uplift.

Question 4

What should I look for in a monitor for photo and video editing?

Accepted Answer

Colour accuracy and gamut coverage are the non-negotiables for creative work. Look for a monitor with at least 99% sRGB coverage, and ideally 95% DCI-P3 if you're working on video for digital distribution. Factory calibration (with a Delta E <2 rating) saves you the cost of a separate colorimeter. IPS or OLED panels are strongly preferred — VA panels' colour shift at angles makes them unsuitable for serious colour work. Brightness of at least 300 cd/m² helps when working in a well-lit studio.

Question 5

Are cheap monitors from lesser-known brands worth the risk?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the brand — 'lesser-known' covers a wide spectrum. iiyama, for instance, is not a household name but has a strong reputation among IT professionals and consistently delivers reliable panels. Genuinely unknown brands on Amazon marketplace are a different matter: warranty support is often non-existent, and panel quality control can be inconsistent. Stick to brands with a UK presence, a proper warranty (at least 3 years for office use), and verifiable reviews on sites like Trusted Reviews or Which?. The saving rarely justifies the risk.

Question 6

How important is response time — and are manufacturers' figures trustworthy?

Accepted Answer

Manufacturers' response time figures are almost universally misleading. The quoted '1ms' on many IPS monitors refers to MPRT (Moving Picture Response Time), a marketing measurement that bears little relation to actual pixel transition speed. The more meaningful figure is GtG (Grey-to-Grey), and even that varies wildly depending on overdrive settings. For competitive gaming, a genuine GtG of 4ms or under is what you're after. For office use, response time is essentially irrelevant. Always cross-reference with independent reviews from TechRadar or RTINGS before trusting a spec sheet.

Question 7

Is it worth waiting for Black Friday to buy a monitor?

Accepted Answer

Yes — monitors are one of the product categories where Black Friday discounts are consistently genuine and significant. Retailers like Currys, Amazon.co.uk, and John Lewis regularly cut 20–30% off mid-range and premium panels during November. If you're not in urgent need, tracking a specific model's price history on MagicPrices from October onwards will show you whether a 'deal' is real or just a pre-inflated price. Boxing Day and January sales are also worth watching for premium OLED and 4K displays.

Computer Monitors Price Comparison

Computer Monitors price comparison UK