Best monitor for graphic artists in 2023: Glorious displays to show off your work

The best monitors for graphic artists are the ones to choose if you're looking to take your work to the next level. Placing a priority on screen space, colour accuracy, image quality, supporting features, and resolution, there's a host of great monitors out there, from across the price spectrum, that will perform beautifully for graphic designers and artists. Getting the right one can make a huge difference to your work, not only from a quality perspective but also from a productivity point of view.

We've picked out a focused group of monitors for graphic designers which will hit a number of beats and niches, all the way from budget screens to premium performers, while also making sure that any of these will provide value and capability befitting of a busy artist or designer. 

Each of our picks below is stacked with buying advice, and has been picked comparing key features and specs, screen size, price, and more to give you a range of options. There's no such thing as a totally flawless monitor for graphic designers or artists (just as there is no flawless best laptop for graphic design), and each of the models has pros and cons to help you work out if their strengths and features match your needs, but we think these screens hit all the important marks. 

Quick list

This is our succinct overview of our picks for the best monitor for graphic artists that you can buy right now. You can use this snapshot to get a bite-size impression of each of our picks and then navigate to more information below, or to retailers right away.

The best monitors for graphic artists we recommend in 2023

The best monitor for graphic artists overall

The BenQ PD3220U offers close to the full package for creatives in one monitor - including value for money. This largely results from a monitor that has a rich feature set, superb image quality, and color representation and hits that sweet spot of combining a 4K resolution with a 32-inch screen.

Throw in some excellent connectivity options to ensure you can team it with whatever machine you run - including two Thunderbolt 3 ports - and wonderful preset color modes to match different work demands, and the reason why it's our top pick becomes clearer still.

It shines in real-world performance too, and proved that in our testing. The wide color gamut of 100% sRGB, 100% Rec.709, and 95% P3 is superb, and in our testing the screen actually surpassed one of those measures, reaching 98% DCI-P3 color coverage.

Given what you can spend on one of the best monitors for graphic artists, the BenQ PD3220U really shows how much you can get for its price point. A brilliant monitor for graphic designers and artists.

You can read our full breakdown and thoughts on the screen in our BenQ PD3220U review.

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The best budget monitor for graphic artists

Given how specialist creative tech like the best monitors for graphic designers and artist can spiral in cost, it's always excellent when a budget model shows it can compete with the best. And the LG 32QN600-B does exactly that.

Cramming a bunch of features and qualities into an incredibly affordable monitor such as robust color gamut coverage, plenty of screen space, simple but solid connectivity options, and great out-the-box calibration and the 32QN600-B starts to show why it's our best budget pick. 

Yes, you will be making some compromises, such as dropping from 4K resolution to 1440p (so work won't look quite as sharp) and slightly weaker DCI-P3 coverage, but it still punches well above it's weight and price tag, and offers excellent value for money. Perfect for a cheap addition to the setup, or as a second monitor for work too.

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The best premium monitor for graphic artists

Our premium pick is absolutely breathtaking as a monitor for graphic artists and designers. If you imagine pretty much every box that would need to be ticked to get a perfect monitor for graphic design work, the ASUS ProArt OLED PA32DC basically ticks them all and offers the only monitor you'd ever need.

For starters, it's got more ports than you can shake a stick at and will serve even the busiest of setups, and it offers the beautiful 4K-plus-32-inch screen sweet spot. However, where it really shines is in sheer performance and accuracy. the ASUS ProArt OLED PA32DC has multiple HDR modes, an included auto-calibration feature, a monitor hood, incredible image quality, and class-leading color gamut coverage. 

Technical and capability grumbles are very minor, such as the screen's mediocre 60Hz refresh rate. The price will make some wince - you could buy several of the others on our list for the price of one PA32DC - but if it's in your budget, or it ever comes crashing down in price, this is the gold standard monitor to jump on.

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The best ultrawide monitor for graphic artists

If screen real estate is your top priority then the Dell UltraSharp U4021QW is for you. This ultrawide, 40-inch behemoth will provide you with so much space to work, that you can effectively ditch the second screen. It even offers that in glorious 4K too meaning your work and tasks will look spectacular.

Boasting 100% sRGB, 100% Rec. 709, and 98% DCI-P3 color coverage, the monitor has your professional back with the quality you can rely on, and throws in impeccable image quality by default to boot. These paramount features on top of that large screen make this a perfect match for multitaskers in particular. 

Many who change to a curved ultrawide monitor can never make the return to smaller flat screens, but something to just keep in mind is how the curve might change the appearance of your work on screen, slightly 'bending' it by appearance. If you can look past this, and want a beautifully crisp and accurate ultrawide monitor, then the Dell UltraSharp U4021QW is it.

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The best monitor for graphic artists for Apple users

Those looking to keep everything within the Apple family for their monitor should look at the Apple Pro Display XDR screen. It's an investment, but boy is it one of the best monitors for graphic designers that Apple users can get for creative work.

In terms of sheer performance and specs, the Apple Pro Display XDR has some punchy, enviable numbers. There's its awesome 6K resolution (6016 x 3384) brilliant HDR peak brightness of a staggering 1,600 nits (typically this is 'only' 1,000) and it's near 600 dimming zones on the panel ensuring contrasts are superb. It also offers specific modes and settings for DCI P3, sRGB, NTSC, BT.709, to name but a few, and so makes for a perfect companion for something like a MacBook Pro with the screens ensuring that work will look the same if you have them side by side. 

Its Thunderbolt 3 port ensures it can be hooked up easily in a Thunderbolt chain, and there are a bunch of USB-C ports for accessories too. Its price tag bites hard, and the fact that the official stand will cost you a chunk extra does sting, but if there was one Apple screen for graphic artists and designers to go for then it's this one.

However, if you're keen to stay in the Apple ecosystem but can't stretch to the Apple Pro Display XDR then head over to our Apple Studio Display review for a full breakdown of its cheaper sibling.

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The best portable monitor for graphic artists

If you move between workspaces a lot and need something that can be thrown into a bag easily, but also ensure excellent performance spec-wise, and as a static monitor, then let us introduce you to the ViewSonic ColorPro VP16-OLED.

Cramming so much excellence into a portable screen, it's basically unfair the VP16-OLED offers the most fulsome experience a portable monitor can offer. It's got supreme image quality thanks to that punchy OLED panel, an excellent form factor and design (particularly in its stand), great connectivity options, superb color coverage with ViewSonic claiming 100% in sRGB, rec.709, and DCI-P3, and it's more than bright enough too at 400 nits.

The fact that you can take this monitor conveniently on the go, wherever you need to work, makes it an even more attractive proposition - heck, it'd even be one of the best monitors for graphic artists in a small static setup.

Squashing all that into a portable monitor does mean it'll cost more than most mobile screens, but it absolutely justifies it. To emphasize this further, the fine folks at our sister site, Digital Camera World, gave the monitor a five-star score in their review. It really is that good.

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