List of the Best Gaming Monitors Under $200 in 2021

When PCs first appeared, there’s alway been monitors. A monitor is used to allow users to see what’s going on within the PC, the result of their work, and sometimes to entertain. That’s why gaming monitors have always been a major market in the field. We will point out what’s important about gaming monitors and recommend the best gaming monitors under 200.

1. The display technology of your gaming monitor

There are many display technologies being applied in monitors, just like in TVs:

• The LCD monitor: LCD represents the most popular type of monitor, because of the price, the size, and the familiarity. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. An LCD display consists of two parts: the backlight shines a pure white light source to the world, and the panels block some of the light’s parts to produce the required color. 

• The OLED monitor: OLED is now the new trend in the world, and it’s expensive. OLED monitors are being considered the premium kind of monitor for digital artists, professional editors and gamers, not for ordinary people. OLED is Organic Light Emitting Diode. Every pixel in an OLED display is an independent diode that produces lights. When the pixel displays a color, say red, the diode at that position produces red; otherwise, it turns itself off. OLED is an ideal way to save energy while producing much better images.

• The CRT monitor: CRT should be the dead technology. However, some people might still use it as CRT monitors feature a real-life image, and truest of them all.

2. The resolution of the screen

The resolution is the essential part to think of when manufacturing a monitor. The resolution indicates how detailed the image is on the screen. To put it into perspective, you can clearly see an ant on the wall in 4K resolution, but you just see a blurred dot in 720p. Here are the definitions of them:

• 1080p and 720p TV: The most popular screen resolutions in laptops in PCs. 720p now is often considered affordable while 1080p is the new standard. The 720p features the resolution of roughly 1280 x 720 pixels, while 1080p features the resolution of about 1920 x 1080 pixels.

• 4K: 4K is now considered the premium kind of PC monitors. 4K represents the resolution of 3840 x 2160 or something around those values. 4K monitors are expensive, but cool.

• 8K: 8K is now possible in terms of TV’s screen; however, to PC monitors, due to the size, is pretty much impossible at the moment.

3. The size of your monitor

When it comes to PC monitors, the bigger is not always better. PC monitors used to be made to the size of 14 inches, 19 inches, 21 inches, and now 27 inches, 29 inches, and 32 inches, not larger. Making 4K into a small area of monitor is not an easy case; therefore, you should not expect to see 4K resolution on 19 or 14 inch monitors.

• 13-inch, 14-inch, 15.6-inch: These sizes aren’t usually used for PC monitors but for laptops’ monitors

• 19-inch: 19-inch definition is now being one of two most popular sizes, along with the 21-inch

• 21-inch: Somehow considered big for PCs’ monitors, but it’s more fit for digital artists, photographers, video editors.

• 27-inch, 29-inch, 32-inch: Normal people would use monitors this much. These are made for gamers, programmers, content creators, and security supervisors.

4. The refresh rate

The refresh rate indicates how many times the screen changes its image in one second. The standard refresh rate is 60Hz, which doubles the required rate to trick the eyes into thinking that the objects are actually moving. 

Gaming monitors often feature the refresh rate to 120Hz, and 144Hz. Youtubers have tested the benefits of higher refresh rates, by letting two equally good gamers play the same game with two different monitors with two different rates. The result turned out to be the higher refresh rate actually helped the gamers to improve their performance. 

5. The curveness

Unlike curved TV, curved monitors are on the rise. Curved monitors are the perfect fit for playing games and creating media, because it shapes like a semicircle, which puts you in the center of the image you see. That’s the real experience referring to how lifelike the images are.

6. Additional features

• HDR 10-bit support: Enrich the pictures by enhancing the definition of the color in the images.

• Interfaces and ports: Most monitors feature HDMI ports; however, some others support VGA, or DisplayPort. Before buying your monitor, you need to check the specifications of your motherboards, the cables you have.

• Energy saving: Monitors use not much electricity. Some monitors are certified Energy Star, which determines that the monitor is likely to be one of the most power-efficient.

Built-in speakers: Due to the advancements of the HDMI connections, monitors can now have built-in speakers to eliminate the inconvenience of carrying around the speakers. Instead, use the built-in ones.

1. AOC C24G1A 24" Curved Frameless Gaming Monitor

Among the best gaming monitors under $200, AOC C24G1A 24" Curved Frameless Gaming Monitor stands out with over 20,000 good ratings on Amazon. The monitor is a curved monitor, featuring the size of 24 inches, which is fairly large. The native resolution is 1920 x 1080, which is also known as 1080p. 

On the inside, it offers you the LED technology as the displaying part, along with the refresh rate of 165Hz, the response time of 1ms. However, the refresh rate and response time can only be achieved on DisplayPort 1.2 interface. 

On the outside, it is designed with 3-sided frameless with extremely thin borders, in order to help you in the setup of multiple monitors. The height is of course adjustable with a swivel. Finally, it offers you a 3-year-no-bright-dot, 1-year-accidental-damage warranty policy. 

• Good reviews.

• 1080p.

• LED technology.

• 165Hz and 1mm response time (DisplayPort 1.2).

2. ASUS 24" 1080P Gaming Monitor (VG248QG)

Branded and warranted by Asus, the ASUS 24" 1080P Gaming Monitor (VG248QG) is a 24-inch monitor priced under 200, featuring an LED screen panel, which saves you some extra money on the electricity bill. The response time is just 0.5 milliseconds, and the screen does that 165 times in a second. Obviously, lower refresh rates such as 60Hz or 144Hz are supported. 

The NVIDIA G-SYNC technology removes the stutter and screen tearing for the smoothest gaming experience. It comes with the trademarked ASUS Eye Care technology to protect the eyes from flickers and blue light. 

We have an HDMI connector (version 1.4), a DisplayPort (revision 1.2), and a Dual-link DVI-D port. Like other models, the VG248GQ supports height adjustments with a swivel and the mounting capacity. Finally, the GameVisual and GamePlus functions enable color perfection, enhancing the gaming experience.

• 24-inch LED screen.

• 165Hz and 0.5ms response time.

• ASUS Eye Care.

• HDMI + DisplayPort + Dual-link DVI-D.

• Height adjustments.

3. Sceptre Curved 27" 75Hz LED Monitor

The next candidate in our list is the Sceptre Curved 27" 75Hz LED Monitor. The monitor is another member of the curved monitor family, featuring a 27 inch display with nearly no edges. 

As the name suggested, the monitor has 75Hz of refresh rate and a lightning fast response time. The resolution is the standard full HD 1080p, supported by two ports: one HDMI port and one VGA port. 

The monitor includes a built-in pair of speakers delivering robust and smooth audio during your game, without a separate wired stereo pair of audio devices, saving plenty of space on your desk. The Blue Light Shift works exactly like the Blue Light Filter, helping remove part of Blue Light to protect the eye. A 15-backward and 5-forward tilting option in degree would be perfect for you when you change your sitting position.

• 27 inches, which is large.

• 75Hz of refresh rate.

• 1080p resolution.

• One HDMI + one VGA port.

• Built in pair of speakers.

• Blue Light Shift breakthrough technology.

• 15 degrees tilt backwards and 5 degrees tilt forwards.

1. What is HDR?

HDR was introduced back in 1993 when computers were not as popular as they are now. HDR represents colors using a 10-bit unit instead of the RGB color system currently used. That’s why we get much richer, and more contrast with the HDR screen, and it improves your viewing experience.

HDR monitor can significantly improve your playing experience; however, it will put pressure on your GPU and the screen’s processor as well.

2. What if my computer doesn’t support the resolution?

There is nothing to worry about. Most monitors have the processor and options included: they are able to adjust the resolution, refresh rate, brightness, contrast ratio on their own. 

If your computer provides a resolution that is lower than the maximum resolution of the monitor, it would upscale the image into the resolution it can display, or leave two blank pads on the sides of the screen.

The refresh rate works the same way as the resolution does.

Some monitors even provide advanced drivers, also called controllers, to do the settings on the software side.

3. How do I mount my monitor to the wall?

To mount a TV on the wall, you first need to find out the mounting size of your monitor. Monitors usually use the same mounting size, so you don’t need to worry much about this. After ordering your monitor mount, use a screwdriver to fasten the screws into the monitor, and hang it on the wall.

There should be more detailed instructions on how to do that, which would come with both your monitor mount, and your monitor itself.

4. How do I set up my new monitor?

To set up your new monitor, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Connect your monitor to the computer. There are two ways to do this: connect to the default motherboard’s port, or to the graphics cards’ port. If you connect to your graphics cards’, it might require you to change some settings for your monitor to work. Secondly, you have to decide the port to use. HDMI ports support great resolutions with the controlling options and audio, while VGA represents the old standard of monitors, which would be more compatible with different types of monitors.

• Step 2: Plug in the power cord. Most monitors provide a default adapter to convert the traditional civil 220V or 110V to 19V or 12V, which is safer and what the monitors use. If you don’t have the adapter or have lost it, it is recommended to buy another from the official repair center, or in the worst case, buy the adapter with the exact voltage rate.

• Step 3: Power the monitor on, set the resolution and change some settings if needed. Then, you’re all set.

5. My monitor doesn’t work?

There are many reasons for a monitor not to work, some of which are:

• Use the wrong voltage rated adapter: In this case, the monitor would either be broken or not turned one. You will be likely to see nothing that indicates the working state of the monitor.

• The computer doesn’t support a compatible resolution: This usually happens because of wrong settings. In this case, try resetting your monitor or graphics card settings, or reinstall the operating system. If they didnt work, you need to take your computer or your monitor to a repair or warranty center.

• The cable is broken: You recognize this error by seeing the message “No source” or “No signal”. Replacing  the cable is needed at this point. There might be a possibility that the cable is too long, that the power supported by the card is not enough to deliver the signal. In this case, using an HDMI adapter is advised. 

Gaming monitor is one of two most essential parts of your gaming set. Buying a good gaming monitor accelerates your gaming experience, bringing most realistically the images to the world. Here is our list for the best gaming monitors under 200:

• The best gaming monitors under 200 for overall: AOC C24G1A 24" Curved Frameless Gaming Monitor

• The runner-up:  ASUS 24" 1080P Gaming Monitor (VG248QG)

• A 27-inch option: Sceptre Curved 27" 75Hz LED Monitor

• The budget choice: HP 24mh FHD Monitor - Computer Monitor with 23.8-Inch IPS Display

• Another one from Sceptre: Sceptre E248W-19203R 24" Ultra Thin 75Hz

We have written about the best gaming monitors above. I hope that this guide is helpful to you when choosing the monitor for your gaming room. See you in the next recommendations and be sure to check out other reviews as well.