The best monitors for graphic artists

The best monitors for graphic artists and graphic designers can make a big difference to the experience of working with visual art and design in creative software. Good colour accuracy and image quality can ensure you see you work as it really looks, while a decent selection ports allow you to connect the peripherals you need.

We’ve tested and reviewed a wide range of monitors using both benchmark tests for colour coverage and accuracy as well as practical hands-on testing, including using them with the best digital art software and graphic design software. We’ve picked out those that the performance and supporting features to make them suitable for graphic designers and artists with different needs.

Best overall

Best budget

Best premium

3. ASUS ProArt OLED PA32DC

Best ultrawide

Best Apple

Best portable

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BenQ PD3220U — (Image credit: Michelle Rae Uy)

Great value and excellent colour accuracy

Specifications

Size: 31.5in

Resolution: 3840 x 2160

Color space coverage: 100% sRGB,100% Rec.709, 95% DCI-P3, 83% Adobe RGB

Connections: 2x HDMI v2.0, 1x DisplayPort v1.4, 1x Thunderbolt 3 (85W PD + DisplayPort Alt Mode)

Brightness (max): 250 nits

Reasons to buy

Exquisite colour accuracy

Splendid design and great connection options

Good value for money

Reasons to avoid

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Only HDR10 support

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Middling Adobe RGB coverage

Buy it if

✅ You want the ideal balance of size, quality and price: We think this monitor is priced just right while providing solid specs for creative work.

✅ You want a 4K display. 4K resolution provides a more detailed picture on larger screens, and we find 32 inches to be the ideal size for the resolution.

✅ You want a versatile display: We love the ease with which it’s possible to switch to portrait mode and to change colour modes with the hotkey puck control.

Don’t buy it if:

❌ You’re on a tight budget: We think this monitor is good value for the specs, but at around $1,000 it isn’t cheap.

❌ You want a smaller display: 32 inches may be too large if you have a very small desk.

❌ You want the best Adobe RGB coverage: If you work in the Adobe RGB colour space, the ASUS ProArt display covers 99% compared to the 83% of this display based on our own testing.

Design and build: We liked the flexibility of this display. The stand had a bit of wobble but it was very highly adjustable. The screen can pivot 90 degrees, and the portrait mode automatically adjusts for that to give you a vertical screen to work on. We also liked the handy disk-shaped wired remote control Hotkey Puck G2 for access to menus for easy adjustment. This will be particularly useful for designers working in difference colour spaces since it allows colours modes to be switched quickly. There are connectivity options provided too, including two Thunderbolt 3 ports. These can allow you to daisy-chain another monitor, and one of them delivers 85W of power, so you can charge your laptop off it too, helping to reduce trailing cables.

Display: We find 4K on a 32-inch screen is the sweet spot in terms of resolution, and this was no exception. Image quality was superb in our testing, and colour coverage was sound, surpassing the stated specs in our own tests to provide 98% DCI-P3 as well as 100% of sRGB and 100% Rec.709. Adobe RGB coverage was naturally more limited at 83%, which may be of concern to the most demanding creative who need to match colours for print (we recommend the Asus ProArt display at number 3 if you know you need more).

We found the preset color modes to be accurate and east to use. Other handy features that could simply some creatives’ workflows include picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture modes, allowing you to display visuals from two inputs. We also got more than the stated typical brighteness of 250 nits, but it’s still not the brightest monitor, offering around the same brightness as the average for a consumer laptop.

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BenQ PD3220U scorecard
Attributes	Notes	Rating
Design and build	Great size and versatile designs and ports.	★★★★★
Display	Solid colour coverage and accuracy.	★★★★★
Pricing	Great value for the specs provided.	★★★★

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A black 27-inch Acer Vero RL272 monitor sitting on a wooden desk — (Image credit: Future)

Buy it if

✅ You’re starting out in graphic art: We think this is a great options for students or beginner designers who don’t have a big budget.

✅ You want passable colour coverage: There are even cheaper monitors about, but this still provides reasonable colour coverage for visual art.

✅ You want a screen that can be moved: Some of the best graphic art monitors are big and heavy. We found this one to be light enough to move about should you need to move desks or use your desk space for other things.

Design and build: The Acer Vero RL272 has a very slim screen and a hollow base, which we found made it very light for a 27-inch monitor – just 3.25kg. This has the benefit of making it easier to move about should you need to. There’s very little adjustability though, with no possibility to adjust height, swivel or pivot, so it’s not a very ergonomic monitor and may require you to adjust your desk or chair setup to get the optimum viewing height. As for ports, we were disappointed to find just an HDMI port and the VGA, so no DisplayPort connection here, which isn’t really surprising for the price.

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Acer Vero RL272 scorecard
Attributes	Notes	Rating
Design and build	Solid and reliable.	★★★★
Display	Only FHD, but that may be all you need.	★★★
Pricing	Phenomenal value.	★★★★★

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A black ASUS ProArt OLED PA32DC monitor sitting on a desk — (Image credit: Future)

A premium monitor for professional graphic artists