About DisplayNinja

Finding the right information is hard. We’re to provide simple, transparent and honest tips, recommendations & educational content.

Get expert opinions and product tests of all the latest and greatest monitors & TVs.

There’s an easier way to find the right display for you – and we’re here to help you find it.

What We Do

Our main tasks involve reviewing monitors and TVs and recommending the best ones for different use cases and budget constraints.

We rely heavily on proper research techniques in order to rate & recommend the best possible products for you.

Furthermore, we write dozens of helpful informational articles based on topics that we have identified again and again throughout our research and work experience.

Our Mission

We strive to publish the most up-to-date, simple and most useful reviews of monitors and TVs in order to help you discover, research and select the most appropriate display for you.

What Products Do We Test?

We are currently reviewing monitors, though we plan to review TV’s at some point as well.

Furthermore, we review other components or hardware in related fields, though very limited. For these other categories, we only curate buying guides based on very comprehensive research in order to recommend you the best products. Though this is very limited, as we’re most knowledgeable in display technology and can recommend displays much more confidently.

If you have a specific monitor or TV that you want us to review, please let us know here.

Who We Are

The origin of DisplayNinja starts all the way back in 2015, where the website 144HzMonitors.com was launched.

The founder, Benjamin Jackson, who had just finished his Computer Science master’s degree in Caltech, decided to focus on a relatively new type of monitors at that time, high refresh-rate monitors.

He did that by researching heavily online and with his computer science skillset, he quickly became knowledgeable in the field and began writing in his blog.

After some time, he composed his first buying guide, a guide on how to select the best gaming monitor. It quickly became very popular and was shared widely across the web and in social media.

He looked through as many comments as he could every week and updated it monthly based on the updated market status and user feedback. All while creating other helpful & informational articles that were helping visitors, as well as news of new monitors being announced.

144HzMonitors quickly became a trusted authority and amassed hundreds of thousands of visits every month as well as being featured in numerous trusted magazines.

6 months after the launch, Joseph Moore joined the team. He had over 20 years of experience writing about technology so he was an ideal addition, and after some time he was chosen to be the head editor as his writing skills & techniques were impeccable.

Rob Shafer, a Colorado-based software engineer, joined the team after around 9 months of operations. He didn’t have as much prior experience writing about displays, but after a 6-month internship, which mostly involved studying & researching, he became a valuable addition to the team and started testing & recommended displays after that.

With his background in computer science and software engineering, Rob was the ideal candidate to join the team. The Colorado native has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and used to work part-time at a marketing agency. He recently quit his part-time job to work full-time at DisplayNinja.

In April 2018, the founder of 144HzMonitors.com decided to rebrand the site with a better name, better content, and with much better user experience.

DisplayNinja was born.

Content on 144HzMonitors.com was (and still is) thoroughly reviewed, heavily improved and published on DisplayNinja. The old link on 144HzMonitors is then redirected to the new and improved version on DisplayNinja. This process has not yet finished and will continue until all the most important content topics have been re-made.

As of June 2019, DisplayNinja had been acquired by the Danish media publishing company, Flexter. The highly dedicated and experienced team behind DisplayNinja would continue to operate with the new owner, but now Rob Shafer was given the role as the Head Editor, and Joseph Moore became the Assistant Editor.

DisplayNinja was quickly overhauled and additional job openings quickly opened in order to keep DisplayNinja as the go-to resource for display searchers around the world. DisplayNinja will be joining a growing number of brands that focus on the same overall topics – gaming & technology. One of these brands is GamingScan, a popular gaming magazine with over a million monthly visitors & over a million monthly YouTube viewers.

Another newer brand is GPU Mag, which is a website dedicated exclusively to graphics cards.

If you have suggestions or other things that you think we could cover better, please send us your valuable feedback.

Where We Are Featured

How We Are Monetized

DisplayNinja is part of a company. We have a lot of operational expenses, such as:

• Web hosting
• E-mail hosting
• Payrolls for our editors
• Purchasing products

In order for us to pay our expenses and to generate a profit for our investors, we use referral links.

Whenever you purchase a product after clicking on one of our referral links, we may earn a commission.

The referral links do not cost you anything extra. You just help support us for free.

Referral links simply tell the website that you are referred to that you came from DisplayNinja.com.

Not all of our external links are referral links, and they do not affect our product ratings or selections in any way.

Furthermore, we’re monetized by the Google AdSense program, which allows publishers like us to earn revenue by displaying ads. We only display non-intrusive and safe ads since they are vetted by Google.

All this allows us to serve you content for free without any annoying ads or paywalls.

Sometimes companies send us products to review and we accept this. However, we do not rate these products any higher than if we bought it ourselves.

Companies cannot pay us to rate their products higher or to select them for our roundups.

How We Review Products

First, we research what product should be reviewed. We select popular and new displays, but we also give equal priority to TVs and monitors that may be less known but offer exceptional quality and value for the money.

This way, you can see what the newest displays are like and how they compare to popular models. Moreover, you may discover some monitors and TVs you haven’t heard about that offer just what you were looking for.

We keep our reviews short and simple, but we don’t skip important details; We’ll cover everything you need to look out for when buying a new monitor or TV. If something isn’t explained in depth, we provide links to our knowledge-base articles where you can learn more about the subject.

We always include several alternatives in our reviews in case there’s a similar display from another brand or if a different type of display is available within the same price range. Old reviews are also always up to date as they get updated when a better alternative becomes available.

In June 2019, we went through all our reviews & updated their scores based on the current market status & price point as better alternatives may have become available.

Design

When examining the design of a display, we mainly focus on its ergonomic abilities as well as build quality and stability.

We’ll also include a few words about the aesthetics of the display and its screen surface treatment.

Connectivity

We make sure to mention all connectivity options as well as what their maximum supported refresh rate and resolutions are – something that manufacturers don’t always specify – which often causes confusion.

Image Quality & Performance

Since every unit of a monitor or a TV is at least slightly different (even if it’s the same model), we don’t include measurements that vary between each individual display in our reviews.

These include:

• Measured contrast ratio
• Measured maximum brightness
• Panel uniformity

For instance, let’s say we measured a contrast ratio of 1100:1 on a certain monitor. If you were to buy that same monitor, your particular model may have a maximum contrast ratio of 900:1 or 1000:1. This difference isn’t significant, but it’s something you should keep in mind. So, expect approximate results from these measurements.

This also applies to certain panel defects, such as backlight bleeding and IPS/VA glow, which vary in intensity on different units.

The same goes for overclocking, G-SYNC compatibility, and factory calibration.

Refresh Rate

Keep in mind that one unit of a 75Hz monitor, for example, may be overclocked to over 85Hz whereas another unit of the same monitor won’t go a single hertz over 75Hz.

Further, unless a gaming monitor is certified by NVIDIA as G-SYNC compatible, FreeSync may or may not work well with compatible NVIDIA cards on uncertified displays. We always include if there are any issues with the performance in this regard.

If a FreeSync monitor provides stable G-SYNC performance in our tests and/or in tests by other reliable and reputable sources, it’s marked as G-SYNC compatible in our list of FreeSync monitors.

Calibration

Image quality, colors, and contrast will look different out of the box on individual units of the same monitor. This excludes factory-calibrated displays that are intended for color-critical work which are more precisely calibrated (Delta E < 2, Delta E ≤ 3, etc).

Just copying the brightness, contrast, and color temperature (red, green, and blue color values) settings of one monitor, won’t provide the same results on the other.

So, if you don’t have a hardware colorimeter, use this website to get the best picture quality possible out of your display. Be warned though, it takes a bit of time and patience, but the results are worthwhile.

Input Lag

Input lag is the amount of time it takes for your graphics card and monitor/TV to react and display your commands.

Overall, as long as the input lag is lower than the refresh rate cycle of a monitor (1000 milliseconds divided by the maximum refresh rate i.e. 1000/60 = 16.67ms, 1000/144 = 6.94ms), you won’t be able to notice any delay.

In fact, many gamers wouldn’t be able to notice input lag that’s lower than two refresh rate cycles of a monitor (32ms at 60Hz, 14ms at 144Hz, etc), but anything over that is too high.

Luckily, almost all modern monitors have low input lag, well below the recommended minimum.

So, if you’re looking at two 144Hz monitors, one with 3ms input lag and the other with 5ms, don’t make the decision solely on that performance.

In this case, anything below 7ms is more than good enough, so you might as well pick a monitor with better features, design, image quality, etc.

Of course, high-end professional/hardcore gamers will want every millisecond of an advantage they can get, so this may not apply to them.

Monitor and TV manufacturers don’t specify the input lag performance of their displays, so check out our reviews to ensure you’re getting a fast display.

Response Time

For pixel response time speed and input lag testing, we’re using OSRTT. We’re also using Blur Buster’s UFO ghosting test with 960 Pixels Per Sec, shutter speed set to 1/4 of the refresh rate with fixed focus, ISO and color temperature (6500K). Before the tests, the monitors are calibrated and warmed up.

Response time is the amount of time a pixel takes to change from one color to another. The response time speed of a monitor which the manufacturer specifies, however, should always be taken with a grain of salt.

The monitor’s specified response time speed (1ms, 4ms, 5ms GtG – gray to gray pixel transition) indicates how fast a pixel can change from one shade of gray to another under specific testing conditions.

It also implies that the highest overdrive (an option that increases the monitor’s response time speed) setting is used. However, too strong overdrive can also introduce inverse ghosting i.e. pixel overshoot.

Note that GtG response time shouldn’t be confused with the 1ms MPRT (Moving Picture Response Time) speed which is achieved via backlight strobing.

Activating 1ms MPRT (the name differentiates among gaming monitors: ULMB, MBR, Motion Blur Reduction, ELMB, etc) increases fast-paced motion clarity, but it also introduces flicker, decreases brightness, and it cannot work at the same time as VRR (variable refresh rate i.e. FreeSync/G-SYNC).

Another thing to keep in mind here is that not everyone perceives ghosting (trailing left behind fast-moving objects on monitors with slow response time) equally. Some are more sensitive to it than others.

Generally, TN panel displays have the fastest response time speed, but inferior image quality and viewing angles.

VA panels, on the other hand, have excellent contrast ratio and good viewing angles, but a slower response time speed.

Lastly, IPS panel monitors offer a good balance between the two but are usually more expensive.

In our reviews, we always include how a monitor’s response time performs in comparison to its alternatives with different panels.

Typically, TN panels are picked by competitive FPS gamers who prefer performance over image quality whereas VA panel displays are favorable among those who’d rather have better image quality for the same price, but don’t mind a bit of ghosting here and there.

Those who want a good balance between image quality and performance, opt for IPS panels, but those displays have disadvantages of their own. This is described in more details in each review: what the alternatives are, what are the advantages, disadvantages, trade-offs, etc.

Features & On-Screen Display

We also cover what features are available in all monitors, and more importantly, what features are missing (if there are any).

Some gaming monitors may lack an important feature such as FreeSync or have a bad overdrive implementation in which case we’ll cover how this affects the performance.

Other displays may lack certain picture adjustments such as gamma settings or a dedicated sRGB color profile which can be deal-breaking for those doing color-critical work.

We’ll also go over the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu layout, navigation, hotkeys, shortcuts, etc, and let you know if there’s anything to pay attention to in this regard.

HDR

HDR (High Dynamic Range) is the latest buzzword in the monitor market which means there’s a lot of false and misleading advertising. An HDR monitor may only be able to accept the HDR10 signal and not do anything else to improve the image quality. In fact, some HDR monitors will have more washed out colors when HDR is enabled.

While there are certifications (VESA’s HDR400, HDR600, etc) that give a general idea about the monitor’s HDR performance, these are rather vague.

An HDR monitor with an HDR400 certification may offer a bit higher peak luminance but at the same time lack proper color gamut and contrast ratio for a notable HDR viewing experience.

These certifications also don’t include many details about whether the display uses any kind of local dimming or just global dimming nor whether the LED display is edge-lit or direct-lit, all of which plays a big role in how the HDR image will look.

For monitors that support HDR, we always include all the details you need to know in our reviews.

As you can see, there’s plenty of things to keep in mind when buying a new monitor. Just skimming over the monitor’s specifications won’t provide you with enough information to make a firm decision.

That is why our reviews are here to help you find the perfect display for you.

How We Rate Products

Our products are rated on a scale from 1 to 5. We rate the product’s design (build quality and versatility), display (image quality), performance, and price/value.

Design

In our reviews, a monitor’s design rating is based on the overall build quality, stability, and versatility (whether it can be tilted, swiveled, height-adjusted, rotated, and VESA mounted).

The rating also takes into account a monitor’s hotkeys: how easy/difficult is it to use them to navigate through the OSD menu.

Moreover, a monitor gets bonus points for extra accessories such as a headphones hook, a shading hood, devices for remote OSD control, etc and loses points for insufficiencies such as a wobbly stand, cheap build materials, and so on.

Display

The display rating determines the image quality and the general viewing experience. Keep in mind though that if, for instance, a $200 monitor gets 4/5 for Display, but a $1000 monitor gets 3.5/5, it doesn’t mean the $200 has a better image quality.

The display rating takes into account the monitor’s price range as well as the display quality of similarly priced monitors. Competitively priced monitors will always be mentioned in the ‘Price & Similar Monitors’ section of our reviews and we always urge you to check them out as well.

Performance

Just like the display rating, the performance mark takes into account the monitor’s price and the performance of similarly priced monitors.

The performance rating is based on the display’s input lag, response time, overdrive implementation, and availability (or lack of) features that impact the performance, such as VRR, backlight strobing, flicker-free technology, etc.

Price/Value

The price/value rating indicates how good value you’re getting for your money. Note that this rating often gets updated as new monitors get released. In addition, we may change other ratings in our reviews when new and similar displays get released with better image quality, performance, and/or design for the money.

Our Company Relationships

We love transparency. Here is a list of all our referral relationships as well as products that we’ve received for free.

We update the table above from time to time, so it might not always be completely up-to-date. If you want to know for sure if we have received a specific product for free or if we have an affiliate relationship with a particular company, then get in touch with us here.

Do You Have Questions?

Do you still have any questions? Want to get our help in picking the right display for you? Have a new monitor or TV you want us to test and review?

Then please do not hesitate to contact us! We’ll try to get back to you within 24 hours during weekdays.