The sky-high cost of the best OLED gaming monitors versus OLED TVs is something of a conundrum, what with 27-inch 1440p OLED monitors being priced up with 48-inch 4K OLED TVs. But here's the thing. LCD monitors are still very good and can be had a startlingly low prices.
For proof, consider this quartet of extremely affordable gaming panels for Amazon Prime Day. Pricing kicks off at just $90 and even the most expensive option is $250. They're all high refresh with at least 144 Hz and you get a choice of resolutions and form factors from plain old 1080p up through 34-inch ultrawide.
Arguably the best all-round deal of the bunch is the Acer Nitro XV271U. It's a 27-inch 1440p model, which remains something of a size, resolution and pixel density sweetspot for gaming, with a 1ms IPS panel and 180Hz refresh.
It's yours for just $170 from Amazon and it's a huge amount of monitor for the money. Of course, you're expecting a catch and if there is one, it's the 250 nit brightness rating.
- We're curating the best Prime Day PC gaming deals right here.
Now, that is a little disappointing. But it's worth remembering that in terms of SDR punch on the desktop, that means it's about on par with those megabucks OLED monitors. It's HDR highlights where OLED tech really sizzles.
As good a deal as that Acer 1440p panel undoubtedly is, however, my pick would actually be the MSI MAG342CQR for $250 from Amazon. It's a 34-inch ultrawide 3,440 by 1,440 pixel panel, which is my favourite among the real-world form factor and size options.
Personally, I find 34-inch ultrawide miles more immersive for gaming and I much prefer it for daily duties on the desktop. It's perfect for running two browser windows side-by-side, for instance.
Specs wise, it's a 144 Hz model, which isn't the highest but I think is plenty in terms of fluid frames rates and decent latency. You only need something faster if you're seriously into esports, in which case you probably want a 16:9 panel, not an ultrawide, anyway.
At 300 nits the brightness is OK rather than a particular selling point and it is, inevitably, a VA rather than IPS panel. MSI rates the response at 1 ms MPRT, so it won't be terrible. But regardless of the response claims, a modern IPS panel will typically be a bit quicker.
Personally, I can accept slightly slower response in return for the size, form factor, pixel density and all-round immersion of this class of ultrawide monitor. And remember, an equivalent OLED panel will cost over three times as much, but won't be even remotely three times the monitor.
The two cheapest options here are both 24-inch 1080p panels. I'm not a huge fan of this form factor but they make sense for two use cases. Firstly, they're dead cheap and so it's great to be able to get a propoer gaming monitor with 165Hz refresh for under $100.
The Acer Nitro KC241Y currently clocks in at just $90 from Amazon, gives you that 165Hz refresh plus claimed 1ms response. At this price the VA panel tech is no surprise, this is about as cheaper a proper gaming display tech gets.
That said, I'd probably throw another $20 at the problem and grab its Acer sibling, the Acer Nitro XF243Y. For $110 from Amazon you get an upgrade to both IPS panel tech and 180Hz refresh.
The enough refresh to enable you to be competitive at esports to a pretty high level and all for a smidge over $100. When you think about how much even the crappiest current Nvidia gaming graphics card costs, that's an absolute steal.
