Summary

• Mini-LED offers bright colors and high refresh rates, perfect for gamers looking for accurate color reproduction.
• OLED boasts lifelike color reproduction and lower response times, but might have shorter lifetimes and burn-in issues.
• Although OLED wins for image quality, Mini-LED monitors are more affordable and still offer impressive performance features.

PC gamers are always looking for the latest and greatest when it comes to hardware. These days, it can be hard to tell just what that is sometimes, as there are so many new things released regularly. When it comes to monitors, there are a plethora of options to choose from, and today we are going to take a look at two of the front-runners when it comes to PC gaming.

When both were first announced, Mini-LED and OLED were said to offer some pretty impressive features for gamers, and they did! Brighter colors, deeper darks, and a more immersive experience. It is time to take a closer look at both of them and see which one takes the crown for PC gaming.

Mini-LED

Brighter, sharper, and more accurate

As the name would suggest, Mini-LED uses just that, tiny LEDs. This means that instead of just a few hundred LEDs on the monitor, they can use thousands of smaller LEDs, thus enhancing the overall image quality. Using many more LEDs allows for better local dimming zones which in turn allows Mini-LED monitors to offer better brightness, contrast, and even deeper blacks. Local dimming zones enable this impact by allowing the backlight to light up smaller zones, rather than the whole screen. When the backlighting behind darker areas turns off, it creates a much richer black than we see on standard monitors. Mini-LED monitors also offer better HDR performance over standard LED monitors.

One potential downside to offering localized dimming is the halo effect. The halo effect is dependent on a few factors, but simply put, it is what happens when light from one zone bleeds into another. The halo effect is normally not bad when watching movies or playing games, but it can still be noticeable and may be distracting for some.

The best Mini-LED monitors have accurate color reproduction, amazing brightness, and high contrast, thanks to local dimming zones and their HDR support. They also feature a more modern design and, in most cases, a high refresh rate, which is perfect for gamers. As with most products these days, they can still have different specs, so look into what each monitor has to offer, as they can be quite different.

When it comes to features, there is no shortage of them available. From AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync capabilities to multiple HDMI 2.1 inputs, these monitors can offer almost anything you need. They come in different sizes and resolutions, and can even offer some impressive refresh rates.

OLED

Thinner, uses less power, and offers better viewing angles

OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode. The main difference between OLED and LED is that OLED can produce color and light from within each pixel, whereas a LED display is backlit. This allows for an even better viewing experience thanks to higher contrast, coloration, and even truer blacks, which can make any game look amazing.

While OLED monitors aren't without problems, which we will look at shortly, the color reproduction they offer is almost lifelike, which can give you a truly immersive viewing experience. The best OLED monitors can also offer much lower response times, which is a must-have for gamers. The standard acceptable response time is either 1 ms or 0.5 ms. However, OLED can offer response times up to 0.01 ms, giving gamers even more of an advantage over their foes.

OLED monitors are generally thinner than other monitors and also consume less power in most cases. They also offer wider viewing angles, so it is easier to enjoy the screen without having to sit in just the right spot. Overall, OLED screens make it much easier to enjoy the experience they have to offer.

What to look out for

Unfortunately, there are a couple of things to be wary of

Nothing can ever be perfect, no matter how much we want it to be. There are always going to be disadvantages and downsides to some products, but it is up to the end-user to decide if the bad outweighs the good. The same goes for both Mini-LED and OLED monitors, so let's see if these can help persuade you one way or the other.

Mini-LED - Thanks to the backlight approach, a Mini-LED display doesn't have the same caliber contrast ratio or black level quality as OLED monitors offer. Mini-LED monitors also generally have a much narrower viewing angle than OLED monitors. While these issues may not bother everyone, they are worth keeping in mind. It's also worth remembering halo effect, or blooming as it may be known, can impact the visuals on Mini-LED monitors.

OLED - Pricing aside, there are a few disadvantages to OLED monitors that may make the pricing seem even more out of touch. OLED monitors actually offer a shorter lifetime than other display types, and can have more issues with burn-in. They are also more susceptible to water damage and are harder to view in environments with brighter lights. OLED monitors can also lack brightness, so if this is important to you, take note.

Pricing

There can be quite a difference

Having a quick look around the web, it is easy to see that Mini-LED monitors are much cheaper than their OLED counterparts. A decent Mini-LED monitor can be had for around $500 and the top range models can be over $1,000. When it comes to OLED, they generally start in the $700-$800 range for a decent one but can go all the way up to $1,500+ easily for a top-of-the-line model.

As you can see, pricing varies for both types and generally for good reason. A lot of the cheaper monitors will be from lesser-known companies or won't have all the features that the top-end models offer. The top-of-the-line models are going to offer all the bells and whistles, some of which may not even be of interest to a lot of people. As always, make sure to do your research and check that the monitor you are looking to buy has the features and specifications you need.

Looking to the future

Both Mini-LED and OLED monitors serve a purpose, even when it comes to PC gaming. However, if you are looking for the best of the best and money is no object, OLED is the winner. OLED monitors offer the best image quality hands down, and the lower response times are going to be great for gamers. With that being said, if you don't need the best image quality and would rather have something that is going to last a bit longer and not be as expensive, a Mini-LED monitor such as the Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q could be right for you.

In a perfect world, the price of OLED monitors will drop massively, and they will become the go-to for PC gaming. If we look at things realistically, this probably won't happen soon, although hopefully, prices will come down as OLED becomes more mainstream. There is no denying that OLED monitors offer a superior immersive experience for gamers, but as we have seen, this does come at a price.

Even though OLED wins the competition for best gaming monitor, Mini-LED monitors are nothing to brush to the side. They still offer amazing performance and features, and manage to do so at less than half the price of OLED monitors in some cases. Mini-LED monitors will still be around for some time as it will be a while before OLED becomes the standard.