The 6 Best Multimedia Monitors - Winter 2020
Reviews

The LG 27UK650-W is the best multimedia monitor that we've tested so far, and the best monitor for movies. This 27 inch, 4k screen delivers an immersive multimedia experience with its HDR support, and although the performance is somewhat hindered by its mediocre peak brightness and the lack of local dimming features, the gradient performance is outstanding, which minimizes banding. It also has wide viewing angles, great for watching the latest trending videos with your friends.

Response time on this monitor is great for gaming and fast action scenes; however, you're limited to a 60Hz refresh rate. Given that 4k gaming at a high refresh rate is still uncommon due to hardware constraints, we don't expect it to be an issue. Inputs include two HDMI ports and one DisplayPort, which allows for multiple devices to be connected, such as a gaming console or media streamer.

As expected, the IPS panel isn't ideal for darker rooms, as it can't produce true blacks and has mediocre black uniformity. Overall, though, it's a very good monitor that's feature-packed for its price.

The best 1440p multimedia monitor we've tested so far is the ASUS TUF VG27AQ. It lacks the LG 27UK650-W's 4k resolution, so the latest content won't display at its native resolution, but it's still an impressive monitor for consuming multimedia. It has decent reflection handling, so a few more lights in the room won't be an issue, and thanks to its wide viewing angles, both you and a friend can enjoy an accurate image when you watch a movie together. The input lag is extremely low and the response time is very fast, so the monitor feels very responsive and displays very crisp motion with almost no blur.

Unfortunately, it can't display deep blacks in a dark room like most IPS monitors and doesn't have a wide color gamut. Although it supports HDR content, it can't display the full richness of colors in some HDR content.

Overall, however, this is an impressive monitor that will deliver great multimedia performance.

For those concerned about cost, the Dell U2518D is the best monitor for movies in the budget category that we've reviewed so far. It's a 25 inch, 1440p IPS monitor with wide viewing angles and a great design. The overall picture quality is good but is best suited for a bright room. Response time is also excellent with very little motion blur. Unfortunately, while it does support HDR, the performance is hindered due to the mediocre peak brightness and the lack of wide color gamut.

Overall, it's a very versatile monitor that should please most people, regardless of your use, landing it among our best multimedia monitors.