Are Smaller Monitors Better for Online Games?

[@thedisplayguy]

Thank you to Ruipro for sponsoring this video! Buy the Ruipro HDMI 2.1 Certified Fiber Optic Cable (6FT): amzn.to/3wvHB7j Buy the Ruipro HDMI 2.1 Certified Fiber Optic Cable (25FT): amzn.to/432NDGS Buy Ruipro Cables: ruipro.store/collections/all Best Monitor Settings Here (Guides & Discord): patreon.com/TheDisplayGuy

[@LiquidSK]

organic,lamp amp good choice man 😉

[@ThisIsExile91]

Competitive top 500 peak Overwatch player here. Owned the 32 inch 32GS95UE for over 4 months. Still have it. Mounted on an arm and literally pushed against my back desk wall. 32 inch is still too big. I tried to get use to it. You CAN get use to it, but you'll play better overall on 24-27 inch. You see things sooner and can react faster. Smaller field of peripheral vision also means less fatigue on the eyes over a long session. Nothing will change this fact. The only situation I can imagine working is playing with a controller. Mouse and keyboard is simply a disadvantage. Playable, sure, but still a overall downgrade and harder to play consistently.

[@boxyman3082]

Is it true changing the screen size to 24/27 inches makes it look blurry on the 32gs95ue?

[@ThisIsExile91]

@@boxyman3082 it's definitely not as sharp as native 1080p. But that's not saying much. 1080p isn't great to begin with. Edges on font and still non-moving graphics can look jagged. But during during gameplay and motion, it's never a thought and looks fine. I'm pretty happy with it.

[@user-el4su7tl6f]

This is a very insightful comment

[@rockyyz89]

So are you playing it in 32” mode then competitive wise?

[@boxyman3082]

@@rockyyz89 I am also wondering that

[@TehSpeedRunner]

"I can perform pretty much the same, regardless of the size". Affirmative

[@Valdaemonium]

💀

[@doctorfresh3856]

Honestly, I think it's true. When playing competitive multiplayer on my Super Ultrawide 32:9 monitor vs a Standard 16:9 monitor I've noticed that because of the large Screen it take me longer to react to enemies in competitive online games. I have to increase the Dpi of my mouse or mouse speed to make up for the extra screen realastate gained because of the distance it takes to get and opponent all the way on a far side of a screen. That effects my game negatively because normally I like slower DPi's for more precise accuracy. So now when I'm engaging an enemy from regular aspect ratio's on a super ultrawide screen(playing on a 49 inch monitor and my opponent is within the normal 16:9 window) the DPi is too fast for me to get precise shots and I can't just turn it back down to regular because of the extra screen width incase I see another enemy outside of the normal range. So accuracy has been a big negative for me as I tend to overshoot and or undershoot because the flick of my mouse will send the crosshairs flying.

[@WrexBF]

Anything bigger than 24 is too big for me. No, sitting farther away from the monitor doesn't fix the issue. When I'm playing shooters on a 27 inch monitor, I'm forced to sit further away from the screen in order to see everything without moving my head too much, but doing so negatively affects my medium to long-range target acquisition. I could fix that by lowering my in-game FOV, but low FOV is extremely disorienting in close-quarter gunfights.The human eye has a limited angular resolution of around 1 arcminute (1/60th of a degree). When an object is close, the details are spread over a larger angle in your field of view. When the same object is far away, the same details occupy a smaller angle, making them harder to distinguish.

[@kerkertrandov459]

Titan army sells a 24.5 inch 1440p 240hz monitor called P2510S. It has 120 ppi compared to 90 of a 1080p 24.5 screen and 109 of a 27 inch 1440p. Its the best of both worlds. U get 240 hz, and even higher ppi than normal 1440p and u still get to use a 24.5 inch monitor. Also its cheap, its only 265 dollars. Downside is no oled and no mini led, just a standard ips monitor with shitty HDR. It does have bfi (game rush mode) and dynamic overdrive at least. Wondering if i should buy it, or go for a 27 inch for a bit more money. Ive seen 27 inch in person and it looks huge, ur comment is making me rethink. If i get 27 inch i can get oled or i can get 4k, but i do play competitive games so idk. Oh yeah the titan army is also only 8 bit color, no 10 bit sadly.

[@Gamer-q7v]

I am just waiting for 40-inch 5120x2160 QD OLED gaming monitors.

[@XeqtrM1]

that probebly wont happen so you gotta w8 a enternity

[@Gamer-q7v]

@@XeqtrM1 There should be 5120x2160 QD OLED/WOLED gaming monitors coming in the second half of 2025. That's what I have heard a lot. 5120x2160 OLED monitors would be breathtaking when it comes to single-player games. The immersion would be next level.

[@NecroMoz]

Went from 38” ultrawide to 42” 4k to 32” 4K. 32” is the sweet spot, DPI is too low on 42”

[@Solus793]

The resolution is what matters, the rest is up to the distance from which you view it.

[@tonydalimata]

Well. 42" 4k is very similar to 27" 1440p which isn't that bad unless it is OLED text.

[@Solus793]

​@@tonydalimata Except you aren't ever going to be viewing it as close as a 27" monitor. If you had a 10" 4K display you wouldn't sit 3ft. away from it either.

[@IrrationalDelusion]

@@Solus793No the PPI matters and the distance you view it from. Text on 2k laptop would be much more clear if enlarged compared to same size on monitor.

[@Solus793]

​@@IrrationalDelusion PPI doesn't tell you anything about a display without also knowing its resolution and size it is an irrelevant metric.

[@veilmontTV]

Went from 27 to 32 inches and i definitely needed an arm to fit it on my desk. 27 is still a great size but 32 inches is an experience

[@hughjassstudios9688]

Having an arm for my 32 inch allows me to possibly move the display right at the ledge of the display making it perfect for sim racing without a rig (sitting the display right above the direct drive unit)

[@veilmontTV]

@hughjassstudios9688 i wouldn't have a monitor on a stand up less i had too anyway

[@xFrxsty]

If you can’t tell a difference between something like a 27 vs a 32 you simply don’t have the skill in the first place. Hell even a 27 is too big for certain games like cs2, valorant, and apex/cod. It’s no mystery as to why 24.5 is the standard for esports, and why manufacturers develop a 24.5 mode for bigger monitors.

[@lightningevo5429]

I find it that larger monitors are harder to comfortably view in smaller rooms and smaller desks.

[@yedrellow]

There is a class of games where there's a potential advantage for a larger screen. Games that reward long range visual acuity (Squad, Hell Let Loose, Arma, Squad 44) have an argument for not only scaling your resolution/size upward, but also discarding the 60 degree fov rule.

[@THESHADOW97139]

sim flight, sim racing

[@sylvainh2o]

yeah because nobody talks about the Ultrawide aspect here where in some shooters you can literally see people on the sides of the screen which you wouldnt have otherwise. I saw some shooter game where the guy walks on the street and can see the entire building and windows where an ennemy just poped to shoot at him while someone in 16:9 can't see anything.

[@THESHADOW97139]

@@sylvainh2o In this type of game, it's not really an advantage, more of a constraint.... it's better to learn how to move around the map, than to waste 10 years looking at a screen before moving 1 meter

[@doctorfresh3856]

I play those games and have a Super Ultrawide 32:9 monitor and it affects you negatively at close range cqc(close quarters combat) because you increase the mouse speed to make up for the larger screen space which effects my accuracy greatly on short range engagements. So you're right about the distances you can see but when you are capping points and have a guy right in front of you I usually loose out.

Radar/Map awareness. If you play games like CoD or Destiny where you have a radar in the top left corner or buff/debuff information on the bottom left, a smaller monitor will let you see this information quicker. For me the real issue is that most FPS shooters don't let you configure your UI. If that were the case I would definitely use a widescreen curved monitor for that extra peripheral vision.

[@kerkertrandov459]

U can use windows powertoys tool to choose any area of ur screen and copy or move it to another area, and this takes priority over windows, it works globally on the whole screen. So if i wanted to i could put the minimap in the center of the screen or whereever i want. I could also duplicate the minimap and have 4 of em in each corner, or 8 of em in each corner and edge. U should try it. The module is called Crop and Lock.

[@kerkertrandov459]

Try powertoys crop and lock, it does just that

@@kerkertrandov459 Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely try it.

[@serantos]

smaeller monitor keep more things at center of your vision, the part of vision where u see more clearly, because of it they are better for competitive players. You don't see all 60° at same "resolution", it decay from center to borders

[@yxlplig33]

For the first person games shown in the video, I think having the neutral position of your eyes lining up with the center of the screen is more important than getting the screen size and distance perfect. Although I will say anything over 27" is probably too big for most desks. 21-23" for 1080p and 27" for 1440p is pretty much perfect both for good dpi and having something you can sit at a desk with without unnecessary head and eye movement.

[@Oshadorin]

8K TV 65 inch or above. You can create a custom resolution to get yourself a 32/9 screen with 4K vertical resolution when you feel like it.

[@KeanuChrist]

Flashback to Halo 3, split screen with two Xboxes, and two televisions. One TV was around 50-inches, and the other was around 20-inches. The four players using the smaller television almost always had a better score.

[@jwkb-q2q]

But aren't most 32inch monitors 4k? So it means you'll need to have a very powerful pc to play with the same performances as on a 27inch 1440p. I also read that playing 1440p on a 4k monitor result in a higher input lag, is that true?

[@ZR0N1_Gaming]

True.

[@XeqtrM1]

Does make sense in some cases because I used to have a desk that was 200 cm deep so a monitor could be super far back

[@teabuh]

What game was he playing? When he was on the roof top using the MP5 with a Red dot?

[@Rileygee0224]

I went from a 32in Lg ultra gear to a 27in Samsung G6 oled. Whilst the monitor upgrade has been nice, damn was having such a large screen nice. I still have it but absolutely zero room for it.

[@kostistsiutras4373]

2 words. Muscle Memory. 5 words. Twenty years worth of it.

[@BIGBAWSYY]

Huh? Why would a bigger screen affect muscle memory lol

[@kostistsiutras4373]

@@BIGBAWSYY think about it, you been gamin 15-30 years in specific inches monitors. It aint the size its the RIP of all of those years, u need equivelant years to bring muscle memory to the new size.

[@BIGBAWSYY]

@@kostistsiutras4373 I’m still not sure where muscle memory comes into the equation. Your mouse movement distance creates the same result on screen regardless of size or resolution of a game

[@kostistsiutras4373]

@@BIGBAWSYY NOT at all, screen size AND resolution always alter % of the mouse movement my dude

[@kostistsiutras4373]

@@BIGBAWSYY not at all my dude, change in screen size AND resolution always alter a % of mouse movement consistency. EDIT: needs readjustement and usually the larger the screen & resolution needs % of lowerin dpi or ingame sens

[@mbvx7]

32" 4K is PERFECT. I have the Dell AW3225QF for gaming, and the LG 32GQ950 for my Mac Studio. Perfection. BTW, you need to put the cats in the video more often. jus sayin

[@Rambler97]

I’ve been playing on a 42 c2 and in the past 2 weeks went back down to a 27in 1440p oled and it has been great. Feels a lot more comfortable sitting at my desk playing games and browsing on pc. If I wanna play 4k games now I just use my 55 in c2 on my couch setup 😂

[@Konsfps]

Went from a 27 to a 32 and never going back.

[@shoobadoo123]

I did the opposite lol

[@Tope92]

I would say that it depends. Back when I played CS Go, I started with 1080p monitor and played it on that resolution, however at one point I changed my resolution to 4:3 resolution and I had huge black bars at both sides of the monitor and I got way better at the game. I haven't played any competative games in years so no idea how it would feel like to play something with my current 1440p IPS monitor.

[@mitchellfahy995]

The first gaming monitor I had was a 24 inch then I moved up to a 27 inch curved monitor screen and I don’t think I can go any smaller then a 27 inch monitor

[@bergdk237]

I prefer 24" but i have to go up to 27" when i upgrade to an OLED 360hz 1440p monitor.

[@cassieudy5718]

I only upvote videos where you say "allegedly" in an increasingly sarcastic manner. So take note if you want to minmax engagement

[@nukmuk]

Disagree on the trust professional reviewers more than professional gamers part. Most reviewers don't even play competitive games, except for some such as optimum

[@12bucukfalandim]

has been playing cs2 on 32 inch monitor for the last month or so and I got used to it. It's miles better than zowie 540hz with shit colora

[@alifahran8033]

Watching this on my 65 inch LG OLED. According to the calculator it is at 60 degrees of FOV, so we are good.

[@kerkertrandov459]

Thats not how it works, try playing CS2 or Valorant on it

[@alifahran8033]

I know exactly what you mean, but I've stopped playing competitive games a long time ago. The single player games provide you with some well-worth peace and quiet. You also miss out on the toxicity, cheaters, malware tier anticheat, the rage, the suffering. I understand the appeal, but after achieving mid Diamond in LoL 2020 (before the LP inflation happened), I have no incentive to play competitive games anymore. I know, that I can be way better than the average player and yet not good enough to become a pro/top tier streamer. But the price for being so good is simply not worth it, unless you are getting paid a huge amount of money for it. My current setup is tailormade for single player cinematic games, so it is obvious it's not as good for competitive ones.

[@kerkertrandov459]

@@alifahran8033 yeah but theres no competition in single player games, ure just fighting NPCs and AI enemies

[@_atello_]

Which game were you playing on 3:55?

[@rybrii8065]

looks like The Finals

[@_atello_]

@@rybrii8065 thanks

[@SP95]

One of the few people that could legitimately claim "Trust me bro"

[@coolissimo69]

Nice info Bro.juat about to but a 32 inch monitor oled ofc.

[@imashaman-ei9ie]

where is your other channel?

[@smoki1908]

I got a MSI MAG 321UP but for some reason he dosent get black at all, it looks like LCD. What should I do?

[@johnworld27]

42” C4 is Godmode

[@ayambord217]

Do you notice the difference between a 720p, 1080p, and 1440p on a 16-inch 60hz portable monitor? For watching movies and gaming.

[@gordonfreimann]

Should I use HDMI 2.1 48gbps cable for my Aorus F27Q3 or DP 1.4 cable?

[@thedisplayguy]

Probably DisplayPort if you have Nvidia.

[@HosakaBlood]

ppl are just lazy to get use to it i used 24 inch for so long change to 34 ultrawide still was able to reach global elite in cs go now on 32 inch feels about the same unless your type of player thas play with monitor into your face like some pro do

[@budthecyborg4575]

32" 8K 240hz is the perfect monitor.

[@thedisplayguy]

5K is enough I think.

[@johnathanpearson3203]

Only a CRT display can satisfy me 😮

[@budthecyborg4575]

@@johnathanpearson3203 OLED?

[@budthecyborg4575]

@@thedisplayguy 5K isn't even close to being a sharp looking display. The limit of perceptual sharpness in average human vision (Visual Hyperacuity) is 300 Pixels Per Degree. 32"8K at 60FoV is a measly 127PPD. I would say we want 16K but I am a reasonable man and I know the bandwidth for 16K240hz is only possible with a PCI-E integrated display, or dozens of cables, or fiber optic. 8K240hz can be accomplicshed with UHBR20 so that's our current limit.

[@androidx99]

Make that 32" 8K 480HZ Dream OLED and we are getting closer to perfect lol. Sounds awesome though lol

[@lolo2lolo491]

Great video! you have lots of monitors :D can you please barrow or get mac mini m4 and try it with 27 and 32 inch monitor to see if its possible to get 120 to 240hz ? i really wanna buy some good budget monitor that can offer 4k and high pixel density like retina display

[@tabkg5802]

Gotta love how all "rebuttals" to this consist of either anecdotal evidence (which is +- fine) or straight up consist of nothing at all. Can anyone please explain to me how having bigger monitor is a provoke when bigger screen real estate mean that you can fit more information into it? Or what are we back to "4:3 on 16:9 display is the best for gaming" nonsense? Lol

[@CarnivoryHODL]

Just simulate the screen size w/ an app like CRE or CRU w/o scaling

[@Coolhand69]

Anywhere from 24-32

[@makavelisreturn86]

I have a 55inch qd oled on my pc desk and I can Game just as well as a 32inch I prefer the bigger screen actually.

[@lucynawunderbaum3462]

What about ultrawides then?

[@cebuanostud]

For me: 4k = 32", 2k=27"

[@Kahlimer0]

I believe it's mostly due to what type of game you play, bigger screen are fine for immersion in rpg open world, useless for competitive games.

[@xdi1733]

Holy s*** your head was about to hit the ceiling what are you like 6 ft 5?

[@zgdupvpmobile364]

Yes they are. I returned my 32 Inch Monitor it was way to large

[@I-PixALbI4-I]

4K, smaller screen = more PPI

[@IrrationalDelusion]

More PPI less pixels blinking, which helps identifying enemy across bushes.

[@kerkertrandov459]

I wish they made 4k at 24-25 inches for competitive games like CS2. 27 inch seems too big to me, when i saw it in person it looked huge. Still not decided what to buy. I want higher resolution, 1440p or 4k but i dont want my monitor to be so big, 27 just looks so big

[@IrrationalDelusion]

@@kerkertrandov459 27 inch 1440p is very good. I enter CS2 deathmatch with M249 and get 2.6 k/d average with it.

[@kerkertrandov459]

@@IrrationalDelusion nah 1440p is trash. Its only 108 ppi, compared to 4k 27 inch which is 163 ppi, thats a 50% improvement, night and day difference. Secondly, watching 1080p videos/streams/photos on fullscreen scales badly on a 1440p monitor but scales perfectly on a 4k monitor. 1440p 27 inch is just the worst of both worlds. U get the big ass monitor that is a bit too big for games like CS2, with none of the upsides of 4k and all the downsides of 1440p. Theres no upsides to using 1440p compared to 4k, asides from being cheaper. U can make an argument for 1080p because u have 500-540hz TN monitors like the zowie with dyac+, so even tho they suck for anything else, they're insanely good for games like CS2. But 1440p is just strictly inferior to 4k in every way, unless ure poor.

[@IrrationalDelusion]

@@kerkertrandov459Haha never had too big problems, it’s just right. Scaling is purely issue of OS and websites, not displays themselves. 1440p 27 inch offers screenspace and more clarity text without taxing 4k. 4k gaming requires 4000 usd pc most likely. Or you play stretched ugly resolution hoping to achieve pathetic advantage in CS2, sacrificing visuals entirely.

[@ghinochips5842]

from 32 back to 27

[@MagiofAsura]

I am just about dpi.

[@Amp_Edition]

i agree 100%

[@Earthquake56]

32 is good

[@MeoithTheSecond]

32" > 27" etc, if I want to game in a smaller window most of the time games allow me to, not going to hardware lock myself to a 27" never going back to that. 32" is the sweet spot for me also I like the extra height, anything larger I go use the lounge tv to game.

[@hughjassstudios9688]

Its better competitively so you do not have to slouch forward to squint and play

[@lag9382]

on a few 4K/240hz monitors u can change the image to 24 or 27. 24 inch with 4k is crazy u should do a video on it if it works great.

[@pikpoku]

Went from 27" to 42" OLED and don't think incan ever go back

[@kerkertrandov459]

Thats not a monitor thats a tv

[@aaroncharles007]

U missed to include 38inch asus rog gamming monitor plus 8k in 42 inch is more monitor like than 4k plus so many people Including me are playing fps gamming on ultra low setting which looks like games from early 2000 Era ps 1 ps 2 like much . Where r we going with this should we be getting more good looking fps games with much better fps but rather we are going down hill . Make Games Great again by Elon musk don't forgot to vote trump

[@IrrationalDelusion]

You really think Trump will help making better games? More like gambling tolerance.

[@Reapavon]

How are you playing Fortnite Chapter 4 in 2024? (Chapter 4 is 1000x better than Chapter 5 btw)

[@Solus793]

It's obvious when you think about it for more than a moment, that the premise of smaller = better just doesn't make any sense, it is just gamer bro nonsense. Even to this day there are still "gamer bro's" trying to tell people that 125 Hz mouse polling rates are better too.

[@IrrationalDelusion]

20000 hz polling rate mice would make pc lag with fps drops. Perspective can render larger displays even with high ppi useless.