I built my current PC a little over a year ago, but I'm still using the same pair of MSI PRO MO242P monitors I bought about six years ago. They now suffer from noticeable flickering and screen tearing, and sometimes fade completely to black during normal use. I'd like to replace just one monitor for now while keeping the dual-monitor setup.
My system has an RTX 5070 Ti 16GB, a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, and 32GB of RAM. I mainly use it for 3D work and Maya, with occasional gaming. Since static content will often remain on screen, I'd rather avoid OLED due to burn-in concerns and the higher price.
I'm looking for a monitor costing no more than €300, with a maximum size of 27 inches. My desk is next to a window, so I need something noticeably brighter than my current monitors' roughly 250-nit brightness. I was considering the Philips Evnia 27M2N3800A, currently around €230, but there are so many specifications and models that I'm having trouble comparing them. I can purchase from Amazon Belgium, France, the Netherlands, or Germany. What other monitors should I consider?
2 Answers
For your budget, I’d focus on a 27-inch IPS monitor with a matte coating, decent sRGB coverage, and adaptive sync. A brightness rating around 300–350 nits should be a useful improvement over your current screens, although controlling the window light with curtains or blinds will usually help more than buying an extremely bright display. Since you use Maya and other static applications, a good IPS panel is a safer choice than OLED. Also check that the monitor has the inputs and refresh rate you want, and enable G-Sync or FreeSync if you experience tearing while gaming.
A 34-inch ultrawide gives roughly the same vertical size as a 27-inch 16:9 display, but adds horizontal workspace through its 21:9 aspect ratio. It can be convenient for timelines and side-by-side windows, but it won’t provide the same flexibility as two independent monitors, especially if you like keeping one application permanently on a separate screen. Since you already like your dual-monitor arrangement and don’t want to go larger than 27 inches, replacing one monitor with a brighter 27-inch IPS model is probably the more practical upgrade.
That makes sense. I’ll probably keep the two-screen setup and concentrate on finding a 27-inch IPS display with better brightness and reliable adaptive sync.
Would an ultrawide be better for multitasking than two separate monitors? I often have several applications open while editing, so I’m not sure how the layouts compare.