The 4 Best TV Monitors in 2024

If you’re considering using your TV as a computer monitor, keep in mind that in well-lit rooms, the brightness level of your TV monitor, quantified in nits, is key to a great viewing experience. A TV that doesn’t meet the brightness requirement will struggle against natural and artificial light, resulting in a dim, lackluster image. Essentially, nits measure how well your TV can stand up to light interference, with higher values ensuring a sharper, more vivid display.

For standard viewing on the best TV monitor, you should look for at least 300 nits to strike the right balance between clarity and color quality in standard dynamic range (SDR) content. For high dynamic range (HDR) content, which offers richer colors and greater contrast, a minimum of 700 nits is ideal to truly appreciate the enhanced visuals. These brightness levels are recommended to ensure your TV performs well in bright settings, allowing you to enjoy your shows and movies without any loss in detail or quality. Aim for these minimums: SDR Brightness >= 300 nits; HDR Brightness >= 700 nits for the optimal experience.

Discover the top TV monitors, ranked from brightest to least, all exceeding our brightness criteria.

Color gamut defines the range of colors a TV monitor can reproduce, directly affecting how vibrant and true-to-life the images look. A wide color gamut in a compact TV brings out richer, more vivid colors – from the lush greens of a garden to the bright colors of animated characters, enhancing your viewing experience to closely mimic real life.

This concept is technically measured against standards like the DCI P3 xy, a benchmark for high-quality visuals. A TV monitor covering a higher percentage of this color space can display colors more accurately and vividly.

For those who prioritize vibrant and immersive visuals in a smaller package, aiming for a TV monitor with a color gamut of 97% or higher on the DCI P3 xy scale is ideal. This ensures that the content you watch is as vibrant and lifelike as possible. If you want to still consider a smaller computer monitor alongside a TV monitor, consider reading our guide to the best 24-inch monitor, where compact size meets exceptional color performance.

Below are the top TV monitors, ordered by color gamut.

Just as a slow response time binds you with invisible shackles, high input lag is like wading through quicksand, pulling you down when speed is of the essence. Imagine you’re facing an enemy in a duel; you press the button to leap or strike, but there’s a delay. Your character stumbles a moment too late, and the opportunity slips through your fingers. It’s not just about delayed reactions; it’s about being desynchronized from the game’s rhythm, turning your split-second decisions into missed chances.

What exactly is input lag? It’s the time it takes for your game console’s signal to translate into action on your screen. Ideally, for gaming, you’d want an input lag of 20ms or less to stay in perfect sync with the game. At these low latencies, your actions are immediate, your commands precise, and your timing impeccable. With minimal input lag, when you command it, it happens – instantly.

Below are the top TV monitors, ordered by input lag, all exceeding our testing criteria.

For TV monitor enthusiasts, a solid contrast ratio is crucial for enjoying your favorite TV shows or movies, especially in darker settings. This feature directly impacts how lifelike and dynamic the picture appears on your screen, ensuring that dark scenes are displayed with clear, crisp blacks instead of murky grays and bright scenes retain their detail without appearing washed out.

Put simply, the contrast ratio is all about the range of luminance a TV can produce, from the deepest blacks to the brightest whites. It’s what brings depth to the image, enhancing the realism of every scene. Watching a movie in the dark, for example, the difference between a TV with a poor contrast ratio and one with a high ratio is stark: the former struggles, blending shadows into a flat gray, while the latter delivers true black, making night scenes more immersive and detailed.

Ideally, a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 is what you should aim for in a TV monitor. This level of luminance variance ensures that you’re getting a picture quality that can handle the nuances of lighting in any scene, providing a viewing experience that’s both rich and engaging. If you prioritize a high contrast ratio for a lifelike and dynamic picture, especially in darker settings, the best 1440p monitor can be an excellent choice that tends to be cheaper than 4K monitors but has a higher resolution that the top 1080p gaming monitors.

Note: OLED TVs have infinite contrast ratio, indicated by “0.”

Below are the top TV monitors, ordered by contrast ratio, all exceeding our testing criteria.