If you are in the market for a large monitor in India(or any other country other than the US), you would be utterly disappointed to find out that there are very few options available. You are probably looking for a bigger monitor(27, 28, 29 or 32 inches) because you have probably already used a smaller monitor of around 21 to 24inches in the past and now you want to upgrade to a better and bigger monitor even if it means spending a few thousand rupees extra.

You might also be wanting to increase your screen resolution from Full HD 1080p to 4k 2160p, after all, you have been hearing the term 4k for a few years now, so the price of such monitors should have come down by now, right? You might have already gone through Amazon and Flipkart to be shocked at the prices of 4k monitors and decided to settle for 1440p instead, but again, there are very few options available in the market.

The thing is that most people just buy the full HD 22inch models for around Rs7000 to Rs12000, and this is the price range at which most monitors are sold in India. Very few people are willing to spend more on a monitor even though the monitor is perhaps the most important part of their computer system.

Due to this reason, if you go to pretty much any computer shop, you will never get to see a monitor above the Rs15000 limit. And, even the online retailers are reluctant to keep stock of monitors over this price as the volume of sales is too low for them to make any dent in their revenue. Why sell 2 monitors for Rs30000 while you can sell 100 monitors for Rs10000?

We buy expensive computers for over Rs50k and then add a cheap monitor to it without realizing that we will get the most benefit by having a better display as we are looking at it all the time. Even if you are just browsing the internet or doing your office job or watching videos, a better monitor will give you more value than a better processor or more RAM or storage. And, monitors do not easily get outdated. They work properly without any issue for over ten years.

I researched extensively for a large screen monitor with a screen size of 27 inches or above with a screen resolution of 2560X1440 or above and is writing this article to help out other people in narrowing down the options. So let’s start our hunt for a good big monitor under Rs30000 in India.

Why read my article?

I have personally purchased four 32 inch monitors in India(total cost over 1 lakh+) and have used them for several months. That is something I think almost no one in India has done before. I also like to use good monitors and have experienced dozens of other monitors of varying sizes.

I have put a lot of effort into making this very in-depth and long guide which is written in such a way to make it super easy for you to decide which monitor to buy. It has all the information you can possibly need to make this choice, so this would be the only article you need to read before buying. I made this article because I was also once overwhelmed by the amount of research required to make the correct choice, so I wanted to make it easy for others by sharing my research over here.

This is a detailed article that answers the following questions – 

1. Best large screen monitors under Rs30000 or $400
2. Best 4k monitors available in India under 30k
3. Best 32 inch monitors in India
4. Best 27 inch monitors in India
5. An in-depth guide about purchasing a good monitor of any size

 

UPDATED – In the past year, the government reduced the taxes of display components by 10%, so monitors have become cheaper by that much. However, the large monitor market is so small in India that there has been not many newer models or alternatives than the ones mentioned in this list. Only six new models were launched in past 1.5 years, which has also been added to this list in this update.

Quick Decision point or Tl;DR

If you don’t want to read this article and just want a quick decision, here is your best options according to my intense research –

32 inch Monitor options

If you are short on money and want the cheapest option possible, go for Acer EB321HQU. It is 32inch and has 1440p at around Rs 18k price point. It is great value for money at that price range, but quality control is poor and the panel is of average quality, so it is recommended that you go for higher-priced options but if you don’t have that extra budget and want a big monitor, this is your only option.

If you are into gaming, or if you want high refresh rate display, go for LG Ultragear 32GK650 which has 144hz, 1440p at Rs24 to 25k price point. Its price often fluctuates and increases when demand is high and supply is low.

If you are into gaming, movie watching and want a larger color gaumat, go for Viewsonic VX3258-2KPC-MHD as it has 144hz, 1440p, better design and higher color gaumat for a slightly higher price of 29k price point. It is also a curved monitor, so check if you care about that. If you are someone working on design software like CAD, you may not like curved monitor as it becomes difficult to perceive straight lines, but for everyone else, it is a great improvement over flat panels.

If the above viewsonic monitor is not available at that price point(It is out of stock 90% of time) or if you want an IPS monitor, go for LG 32QN600 at  28k pricepoint. It is a newly launched monitor in India. It has a fantastic panel and is color accurate along with basic HDR support and has 75hz refresh rate which is above the normal of 60hz. It is perfect for general commuting needs like programming, video editing, browsing etc.

If you want a 32inch 4k monitor, the best option is BenQ EW3270U for Rs35k. It has a really good panel, supports HDR, has good color accuracy, good response time and is just an allrounder monitor that can do everything. It is also great for movie watching and is great for everything except if you want high refresh rate gaming. However, due to it being so good value, they often increase its price to 45k.

If the above Benq is not available at that price, then the next best option for 4k is Acer ET322QK for 26k(previously Rs30k) which is also a great monitor, but it is a slightly older model.

Alternatively, there is a Samsung 4k monitor for around 29k(previously – Rs38k) which is also good. Its curved version is also available for the same price. It is recommended to buy the curved version more than the flat one.

If you are a design professional who wants a color accurate display the best option is Benq PD3200Q at Rs38k price point as if offers true 10bit 1440p high-quality panel with incredible color accuracy.

If you want a 4k color accurate monitor then the best option is Acer ProDesigner PE320QK as it has best colour accuracy and large color gaumat for professional works at Rs 55k price point. Generally, common people don’t need these kindof monitors, so if you are not a professional, don’t waste your money.

27 inch Monitor options

32 inch is my recommended screen size for anyone who wants to go bigger than the normal 22-24inch market as 27 feels only slightly bigger while 32 feels like a really big change, but if in any case you want a 27 inch, here are the options.

If you want a 27inch gaming monitor with even better response time, go for Acer Nitro XV272U as it has 1440p, 144hz, 1ms response time and is generally a very good gaming monitor at 31k price point. It even has 99% srgb coverage and resonably good color accuracy.

If you want a 27 inch 4k monitor, go for LG 27UL500 which has 4k HDR10 panel with good color accuracy at 31k price point.

If you want a color accurate monitor then get BenQ PD2700Q at 25k price range. It is designed for designers who care about colors, but it is a great allrounder monitor for everyone at a good price point. It has 100% Srgb colors, great panel, 1440p.

If you want a high end color accurate monitor used by professional designers, get Acer ProDesigner PE270K for slightly higher price point of 38k. It is 4k and has an excellent color accurate panel.

If you want an ultimate gaming monitor with spec of 4k along with 144hz go for Acer Nitro XV273K at 60k price point. It also has HDR400 and low response rate. It is generally an overkill for most people.

Now, lets start with the article –

Things to keep in mind while buying a monitor

Never buy a monitor under 91PPI

PPI means Pixels per Inch which is a number which takes both the screen size and screen resolution into account. If you put a low resolution in a large monitor, you will be able to see the pixels and thus everything will look pixelated. A good rule of thumb is that you should never buy a monitor with PPI less than 91 Pixels per Inch.

Infact, Windows by default was designed to be used at the 90 PPI range and if you use a very high PPI monitor like 200PPI, you will face the opposite problem where everything will look incredibly small like the text will be unreadably small. The solution to this problem is the scaling(zoom) settings within Windows which will enlarge everything so you get the benefit of both high PPI and size of everything remains the same. Until a few years ago, this scaling used to not work properly leading to some software being rendered with small text, but nowadays this problem has been fixed.

Anyways this means 90 to 100 PPI is the optimal range, but if you want higher sharpness or if you sit too close to the monitor, you can opt for a higher PPI monitor.

Full HD monitors

For a 1920*1080 monitor of 21inches, the PPI is 102.5
For a 1920*1080 monitor of 24inches, the PPI is 91.8
For a 1920*1080 monitor of 27inches, the PPI is 81.6  [Too low]
For a 1920*1080 monitor of 31.5inches, the PPI is 69.9 [Too low]

QHD Monitors

For a 2560*1440 monitor of 27inches, the PPI is 108.8
For a 2560*1440 monitor of 31.5inches, the PPI is 93.2

4k monitors
For a 3840*2160 monitor of 27inches, the PPI is 163.2
For a 3840*2160 monitor of 31.5inches, the PPI is 139.9

Ultra-Wide Monitors

For a 2560*1080 monitor of 25inches, the PPI is 111.1
For a 2560*1080 monitor of 29inches, the PPI is 95.8
For a 2560*1080 monitor of 34inches, the PPI is 81.7 [Too low]

For a 3440*1440 monitor of 34inches, the PPI is 109.7

As you can see, 24inch is the maximum you should go with a Full HD resolution for a monitor if you do not want a pixellated screen. This is the reason why I want a 1440p or 2160p monitor when going for 27+inches of the monitor size.

Monitor size

For most people 21 to 24inches is the ideal size for a computer monitor, but if you are a tech enthusiast or gamer or programmer or someone who works on computer whole day or you watch movies in your monitor etc, then you need a bigger monitor size. And, that is the reason why this article is being written.

If you are unable to determine the size of your monitor, try cutting out a newspaper into the exact dimensions of your monitor’s visible screen size and then try keeping that paper at the place where you intend to keep your monitor. This will help you visualize the size of the monitor before actually making the purchase.

Your viewing distance from the monitor is also important. If you sit too close to a big monitor, then you might see pixels or your entire field of view will get covered by a screen, which might give you a headache, or you might find it difficult to see the other end of the screen. So, figure out the correct size which suite your needs.

If you do not like the idea of one large monitor, and still want a large screen space, you might want to consider buying a dual monitor setup. Both has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Caution: Never buy a 25inch ultrawide monitor. It will feel smaller than a 24inch monitor because of its low height. It is basically an 18.5inch monitor stretched sideways by 33% to make it ultrawide. If you want ultra wide, then go for 29 inches or more. Don’t get tempted by the 25inch ultrawide available for less than Rs14000.

TN vs VA vs IPS panel monitor

There are basically three types of LCD panels made for all kind of displays. You might see other names like PLS, AHVA, AMVA, ADS etc which are all basically different names for these three types of panels. Each type has its own advantage and disadvantage.

TN panel

This is the oldest LCD technology. It has the fastest response time, high refresh rate and is cheap to manufacture, so it is also most commonly found in budget monitors. It has very poor viewing angles, so if you view from an angle, you will see a significant color shift. It also has an average color accuracy.

Choose this panel only if you have some special reason to choose it, like for example, if you want a gaming monitor which needs 144Hz refresh rate, then you might want to consider a TN panel as other types are more expensive or unavailable.

VA Panel

It has the best contrast ratio, meaning blacks will be three times darker than the other two types of panels. That will significantly improve the picture quality but it also has a lower response time and is known to have ghosting issues, meaning when you move the mouse cursor or something, you will see a slight trail behind it. Note that the ghosting issues is over-exaggerated here, in reality, it would only be visible if you look closely and particularly at it. This issue used to be a major problem in old VA panels, but modern ones are very good and almost on par with IPS panels.

Also, comparatively the colors won’t pop as much as IPS panel and viewing angles are not as good as IPS but significantly better than TN. Most good TVs in the world use VA panels, so if you have a modern TV near you, then you can check its viewing angles and other things incase you have not seen a VA monitor before.

This panel is perfect for movie watching movies and playing games with a lot of dark scenes. But may not suit everyone. If you want Black to look black and not dark grey, then this is the best panel to go for.

IPS panel

This has the best viewing angles and thus there is no color shift while watching from any angle. It also has the best color quality making colors pop out with spectacular effect.

It is the best panel for most people and due to this reason, it is currently the most popular type of panel found in everything from TVs to smartphones. It is great for doing work which requires color accuracy like photography or graphic design, and it is also great for watching movies or playing games.

However, it maxes out at 1200:1 contrast ratio compared to 3000:1 contrast ratio offered by VA panels, and its response time is around 5ms compared to 1ms offered by TN panels. But these are reasonable numbers for pretty much everyone except for individuals with specialized needs.

Backlight glow

One common problem with IPS panel is Backlight glow(sometimes referred to as backlight bleed), which basically means that if you try to show a fully black photo on your monitor infull-screen mode, and you create a pitch dark environment, you will be able to see the inaccuracies of the IPS panel. You will be able to see some slight yellowish color of the backlight at various parts of your screen.

When people see this, they freak out and often ask for a replacement, only to be disappointed again with another monitor with backlight glow. Almost all IPS panels have some level of backlight glow, and it can be dishearting to see this in your new monitor, but you should understand that this is a part of the technology.

And, this is only visible when viewed in very dark environments with a black image on the screen. This happens because IPS display is incapable of fully turning off all the lights behind the screen, and some of them escape creating this non-uniformity. Often the photos posted online are highly exaggerated because cameras try to adjust to the low light environment and make it look 10times worse than it actually is.

You can solve this issue by at least keeping some lights on while using your monitor. If you want a dark room, then use at least use bias lighting.

Color Depth 6bit vs 8bit vs 10bit

Color depth is the number of shades available for each color of Red, Green, and Blue available for making each pixel. All displays mix the shades of these three colors to form each pixel, so If your monitor can show more shades of each color, then that means it can show more colors.

8bits of color depth means for each color in each pixel there are as many shades available as the numbers which can be stored in an 8bit file. So, 8bit can have 256 numbers, thus 256 shades of each color are available. Since three colors(RGB) for each pixel, a total of 256*256*256 colors can be displayed in a pixel, that amounts of about 16million colors.

6bit = 64*64*64= 262,144 colors
8bit = 256*256*256=16.7 million colors
10bit = 1024*1024*1024=1.073 billion colors

Making a higher bit display is expensive, so most monitors use a trick called FRC to increase its bits beyond what it actually has. FRC is a technique by which they make a color blink very fast to make it appear that it has more depth than it actually has. For example 6bit+FRC=8bit.

This is usually okayish and is not noticeable to our eyes, thus don’t go out searching for a true 10bit panel. Most monitors which advertise 10bit colors actually have 8bit+FRC to make it appear that it has 10bits. Similarly, most 8 bit panels are 6bit+Frc.

Color Gaumet

Now, just because you have a 10bit panel doesn’t mean your panel is actually capable of displaying so many colors, instead, it just gives it a theoretical capability to do so. Various other factors determine what your monitor can actually display.

There are various color standards established by various agencies, the most important of it is SRGB which is the color space commonly used by web browsers and various content providers. So, you must never buy any monitor which cannot display atleast 95% of the SRGB color space.

There are other color spaces like NTSC, Adobe RGB, DCI P3, Rec 2020 etc. Each one shows various ranges of colors suitable for various industries. Generally, if your monitor can show 72% of NTSC colors then your monitor should be able to show 100% of SRGB color space.

Note that if your monitor can only display 50% of SRGB colors then that means you literally are blind to half of the colors which can actually be shown by the content you normally watch as so many things use SRGB. So, it is very important to try to get as much SRGB as possible, ideally 100%. If you do specialized tasks like photo-editing, then you should care about other color spaces as well.

Refresh rate

If you are not a gamer, then ignore this section. Nearly all monitors come with a maximum refresh rate of 60hz which means that it can display 60 frames per second. This should be sufficient for all the use case scenario of nearly all the people except for hardcore gamers.

More refresh rates like 144Hz can make games look far smoother than what it is at 60Hz. In simple terms you will not see the blurring effect which often happens when you move too quickly in a game, thus everything will feel better on your eyes. However, you will be able to utilize these high frame rates only if you have an expensive computer which is powerful enough to push that many FPS.

As a side effect, even common tasks like normal scrolling in a web browser or moving mouse cursor will feel a lot smoother than a 60hz monitor.

Response Time

This is a time in which a pixel can change from one color to another, usually measured from either black to white or one shade of grey to another shade of grey. Generally, most monitors have response time under 8ms. A longer response time can make the image look blurry.

Input Lag

It is the amount of processing delay that happens between the computer giving the signal to the monitor and the time it took to show it on the screen. This is one important thing which differentiates a monitor from a TV.  One easy example to explain input lag is, if you move your mouse, you do not see the mouse moving in your monitor at the same time, but it moves after a short delay. A high input lag can make a monitor unusably bad.

The problem is that most manufacturers do not mention the input lag of their monitors, thus it is crucial to read reviews measuring it.

Contrast Ratio

You should definitely ignore the “dynamic contrast ratio” mentioned By most manufacturers. This is a useless number for just marketing purposes. The real number which matters is Native contrast ratio which usually is in the range between 800:1 to 4000:1

Contrast is the amount of difference between the brightest color and the darkest color shown on the screen. Low contrast can make the picture look washed out and high contrast can really make the colors show up beautifully. This is the reason why many enthusiasts want OLED panels to become mainstream because it has infinite contrast ratio as it doesn’t use any backlight, so it can achieve perfect black.

If you can’t see the difference in quality between the above two photos, you are viewing this in a bad quality display.

Even the native contrast ratio mentioned by the manufactures cannot be really trusted. If you want to see the real contrast ratio, then read some reviews where the reviewer has manually tested the contrast ratio. I have seen some monitors advertise 1200:1 contrast ratio, but when manually tested they achieve only 650:1 which is a really poor level of contrast!

Realistically, you should aim to get a contrast ratio above 1000:1. Most TN and IPS panels cannot go above 1300:1 ratio. VA panels can go in 3000:1 to 6000:1 ratio with most panels having around 3000:1 range. If you watch a lot of videos and photos then contrast is the most important thing as you will see noticeably improved picture quality in a higher contrast monitor, so you should prefer a VA panel. All the best TVs(except OLED) are VA panels for this reason. But, if your main task is productivity stuff like browsing websites and editing documents, then IPS maybe better even after sacrificing contrast ratio.

Gsync or Freesync

This is another feature exclusively meant for gamers. Gsync or Freesync are technologies which prevent screen tearing while playing games. It basically aligns the frame rate of the graphics card and the monitor to achieve this.

Forget Gsync at this price range. I have not seen any monitor with it and the fault is Nvidia’s. They keep a high royalty fee which monitor manufacturers have to pay in order to implement G-sync in their monitors. And, then it only works with Nvidia’s graphics cards.

AMD, on the other hand, gives Freesync for free and allows any graphics card company to use this feature in their card, but Nvidia refuses to accept this standard.

In this price range, at best you can get Freesync. So, there is no need to bother about this.

Resolution vs Panel Quality

Having a 4k resolution or high PPI doesn’t automatically mean that the picture quality will be great as well. A Rs14000 Full HD IPS monitor with a good panel can have a better picture quality than a cheap 4k TN monitor available for Rs28000.

So, NEVER buy a monitor just because it is the cheapest 4k monitor you can find. I have to stress this because many people think 4k automatically means good quality and due to this, many companies are racing to put the highest resolution without considering the panel quality.

Flicker-Free Panel

If you look at your monitor for a large part of the day, this might be an important feature for you. Some monitors use a technique called PWM modulation to adjust the brightness of a screen, and this can be harmful to your eyes.

Here is how it works, when a monitor is at full brightness, there should be no flicker, but when you reduce the brightness, how is your monitor able to reduce the brightness? Some monitors use a cheap inexpensive technique by which they simply turn on and off the backlight at frequencies which we cannot see directly, but can feel the reduced brightness. Since the screen is off half the time, it feels like you have reduced the brightness, but what you actually did was the change the rate at which the screen is being flickered.

A lot of people claim that this invisible flickering of the screen is causing eye fatigue, headaches, stress, migraine and other issues. So, nowadays many monitors come with Flicker-free ways of adjusting the brightness, and many monitors will advertise this in their feature list.

Although many other people claim that this is a gimmick as they are perfectly fine with their flickering monitors, so make up your mind on if you care about this or not. But, worry not, most monitors nowadays are flicker-free anyway.

Input Ports

There is nothing significant to look here as most monitors these days come with a reasonable number of useful ports. You might want to check the version number of HDMI and Display port because older HDMI1.4 version is only capable of displaying 4k in 30hz while the HDMI 2.0 solves this problem.

If you have an old computer, check if it has the required ports to connect the monitor. Also, check if your computer has the required version of HDMI to display 4k or high frame rates. There is no point in buying an expensive 4k monitor only to find out that your laptop has an HDMI1.4 port and thus you can only use 30hz.

The USB ports found in many monitors are just a free USB hub, so don’t buy a monitor just because of this feature.

Monitor Speakers

Ehh, why do you care? I really do not understand why people make a big fuss about the low-quality speakers found in most monitors. You can see one-star reviews on Amazon stating low speaker performance as the reason in the review sections of all monitors which has an inbuilt speaker. And, that is the only reason this section exists in this article.

I really don’t understand why people place so much importance on the free speakers in a monitor as you are buying a display and not a sound system. All speakers on all monitors are bad. Don’t buy a monitor for its inbuilt speakers. If you care about audio, try getting a separate speaker, and that doesn’t really cost a lot. You can get reasonably good speakers for under Rs2000 or maybe get a headphone?

A very common issue which might be destroying your monitor’s colors

There is a very common problem which most people face with their monitors, but they don’t know that they are facing this problem. This is applicable only if you connect your monitor to your computer using an HDMI cable.

Oftentimes, when you connect your computer to a monitor via an HDMI cable, your computer(Windows) assumes that you are connecting to a Television and so it uses the settings which are good for television, this means that it will not show all the colors it is actually capable of showing. There are basically two settings.

1. HDMI Limited color range(16 to 244) [16 is dark grey, and 244 is whitish-grey, but many TVs consider 16 as black and 244 as white]
2. HDMI Full-color range(0 to 255) [0 means black, and 255 means brightest white for monitors]

So, go to your graphics card settings and confirm that it is set to FULL-color range, otherwise, everything will look washed out, and black will look like dark grey. I have seen several people complain about their monitor’s contrast ratio, only to figure out that they were limited by this color-range issue.

Now, let’s get started on the list

Big 27, 28, 29, & 32 inch monitors available in India under Rs30000

This list is actually not that big. Don’t get saddened by this short list. And, I have not included monitors with bad PPI like full HD 32inch monitors.

To make it easy to choose, add all the monitors you like to the cart in Amazon whenever you see them in this list. This will make it easy to price-compare and shortlist in an organized way. In the end, you can remove everything except the perfect choice, and you are done!

1) ViewSonic VX3276-2k-mhd 32 inch 1440p IPS monitor

Pros:

• IPS panel
• 2560*1440 resolution QHD
• 1200:1 contrast ratio mentioned
• 10-bit panel (probably 8bit+frc)
• 75% NTSC color space (99% SRGB)
• Extremely good design. Probably the best-designed monitor in all price ranges.
• 31.5 inches
• Smallest bezels in any monitor(7mm)
• Ultra slim thickness(thinner than a smartphone at the thinnest part)
• No scaling required as the PPI is exactly the same as a 23.6inch monitor.
• Two HDMI 1.4 ports, one DisplayPort, one Mini Display Port and a 3.5mm audio jack
• VESA mountable
• Flicker-free panel
• 3 years warranty
• Reasonable value for money (Rs25900)

Cons

• Nothing much, this is near perfect! I am mentioning cons for the sake of mentioning it
• The picture in Picture mode probably doesn’t exist(showing content from two computers via two cables on the same monitor at the same time)
• Newer monitors have 144hz while this one is 60hz.[So, not a good choice for gamers, but great for everyone else]
• Very few reviews are available online as this monitor was launched around February 2018

Buy from PrimeABGB at Rs25900

Edit: From July 2019 this monitor became available on Amazon – Here is the link –

Don’t get frightened by this massive monitor which can easily be used as a TV and no one will think that it is, in fact, a monitor. I have consistently seen various forums in which people think that 1440p resolution is low for a monitor of this size. That is infact a misconception because those same people recommend a 24inch full HD monitor without batting an eye. A 31.5inch QHD monitor has same PPI as a 23.6inch FULLHD monitor.

One huge advantage of this similar PPI is that you do not need to deal with the scaling issues found in Windows or other operating systems. If you have a 4k resolution at 24inches, then by default it will be unusable as everything shown in the screen will be tiny. The text will be unreadably small. To solve this problem, you will have to magnify everything by 150% or even 200% using windows scaling feature.

But, the problem is that scaling doesn’t always work perfectly. Several old software doesn’t support scaling and those things will still appear tiny. Even though many of the issues with scaling has been solved over the years, it is still not perfect.

However, a 31.5inch 1440p monitor will show an object at the exact same size as it was shown in a full HD 23.6inch monitor. So, if you were comfortable with a 23.5inch monitor, you will be able to use your monitor without requiring any scaling!

And, you wouldn’t see any pixelation at the same viewing distance as that of a 23.6inch monitor, but you are anyway not going to sit so close, so you get more perceived PPI. The perceived PPI increases with viewing distance. According to Apple, a human eye cannot differentiate between pixels when viewing a 300PPI screen from 12inches away and they call this Retina display. All displays eventually become retina displays given enough viewing distance. A 31.5inch 1440p monitor becomes retina(300ppi perceived PPI) at about 94cm length which is the normal viewing distance for such a display.

Enough about PPI, now let’s talk about this monitor. In my opinion, this is basically the best-designed monitor in all price ranges. Very slim bezels which get hidden when the monitor is switched off and the thinness of this monitor is mesmerizing. The stand is metallic and has a beautiful unique triangular shape. I think this will fit perfectly into any desk setup.

If we go according to the previous version of this monitor – Viewsonic VX3209, then that one has a good number of reviews and seems to be a great monitor. Some people have reported that it had one of the best contrast ratios seen in any IPS panel. The LCD panel used in that monitor was this BOE mv315QHB-N10 IPS Panel and I feel that they have used either the same panel or an improved version of this panel in this monitor.

2) Acer EB321HQU 31.5″ 2K LED Monitor with 2560 x 1440 Resolution

This is extremely value for money considering its price. If you buy it at the right time, it could probably be the cheapest 1440p monitor you can buy in India.

Pros:

• 31.5inches
• 2560*1440 resolution
• IPS panel
• Vesa mountable
• Three inputs (DP, HDMI, DVI-D) and Headphones-Out
• 300nits brightness claimed
• Flicker-free
• No scaling required as the PPI is exactly the same as a 23.6inch monitor.
• 3-year warranty
• Amazon Fulfilled, thus easier & safer to buy.
• Extremely value for money

Cons:

• Very Ambiguous. Not even the seller is sure about the exact specs.
• We are not fully sure if it is 10bit or 8bit panel
• Bulkier looking than the Viewsonic.
• White color back-side may get dirty over time

Buy from Amazon.in

There are at least four variants of this model with exactly the same name and each one uses a different LCD panel, and nobody knows which one is which, not even the seller. Some people claim that even Acer doesn’t know how to differentiate each one.

All of the models are 31.5inches and has 1440p resolution, but several sites shows differing information regarding rest of the specs. There is one version with 10bit panel and another with 8 bit panel. Some specs show contrast ratio so high(3000:1) that it can only be achieved by a VA panel while they claim it is an IPS panel. Some sites claim it is a VA panel as well, thus further confusing the users. In Amazon India, the title says it is an IPS panel, while in the Q&A, the seller has mentioned that it is an 8-bit VA panel while the same seller has mentioned that it is a 10-bit panel as the answer to another question!

Also, there are differences in the number of input-ports based on the model you purchase. This monitor should get the award for being the most confusing product of all times. I don’t understand why they can’t simply have a better model naming system.

Anyways, whatever is the case, it is the cheapest 1440p 31.5inch monitor you can find anywhere in India. And, it is incredible value for money. You can even use it as a reasonably good Television.

3) LG 21:9 Ultrawide 29UM59 29-inch Monitor

It is a good ultrawide monitor. This would most likely be the best 29 inch ultrawide monitor in India. But, it keeps going out of stock and coming back in stock all the time sometimes in different model number with small variations like the one mentioned the next in this list.

Pros:

• 29inch ultrawide
• IPS panel
• 2560*1080
• 95.8 ppi
• SRGB over 99%
• Flicker-free
• AMD Freesync
• 75hz refresh rate if you have AMD graphics card.
• Picture in Picture mode available
• Two HDMI port and one 3.5mm audio jack
• Lot of reviews available online
• Amazon Fulfilled
• 3 year warranty
• Value for money

Cons:

• 8 bit (6 bit + FRC)

Buy From Amazon.in

It is basically a 23inch monitor stretched sideways by 33%, so expect the vertical height of only a 23inch monitor. And do not think that you are getting a huge monitor. Buy it only after knowing the pros and cons of the 21:9 aspect ratio.

This monitor is also available in Paytm with a slight discount which might get you this monitor for as much as Rs18k.

4. LG 29UM69G 29 Inch Ultrawide IPS Monitor

Buy From Amazon.in

This is the newer model of the LG ultrawide monitor mentioned above. It has the same internals and same features, except that this has some updated features like the claimed 1ms response time motion blur(practically unlikely) and USB-c ports.

It is also color-calibrated from the factory and you get individualized reports of the calibration. That is not something which is commonly found in this price range. It also has lot more reviews than the last one.

5) Samsung U28E590D 28 inch 4K UHD Monitor

This is one of the cheapest 4k monitors you can find.

Pros:

• 4k resolution 3840 x 2160
• 1ms response time claimed
• 10bit panel(8 bits + FRC)
• 60hz refresh rate(not all 4k monitors can do this)
• One HDMI 2.0, One HDMI1.4, One Display port 1.2 and 3.1mm jack.
• Vesa mount (It is at a bad location because older model didn’t have it)
• AMD FreeSync
• Picture in picture mode
• Amazon Fulfilled

Cons:

• TN panel
• The viewing angle is not good, but is good compared to other TN panels
• Colors not as vibrant as IPS panels
• Poor contrast ratio
• Four-year-old model

This is one of the first True 4K monitors to hit the market, so it is about four years old. There are two variants –

• U28D590D – Older model. It doesn’t have a Vesa mount. It doesn’t have HDMI 2.0, so it only supports 4k at 30hz through HDMI cable. You will need to use display port for full 60hz refresh rate
• U28E590D – This is exactly the same as the older one, except that it has VESA mount and HDMI 2.0

They are very confusing names, so even sellers can make the mistake and sell you the older model. In Amazon reviews, at least a few of them have possibly got the older model. Since there are two HDMI ports and only one of them supports HDMI 2.0, we are not sure if the users inserted their HDMI to the wrong port and thus got less frequency as well.

Since it is such an old monitor with a TN panel, I would suggest to spend 10K more and get a newer IPS panel. This might be good for certain use-case scenarios like 4k gaming.

7) BenQ EW3270ZL 32-inch WQHD AMVA+ Panel Monitor

Finally a VA panel

Pros:

• VA panel
• 32 inches (not 31.5 like others)
• 2560×1440 QHD resolution
• 10bit panel(True 10bit)
• 300nit brightness
• Flicker-Free
• 3000:1 Contrast ratio
• Brightens intelligence adjusts brightness according to on-screen content and ambient light conditions
• 100% sRGB color space
• Two HDMI (v1.4), One Display Port and One Mini Display port.
• 3-year warranty

Cons:

• 2KG heavier than the other monitors of this size.(because VA panel are heavier)
• Less number of reviews available maybe because it is a new model
• No vesa mount

Buy from theitdepot or Amazon

It seems like a good VA panel. If you are interested, it is also available in Amazon for 3500 extra and it is Amazon fulfilled. It seems to be using M320DVN01.0 LCD Panel, if you are interested.

8) Acer KG281K 28inch 4k TN Monitor

One of the cheapest 4k monitor.

Pros:

• 4k 3840 X 2160 Resolution
• 28inch
• Flicker free
• 1ms response time claimed
• Amd Freesync
• 1 x Display port (V1.2) & 2 x HDMI
• 3 year warranty
• 10-bit panel
• 72% NTSC(barely 99% srgb)
• Amazon fulfilled

Cons:

• TN panel, but one of the better TN panels
• bad viewing angles as expected
• Not as good picture quality as IPS or VA panels

9) Acer 4k 31.5 inch monitor

When I first made this list, this monitor was very expensive at over 40k. However, its price gradually decreased to 35k and at the time of writing in May 2019, it is available at 29k in a sale, plus Rs1500 discount if bought with SBI card. That makes it the lowest priced 4k monitor worth buying. This is the best choice for you if your intention is to watch a large amount of videos/movies/TV-shows as VA panels have a high contrast ratio which is 3 times more than IPS panels. Movies look great in high contrast and for this reason, almost all TVs are VA panels. It is also a great choice if you like sitting in dark environments.

Pros.

• Lowest priced 4k
• 31.5inch
• 10 Bit panel
• VA tech, thus high contrast ratio
• New design stand
• Wall mountable
• 2 HDMI 2.0 and a Displayport
• AMD freesync
• Headphone holder in the back
• 3 year warranty

Cons

• The stand may take up too much space
• Thick body. VA panels are thicker than IPS
• Backside is white in color and can get dirty with dust if not cleaned regularly

10) Aopen 32HC1Q 32-inch Curve Gaming Monitor

This is the only 32inch model in our list which goes to 144Hz refresh rate, thus it is great for fast paced action games. Everything will look super smooth at that refresh rate. Even moving the mouse or scrolling through websites will look smoother than ever. However, to take advantage of such high refresh rate at 1440p resolution you need a high spec graphic card. This is also a VA panel monitor, so it has a great contrast ratio for movie watching and dark games. This monitor is the only newly launched product in this list(other than the Samsung 27 inch 144hz) which was not there in 2018, but exists in 2019. Aopen is a sub-brand of Acer and it uses Acer’s panels. However, the quality control on these panels are not as strong as other companies, and this is how they manage to reduce its price so much.

When a factory makes large quantities of panels, many of the panels have some small defects like few dead pixels or not having perfect color uniformity. In case of high quality branded monitors with high-quality control, even panels with small defects like four dead pixels will be rejected. So, when you are buying a Big brand product, you are also paying for the cost of the rejected panels. Lower priced brands have little relaxed Quality control which means small defects like four dead pixels are ignored thus the cost reduces. In most cases, you should be fine with such a monitor as you will not even be able to see 4 dead pixels among 8 million pixels. But if you are a perfectionist, who want absolutely perfect monitor with zero dead pixels then you will have to pay a higher price for rejecting larger number of defected panels.

Based on the reviews, and assuming the reason why Acer decided to launch a new monitor sub-brand, I think Aopen is a way for Acer to release monitors at a lower price with lesser quality control without affecting their main brand. It is a good thing that companies are atleast trying to reduce the price by utilizing some cost-cutting measures.

Currently, this monitor is priced at Rs28k(08/10/2019), but when it was launched, due to offers, it had come down to as low as 21k. However, you cannot expect that kindof offers again. It was just a method for new companies to get noticed by offering products at a loss.

Pros

• 144Hz
• 1440p
• VA panel, thus high contrast ratio
• Curved monitor. The curve at 32inch looks awesome
• AMD Freesync
• HDMI, DVI, Display port with free cables
• Designed for gaming
• 4ms response time stated
• Good design
• Slim bezels
• 3 year ONSITE warranty(they will come to your house to repair it for free)

Cons

• Quality control issues. You may get small defects like one or two dead pixels, or uneven black levels. However, no major issues

11) Samsung 27-inch WQHD Curved 144hz Gaming Monitor LC27JG54QQWXXL

This is the newest monitor on this list. It was launched in Amazon on July 15th 2019 as part of Prime day deals. Great to see a new big monitor from a branded company at this price range. Samsung is well known for their high-end displays and thus this becomes a great option for anyone interested in a nee monitor.

Pros

• 1440p
• 144hz refresh rate
• VA panel which means high contrast ratio(3000:1)
• Curved
• AMD Freesync
• Vesa mount

Cons

• Bad non-adjustable stand
• It is a new product thus not many reviews are available

12) LG Ultragear 144Hz,1ms 32″ QHD (2K) Gaming Monitor with Radeon Freesync – 32GK650

This is probably the best value for money monitor in this list. It was launched in 2nd August 2019 at 26.9k price in Amazon. This maybe LG’s reply to Samsung’s monitor mentioned above which was launched just two weeks before this one.

Pros

• 1440p
• 32inch
• 144hz
• VA panel with good contrast ratio
• AMD Freesync
• Good stand with lot of adjustment options
• Lot or reviews available
• DisplayPort, HDMI x 2, Headphone Out
• 100×100 Vesa mount
• Borderless design with very thin bezels
• 3 years warranty
• Excellent pricing

Cons

• Nothing I can find, other than some reviews saying its gtg response time and viewing angles are not as good as Samsung CHG70 which is not even available in this price range, so I dont think that is an issue.

This is officially the best option on this list as of now. You can read the excellet review of this in this Rtings article. I don’t think the pricing will remain at 27k($384), as I feel this is some kindof promotional pricing. The pricing in Amazon US website right now is for example $449(Rs31k), and usually, the pricing of products in India is atleast 15% higher than that in US. So, the actual pricing should be Rs36k. In my opinion, you are getting a discount of ~10k right now, so buy it before they increase the price.

13) LG 27 inch 4K-UHD (3840 x 2160) HDR 10 Monitor

This is a new addition to the list because its price had remained in Rs 42k range for over two years but recently they have reduced the price to 33k and sometimes with bank deals it comes in 30k range, thus it is being added to this list

Pros

• 4k
• IPS
• HDR10
• Good stand
• Vesa mount
• sRGB: 99%, Adobe RGB: 73%, DCI-P3: 75%
• 3 years warranty
• Good brand
• Brightness 350 nits, Peak Brightness 450 nits

Cons

• well nothing specific for the pricing other than the HDR is not true HDR, instead, it is a gimmicky lowest end HDR possible on a monitor. So, if you are only buying it for HDR, don’t do it.
• 2 year old model but several other monitors on this list are much more older.

Basically, if 4k is must have for you then this is a good choice, but generally the ideal size for 4K, in my opinion, is 32inch+ but if you still want 4k, this is like the only option you have got. If it was me, I would take the 32inch 1440p options in this list over this one.

13) Benq 32inch 4k monitor EW3270U

If you want 4k and high colour quality, go for this monitor. This model has never been available at current price range of 35k, thus was not on the list till now.

Pros

• 4k  at 31.5inch is just perfect
• VA panel
• 95 percent dci-p3 wide color gamut
• HDR10
• 10 bit panel [FRC unknown]
• AMD Freesync
• Type-C USB port(Rare feature at this price point), 2*HDMI and one Display port.
• Benq Unique feature – Intelligent Brightness auto-adjust based on the room lighting condition
• Vesa wall mount points but monitor is 7.5KG heavy so normal arms may not hold it.

Cons

• Nothing much other than boring standard design and not the best stand.

Honourable mentions –

BenQ GW2765HT 27 inch 1440p monitor

It has a boring design and is overpriced in Amazon.

Price: Rs 30000 at PrimeAbgb

Conclusion

Buying a monitor above the Rs20,000 price range is going to be hard as there are not many options available. I have mentioned all the models I have found which fits into our criteria of 27 inch or higher size along with 91 or higher PPI under Rs30000 price range. At least these are the only viable monitors available online, and it is possible that some other model is available offline. If you know of any such monitor, please comment below.

The idea of replacing copper with fiber optics is not new. In fact, we have witnessed great progress in getting our homes connected with fiber optic cable, but what remains to be done is to take that same concept to processors. A chip that uses light would not only be faster, but also much more efficient. That’s what a team of researchers at the University of California, the MIT and the University of Colorado have shown. It is the first time transistors and photonic devices are combined on a single chip.

The computer world is still waiting for some revolution allowing it to avoid the impact associated with the (inevitable) collapse of Moore’s Law. We all know that silicon, copper and transistors are limited, therefore, experts must not only consider other options, but also implement them. On more than one occasion they talked about designs in graphene and carbon nanotubes, but they are still trapped in the experimental stage and are likely to need many decades of work. A closer alternative in time appears to be light based Optic fiber Photonic systems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAe_xQyFI4k

This new development presents us with a dual-core processor architecture based on open source RISC-V, which has 70 million transistors (something like a Pentium 4) and 850 photonic components, all contained in a chip 3 6 mm. According to Professor Vladimir Stojanović , project leader, it is the first processor that uses light to communicate with the outside world, and the first to contain all the photonic input / output “within” the chip . The processor was evaluated through the implementation of various programs, and early data show a “density bandwidth» of 300 gigabits per second per square millimeter, between 10 and 50 times more than you get at processors available today .

Another interesting aspect is that this processor was created using conventional infrastructure, so that large manufacturers should not make radical changes in their production lines to shape this new photonic chip. Needless to say, the benefits of these chips would not be limited to performance. One of the great struggles for data centers around the globe is to reduce energy consumption and increase efficiency. The creators of this processor speak of 1.3 watts per transmitted terabit, something that any big data server company would like to achieve.