Best monitors for graphic design 2023: What you see is what you get

Do you want an awesome monitor for graphics design—no matter the price? Asus’ ProArt PA32DC is for you.

Let’s get this out of the way up front: This monitor is $3,499. That’s a lot of money, to be sure, but its quality lives up to the price. This monitor has a 4K OLED panel with tack-sharp clarity, excellent color accuracy, and a very wide color gamut covering 99 percent of DCI-P3 and 98 percent of Adobe RGB. The OLED panel also provides class-leading contrast and strong HDR support, making this an ideal choice if you work with HDR content.

The ProArt PA32DC’s professional focus carries over to its design. It’s built like a tank and includes a built-in handle. You can also detach the height-adjustable stand and instead use a pair of screw-on legs that collapse flat. These unusual features might seem odd for a 32-inch monitor, but they’ll prove handy if your work requires travel to a client’s office or studio.

Connectivity is superb, too, with a total of five video inputs including a USB-C port with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 65 watts of Power Delivery. The monitor’s on-screen menus offer a massive range of adjustments and customization to help professionals tune the image to their work.

This monitor is expensive, but it’s worth it. It’s an ideal professional display built for the most demanding graphics design work.

Want an excellent monitor for graphics design that won’t obliterate your savings account? Dell’s U3223QE is the perfect choice.

The Dell U3223QE is almost as color accurate as the Asus ProArt PA32DC, and the difference between them is small enough to generally not be an issue. It also supports a wide color gamut spanning 99 percent of DCI-P3 (though only 89 percent of Adobe RGB). Dell’s monitor is brighter than the ProArt PA32DC and has a more effective anti-glare coat, making it a better choice for use in bright rooms.

Dell’s U3223QE is among a small handful of monitors with an IPS Black panel. It still lacks the contrast of an OLED panel, but the contrast ratio is roughly twice that of a standard IPS panel. This is a big advantage over similarly priced competitors, most of which have a standard IPS panel with a lackluster contrast ratio.

Connectivity is great, as well, and includes a USB-C port that powers a full-featured USB-C hub with multiple USB-A ports, ethernet, and DisplayPort-out. The USB-C port delivers 95 watts of Power Delivery for charging a connected laptop or tablet.

Graphics designers who want a smaller monitor should consider this monitor’s sibling, the Dell U2723QE. It offers the same IPS Black panel, 4K resolution, and USB-C hub at a lower price.

The Asus ProArt PA348CV is a great monitor for graphics designers who want an ultrawide display.

This ultrawide monitor delivers excellent image quality. Surprisingly, its color accuracy is the best of all monitors on this list, and its color gamut spans 98 percent of DCI-P3 (and 89 percent of Adobe RGB). Overall color performance is right on par with the Dell U3233QE, which is a couple hundred dollars more expensive. The monitor’s resolution of 3440×1440 is not as sharp as 4K but still looks great.

Asus throws in a wide range of features to sweeten the deal. The ProArt PA348CV has a feature-rich menu with numerous image-quality adjustments, a USB-C port that can deliver up to 95 watts of Power Delivery for charging a connected laptop or tablet, and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. It also supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for smooth gaming. This monitor retails at an MSRP of $749.99 which, though not inexpensive, undercuts competitors with similar features. Other monitors can match the ProArt PA348CV on image quality, features, or refresh rate, but none beat it on all three.

It’s tough to find a truly excellent graphics design monitor for less than $500. The NZXT Canvas 27Q is one such diamond in the rough.

The NZXT Canvas 27Q’s color performance is shockingly good for its price. The monitor’s color accuracy is superb and, in fact, slightly better out-of-box than the Asus ProArt PA32DC and Dell U3223QE. The monitor also has a wide color gamut spanning 97 percent of DCI-P3. That’s not as wide as the best graphics design monitors but, for many, it will be enough.

This is a 27-inch monitor with a resolution of 2560×1440. It doesn’t look as sharp as 4K alternatives but still appears pleasantly crisp. The monitor also supports USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode, though it doesn’t have Power Delivery for charging a connected device.

The monitor’s MSRP is $339.99, but it frequently sells for just $249.99. That’s without a stand, which adds $40 to the price. NZXT also offers an optional monitor arm that can clip to your desk. It’s a good pickup if you plan to use the Canvas 27Q as a second monitor.

Viewsonic’s ColorPro VP16-OLED is a portable monitor for travelers and those with limited desk space. It has a top-notch OLED panel with excellent image quality, solid brightness, superb contrast, and an extremely wide color gamut that caters to graphics designers.

The monitor has a unique folding stand that can function as a kickstand or expand into a base that holds the monitor above your desk, offering better ergonomics and saving desk space. This makes the VP16-OLED more comfortable to use over an eight-hour workday.   

Viewsonic throws in extras that graphics designers may appreciate. It has a display hood to reduce glare in bright settings, a tripod mount for on-the-go use, and ships with all necessary cables and power adapters. This includes USB-C, USB-A, and HDMI cables, plus a compact USB-C power brick. The design includes a lip around the display for protection and rigid body panels that feel up to the demands of frequent travel.  

HDR is not supported, however, and the monitor sticks to a 60Hz refresh rate. This is a bit disappointing given the price, but these omissions are unlikely to bother graphics designers. 

The VP16-OLED is expensive but justifies its $399.99 price tag with top-tier image quality, a uniquely versatile kickstand, and numerous extra features. It’s a must-buy for graphics designers who need excellent color accuracy in a portable form factor.

Most graphics designers work in an industry standard color space that describes a specific range of color. The sRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces are common examples. 

A monitor’s color gamut describes the range of color a monitor can support within a color space. The more, the better. Any colors that a monitor can’t display within a color space won’t appear correct on the monitor. That may cause an image to appear inaccurate. 

A monitor’s color gamut doesn’t need complete, 100% coverage for a color space to be usable, but a minimum of 95 percent of a desired color space is recommended.

4K resolution is the most practical resolution for graphics design. It delivers four times as many pixels as 1080p, yet nearly all modern devices offer great support for 4K resolution and will have no problems displaying an image on a 4K monitor. It’s commonly used in many industries and is effectively the standard for television and film. 

1440p resolution is an acceptable compromise common in budget monitors and ultrawide displays. It’s not as pixel dense as 4K, but still a good upgrade over 1080p, and looks sharp in typical use.

Ultrawide monitors provide a wider display space which offers more usable display real estate. That’s handy if you often multi-task or need to compare content frequently. You can snap a window to each side of the monitor to easily see the difference between two images. 

However, nearly all ultrawide monitors are limited to 3440×1440 resolution. The few that offer a higher resolution charge a substantial premium for the feature. This is a problem if you need to work on 4K content at native resolution.