Sim Racing Monitor – Bring The Action Closer

Looking for the best sim racing monitor? I thought as much. There is nothing like a crisp, high quality monitor to bring the action closer. Don’t be mistaken, gaming monitors are not the same as the standard tv displays. The monitors use a set of features that truly enhance the gaming experience along with very satisfying visuals.

Choosing a monitor is not always a simple task, with the varying technical attributes that you need to look out for. There a few variations of gaming monitors to consider. These variations include flat monitors, curved and triple monitors. Each having their pros and cons to factor in your decision making process.

So strap yourself in, flip your visor down, rev your engine, delve into the action and find the perfect sim racing monitor.

Our Featured Sim Racing Monitors:

What To Look For In A Monitor For Sim Racing

There are 4 main types of monitors, flat , curved, ultrawide and triple monitors. In terms of size normally the bigger you go the more expense you’ll need to pay.

The size of the monitor will depend on the level of immersion and field of view (see more on field of view in this full article) you may wish to experience. With wider monitors this will help to improve your peripheral vision where flatter screens will fail to provide this. For optimal immersion and realism triple screens are the way to go.

Surprising to some, a vast number of competitive gamers prefer a smaller monitor to compete with. Where the more casual gamer may prefer the spectacle of a much larger and wider screen. Without Stating the obvious (ok I actually am) the bigger your monitor size the bigger your rig will need to be. The go to size for sim racers and gamers generally tends to be between 24″ and 32″ with the sweet spot being 27″.

Resolution

Commonly you will hear the numbers 1080p, 1440p and 4k being bandied around when it comes to gaming monitors. These numbers demonstrate the number of pixels on the screen and translate into the resolution, the higher the resolution the better quality of the image.

1440p monitors are also known as QHD (Quad High Definition) monitors and have specs which fall in between the full HD and 4k monitor range. As a result, the monitors incorporates the best of both worlds and tend to be cheaper than 4k monitors.

4k monitors in particular for PC gamers tend to be very expensive and if you do find them on the cheaper side often the performance such as refresh rate and response time have been dialed down to accommodate a less expensive price. Another aspect of 4k monitor for PC users is that these types of screens can also be expensive to run and you will likely need a beefy and yes even more costly graphics card.

Refresh rate

Hz which equals the number of cycles per second refers to the refresh rate and how many times the monitor display changers per second to show an image. Normally this translates to the higher the refresh rate he better the picture you will see. 144 Hz means that the the display monitor refreshes at 144 times per second to produce a new image.

Ideally the maximum refresh rate you’d want to consider is around 165 Hz and a minimum of 75Hz. Anything above 165 Hz means you’re unlikely see too much of a return from the refresh rate unless you have a high end graphics card and wish to utilise a 240Hz monitor. But for that overral very smooth fluidity 144 Hz is the ideal refresh rate

Response time and Input Lag

Two of the most important factors when considering the best monitor for sim racing are the response time and the input lag. Usually The best response time is 1 milliseconds and this is the time that it takes for your monitor to respond to an action lets say for instance turning the steering wheel or braking from the pedal set ect. The perfect range is between 1-5ms.

Compatibility with PC and consoles

If you opt for triple screen monitors be mindful that you will need to have a PC capable of handling the increased power consumption. And no triple monitor setup will suffice without the monitor stands for alignment . If you wish to to run the monitors at high specs, you’ll require high performance graphics cards to unlock the full potential. The higher the resolution the more powerful your system must be. 4k monitors can be expensive to run requiring substantial hardware.

Find your Sim Racing monitor

Dell S2721HGF

Specs

• 27″
• 1920 x 1080
• 144 Hz
• 1 ms
• VA
• 16:9
• Black
• 350 cd/m²
• 500 r curvature
• FreeSync Premium
• G-Sync Compatible
• No built in speakers
• 178° H x 178° V
• 2 x HDMI
• 1 x DisplayPort

The Dell S2721HGF is a great monitor and one of the best in the budget price range. It offers very impressive performance for competitive gaming. The are 4 overdrive modes that can be selected through the OSD which include fast, super fast, extreme and NPRT mode. input lag – very little to notice. Peak brightness, contrast ratio, build and design quality, fantastic response time and input lag

Acer Nitro VG271UP

Specs

• 27″
• IPS
• 1440P
• 144 Hz
• 1ms response
• Display HDR 400
• AMD Free sync
• 2 HDMI inputs
• Display port
• Built in speakers
• Tilt adjustment only

Acer have produced a high quality gaming monitor in the VG271UP. The evidence is played out through an incredibly low input lag. The monitor also is highly impressive through it’s response time and you are likely to find minimal smearing or ghosting, as result. You can toggle with the OSD this will enable you to find the ideal settings and configurations to match your suitability. All in all the Acer Nitro VG271UP is great monitor that is really good value for money.

AOC 24G2U 

Specs

• 24″
• 1920 x 1080
• 144 Hz
• 1 ms
• IPS
• 16:9
• Black / Red
• 250 cd/m²
• Flat sceen
• FreeSync
• Built in speakers
• 178° H x 178° V
• 2 x HDMI
• 1 x DisplayPort

The AOC 24G2U is our only 24″ entrant but just because it’s smaller in size doesn’t mean that it lacks in terms of its overall quality.

It is an incredibly strong performer and serves up an impressively low input lag along with an even more impressive response time. Through the OSD the overdrive settings can be tweaked from weak, medium, strong and boost mode.

With its full range of adjustment, 3 side borderless design, its outstanding input lag and response time you won’t go wrong in choosing this monitor.

Samsung Odyssey G9 £1100

Specs

• 49″
• 240Hz
• 1440p
• Resolution – 5120 x 1440
• 1000 r curvature 
• AMD free sync technology
• HDR 1000 Certification
• G sync compatible

Our first recommendation is the gigantic super ultrawide Samsung Odessey G9. The G9 comes with G sync compatibility meaning that it does not include a native module built in. You will require a 10 series graphic card (NVIDIA) or above to use g sync properly.

The HDR aspects of the monitor are superb, the brightness and textures really bring the visuals to life. In turn, for competitive gaming the monitor produces great results and you will find impressive levels of performance with low input lag and response times.

With the capability of being able to run up to 240 Hz the extra refresh rate is ideal for racing games. The G9 really does provide great gaming performance.  

Samsung Odyssey G7

• 27″
• 2560 x 1440
• 240 Hz
• 1 ms
• VA
• Black
• HDR 600
• Curved
• 1000R
• FreeSync Premium Pro
• G-Sync Compatible
• No built in speakers
• 178° H x 178°
• 1 x HDMI
• 2 x DisplayPort

The Samsung Odeyssey G7 is our second instalment from Samsung and mainly because their both just so…pretty damn impressive. Notably the G7 also comes in 27″ and 32″ sizes with the monitors having the exact same specifications, it’s definitely nice to know that you have the choice right.

Being a Samsung product you would expect a nice sleek design and the G7 definitely meets this standard. It does not end there the G7 also impresses with it’s display quality through its HDR performance which looks fantastic through the HDR 600 Vesa display really shines through here.

The HDR performance is fantastic and really brings out some the intricacies in the graphics, all the better for those who can run a HDR signal I say.

With this monitor you will find an incredibly good low response time with the aid of it’s fastest overdrive with minimal or no glitches at all.

The Samsung G7 really is in all round great monitor and with the option of a 27″ and 32″ you’ll be spoilt for choice.

Alienware AW2721D

• 27″
• 2560 x 1440
• 240 Hz
• 1 ms
• IPS
• 16:9
• Black
• HDR 600
• Flat screen
• G-Sync Ultimate
• No built in speakers
• 178° H x 178° V
• 2 x HDMI
• 1 x DisplayPort

The Alienware AW2721D is spectacular monitor for competitive gaming. One reasons being is the incredible input lag which is super low due to built in g sync integrated into the monitor.

There are 3 overdrive settings to choosing from, fast – super fast and extreme you may want to toggle through these options to see which serves up the best response times for you.

Alienware have produced a monitor that is fairly pricey in comparison to other competitors however the AW2721D is another all round quality gaming monitor that you won’t be disappointed with.

Benq EX2710Q

• 27″
• 2560 x 1440
• 144 Hz
• 5 ms
• IPS
• 16:9
• Black / Brown
• HDR 400
• No
• FreeSync
• Built in speakers
• 178° H x 178° V
• 2 x HDMI
• 1 x DisplayPort
• 1 x VirtualLink

The previous version to the Benq EX2710Q was the excellent EX2780Q, Benq have no added a few more specs and tweaks to the latest version.

There are no complaints when it comes to the overall performance of the response time which does an excellent job, very minimal ghosting will be experienced. The overdrive settings are from levels 1,2 and 3 and supplement the impressive input lag and refresh rate at each stage.

Benq have also added a blur reduction option which is very handy and when you combine this with the other settings you have got yourself a well performing gaming monitor.

The Benq Ex2710q does support HDR technology for you to optimise the brightness of games.

On consoles you can run full HD at 120 Hz and in addition you can run 4K input and consoles can also use a 4k signal input.

For the non techies:

Screen tearing –

inverse hosting – overshoot, purple trail

Adaptive Sync –

Conclusion: The Ideal Sim Racing Monitor

So there we have it, hopefully you will have a clearer idea of how to go about looking for a sim racing monitor. A recommended combination to consider would be 27″ 1440p 144Hz 1ms response time. Although this is subjective this combination is widely seen as the sweet sport for gamers, however there is no one size fits all policy and its dependant on what is important to you as a casual or competitive gamer, be it visuals, performance the choice is yours.