By Robin Owens 3 days ago, Monitors
Vertical, ultrawide, and eyecare monitors for programming.
Whether you are one of those, who are searching for a widescreen monitor with decent levels of brightness for occasional coding tasks or a software developer using your PC on a daily basis, you need to choose a device that lessens eye strain.
If you need to create a multiple monitor setup to solve several tasks more quickly or intend to purchase a widescreen display after upgrading your PC, make sure to find a device that suits you best.
Before making your choice, check if the monitor has a set of features useful for any programmer. Developers don’t pay enough attention to this issue.
To avoid decreased eyesight, think carefully which monitor comes with the best eye comfort technology while enabling effective problem-solving.
Screen size: 24-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Brightness: 350 cd/m2 | Refresh rate: 144 Hz | Response time: 1 ms | Viewing angle: 170/160 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Color support: 100% sRGB
⊕ Precalibrated color accuracy
⊕ Low input lag and quick response time
⊕ FreeSync & G-Sync support
⊕ Ergonomic mode
⊖ TN-display with decreased picture quality
⊖ Limited viewing angles
The Acer XFA240 comes with AMD's FreeSync and NVIDIA's G-Sync. Thanks to its variable fresh rate, you don’t need to worry whether your GPU is powerful enough as this best monitor for coding delivers seamless performance with any hardware configuration.
Unlike many budget models, it has an easily adjustable stand. You can change its height, tilt or rotate it, however, the mount is impossible to swivel.
Among other monitors of this price range, the Acer XFA240 looks like the most attractive option as it provides heightened color accuracy and performance. This programming monitor is perfectly precalibrated for the sRGB color space.
It has an impressive resolution for a 24-inch display. If you think that your PC is not powerful enough for 144Hz refresh rate, don’t worry, it will still support a high frame rate.
Screen size: 27-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 2560 x 1440 | Brightness: 350 cd/m2 | Refresh rate: 60 Hz | Response time: 8 ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Color support: 99% sRGB
⊕ Relatively thin monitor casing
⊕ Matte coating
⊕ Wide color gamut
⊖ Insufficient response time
⊖ Low frame rate
The U2719D UltraSharp is a great choice if you plan to work with a multiple monitor setup. It features a dual-stage design with tasteful plastic bezels.
The Infinity Edge technology accounts for the virtually borderless overall look.
The stand is very easy to adjust. You can tilt, swivel, or rotate the monitor to use it in a portrait mode. To improve your posture and lessen eye strain, you can also change the height of the stand.
The display covers up to 99% of the sRGB color space. It comes precalibrated.
The monitor boasts three input ports, namely, HDMI, Displayport, and USB. A key drawback to this is that the monitor comes without USB-C support featuring only USB 3.0.
Screen size: 34-inch | Aspect ratio: 21:9 | Resolution: 2560 х 1080 | Brightness: 300 cd/m2 | Refresh rate: 75 Hz | Response time: 5 ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Color support: 99% sRGB
⊕ Amazing performance
⊕ FreeSync
⊕ HDR technology
⊕ Dynamic contrast adjustment
⊕ Convenient stand
⊕ In-built speakers
⊖ Can't change settings in the HDR mode
⊖ Low resolution for a display of such size
The LG 34WK650 is worth the money as it has a perfect size, amazing contrast levels, high color accuracy, 75Hz refresh rate, FreeSync and HDR support.
It is significantly lower than in other ultra-wide displays. However, the 34WK650 has an 82ppi pixel density just like some 27-inch Full HD monitors have.
The display is covered with a layer of anti-glare coating and is virtually bezel-less. Due to the dynamic brightness control feature, the monitor achieves an almost infinite dynamic contrast ratio.
You will quickly connect this best monitor for programmer to other devices thanks to DisplayPort 1.2 and 2 HDMI 2.0 ports which ensure better data protection while playing Blu-Rays or watching HD videos from streaming services.
The only drawback is that the monitor comes without USB ports. You can listen to analog audio thanks to a 3.5mm headphone plug. The outputs are placed quite high on the back-side so you can quickly reach them.
Screen size: 43.4-inch | Aspect ratio: 32:10 | Resolution: 3840 x 1200 | Brightness: 250 cd/m2 | Refresh rate: 120 Hz | Response time: 5 ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 3000:1 | Color support: 99% sRGB
⊕ Effortless unboxing and setup
⊕ Wide viewing angles
⊕ Curved screen
⊕ Eye comfort mode
⊖ High price
⊖ The stand isn’t stable enough
⊖ Difficult access using TeamViewer-like software
For better audio quality, there are two 5 Watt stereo speakers on the backside of the monitor. To enhance the listening experience, you can also connect the Samsung CJ89 to external speakers for PC.
The monitor delivers the overall better sound quality than many high-end devices being a step ahead of most of the best monitors for programming.
Thanks to VESA standardized mount, you can place the monitor anywhere in your room. Owing its astonishing contrast ratio to a VA-display, it has slightly disappointing response time.
If you enjoy performing programming tasks while sharing your screen with a colleague, you will appreciate the feature allowing you to split the screen into two parts to display two different inputs simultaneously.
All the ports are quite accessible as they are placed in the bottom part of the rear side. There one can see an HDMI-port, as well as DisplayPort, two USB-C inputs, two USB ports, and audio ports for 3.5mm jacks.
Screen size: 27-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Brightness: 300 cd/m2 | Refresh rate: 60 Hz | Response time: 5 ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 3000:1 | Color support: N/A sRGB
⊕ Great response time
⊕ Wide viewing angles
⊕ AMVA+ display
⊕ Decent refresh rate for this price
⊖ Incompatible with DVI
⊖ Low-quality speakers
As it comes with the AMVA+ panel, the ASUS VN279QL boasts no less great 178-degree viewing angles and an impressive response time of 5ms than the best IPS displays.
Image sharpness reaches high levels thanks to the VividPixel technology.
Those, who are looking for ergonomic features will enjoy the adjustability of the stand. One can tilt it from -5 to 22 degrees, swivel either to the left or right by 160 degrees, and rotate the monitor by 90 degrees.
The height of the stand can be adjusted up to 110mm. The VESA mount can also be used with a 100x100mm pattern.
Screen size: 23,8-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Brightness: 250 cd/m2 | Refresh rate: 60 Hz | Response time: 5 ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Color support: 93% sRGB
⊕ Wide color range
⊕ Perfect backlight uniformity across the screen
⊕ Advanced eye comfort technology
⊖ Average brightness levels
Thanks to Brightness Intelligence technology, this portable monitor will detect the lighting level in your room and automatically adjust its luminance level.
What is more, by detecting brightness distribution for any video, it will change the settings so that the image could remain sharp.
This best monitor for programming also comes with the Low Blue Light technology which has become a new standard. It minimizes blue light emissions thus lessening eye strain.
Thanks to the built-in 2 Watt audio system with two channels, the monitor delivers enveloping sound. Both speakers are placed in the bottom part of the monitor.
Screen size: 23,8-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Brightness: 250 cd/m2 | Refresh rate: 60 Hz | Response time: 5 ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Color support: 97% sRGB
⊕ Rich colors and impressive viewing angles
⊕ Thin bezels and adjustable stand
⊕ Advanced connectivity
⊕ Amazing input lag and response time
⊖ Comes without AMD FreeSync
⊖ Doesn’t have built-in speakers
⊖ Overpriced
⊖ Needs to be calibrated
Thanks to wide viewing angles, an image won’t lose in brightness, contrast, or color if you are looking at the screen from a different angle.
This monitor for programming is more suitable for developers than designers as its out-of-box color accuracy isn’t great and needs to be calibrated.
The Flicker-Free feature and the low blue light filter allow working without experiencing eye strain. Moreover, the screen is coated with the matte anti-glare layer.
Cables are easy to manage while the monitor’s stand is quite ergonomic.
The IPS-panel is powerful enough to deliver great brightness, color accuracy, and ultra-wide viewing angles.
| Image | Name | Features | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Acer XFA240
OUR CHOICE |
CHECK PRICE → | |
 |
LG 34WK650
PROFESSIONAL |
CHECK PRICE → | |
 |
BenQ GW2480
IMMERSIVE |
CHECK PRICE → |
In most cases, the features of a monitor depend on its price range. The cheapest devices don’t support eye care technology and don’t deliver the best performance even after calibration. What’s more, their hardware components are cheap as well which doesn’t help much when it comes to image quality.
Thus, if you need to find a top-grade model, make sure to consider the best programming monitors at a middle price range. More expensive devices have better hardware and a wide variety of features.
Whether your monitor has TFT, IPS, or LED panel, basically it is all the same LCD with some adjustments. If you are a programmer, an IPS-panel might be the best choice for you. Among other kinds of panels, it’s not the most recent one but it has a great set of features.
When looking directly at the center of the screen, you won’t notice any signs of color inversion at the edges. What’s more, IPS-displays have wide viewing angles so the quality of the image stays the same even when you look at it from an extreme angle.
While choosing the best monitor for programming, it’s better to purchase a 4K or 2K monitor with a 100Hz refresh rate or higher. Until recently, it has been acceptable to use monitors with a 60Hz vertical refresh rate, however, a higher refresh rate allows for better response time.
Another important factor to consider while looking for the best monitor for programmers is resolution. It will be easier to read texts and work on coding tasks if your monitor has a high resolution. While 1080p and 1440p are quite common, I recommend you to take a look at the 4K (4096х2160) and UHD (3840х2160) monitors as they have higher pixel density.
From my personal experience, working on a dual monitor setup is easier. If you have some cash laying around, you can also add a third monitor. It’s unlikely that you will need more. A second display is quite handy when it comes to working on texts and code simultaneously.
A bezel-less monitor delivers a great working experience. Such displays are usually larger than 29 and smaller than 34 inches while their resolution varies from 1080p to 1440p. If you create video games, you will appreciate an extra-widescreen.
Yes, as the best monitor for programming with an ultrawide screen allows users to multitask. There are 4K UDH monitors with 3840X2160 resolution which are capable of displaying 4 times more content.
As one can rarely find a monitor marketed specifically for programmers, pay attention to gaming monitors as they usually have advanced specs.
You can use one monitor for coding tasks and the other for writing. This way, you will cope with all the tasks more quickly.
A monitor with an ultra-widescreen is great when one needs to see a lot of content on the screen. If you don’t need it, choose a monitor with a smaller display.
