The best monitors for programming

What exactly makes one of the best monitors for programming? You might think that any display would do for this, and theoretically you'd be right. After all, you don't need any special features when you're looking at syntax, variables, and data structures all day. But there really is more to it than that.

Just as an ergonomic keyboard can make a huge difference in your typing experience, having one of the best monitors for coding can improve your workflow. The right programming monitor can present a lot of data in a crisp, attractive way. Programmers also like multiple monitors, so that's been factored in too. In all entries below, we’ve applied our expertise and gathered the most ideal displays we've used ourselves, tested, and fully reviewed, keeping in mind different needs and budgets.

Below we start with the best overall monitor for programming, and then feature the best budget option, the best premium, and then monitors that can double up as a gaming monitor, etc. I'd also suggest that you have a look at our list of the best monitors for graphic artists, as they'll have better colour accuracy should your working day require it.

The best monitors for programming

The LG UltraFine Display 32UL950’s steep price tag (around $1,000) might be tough to swallow, especially if you’re only starting out as a programmer, but it's a superb screen that features 600 nits of brightness, HDR600 support, and 98% DCI-P3 colour coverage. It’s a pleasure to not just code on, but also for playing a PC game or for viewing films. 

At 32 inches, this display is large enough that you won't be squinting at your text code and you have enough room for viewing multiple windows side-by-side. An elegant design with minimal bezels adds to the sense of an immersive workflow, while Thunderbolt 3 connectivity allows for data transfer speeds of 40GB per second.

This certainly isn’t the cheapest monitor for programming on our list, but given the top-rate specs, superior build quality, and excellent colour coverage, it is good value and well worth the outlay if you have the budget.

If you're new to programming or still studying, then you'll probably want a monitor for programming that's kinder on your bank account, but ideally without sacrificing quality. Fortunately, there are a few good affordable options out there, including the VP2458 Professional from ViewSonic. At under $300/£300, it falls within most people's budget, but it still offers some attractive features for programmers.

It comes with the kind of blue light filter offered by pricier monitors so you can reduce eyestrain even if you’re on an all-nighter to make a deadline. It also delivers lifelike colours with its 100% sRGB coverage and quick and easy colour calibration. The 24in panel makes it a good size to fit in a dorm or small apartment setup while an adjustable setup allows you to work in the best posture even if you’re in a tight space. On top of that, the near-frameless design offers a seamless visual experience when using multi-monitor setups if you want to go down that avenue.

To keep the price down, the ViewSonic VP2458 Professional keeps things to a humble HD resolution, but that's a fair compromise for this price.

The BenQ EX3203R is primarily aimed at gamers, but when we reviewed the screen, we found it to be ideal for general productivity work too. We think it's a brilliant monitor for programming thanks to its high resolution and large screen size – and all for roughly $500. So if you're both a coder and a keen gamer, this is an option that's well worth considering. It boasts 1440p resolution, which is ideal for coding as it gives you more pixels to work with than a 1080p monitor, but doesn't go overboard like a 4K monitor.

Some people may think the 34-inch screen size is a bit large, but it has a 1000R curvature, which makes it very comfortable to use. The colour accuracy isn't fantastic, and calibration is needed for the best performance, but this is unlikely to be a major issue for programming. See our full BenQ EX3410R monitor review for more details.

The BenQ DesignVue PD3220U is an outstanding monitor. It boasts excellent colour coverage with 100% Rec.709, 100% sRGB, and 95% P3 colour gamuts – although our own tests recorded up to 98% DCI-P3. It's factory calibrated and delivers high colour accuracy out of the box, it comes with a variety of colour modes Animation, Rec.709, Adobe RGB, and CAD/CAM to help simplify creative workflows. And its current retail price is around $1,099. 

More importantly for programmers and web designers, it boasts features like PiP/PbP for multi-input multitasking, two Thunderbolt 3 ports for daisy-chaining multiple monitors and even connecting external GPUs, and that coder-coveted portrait mode, which comes with auto-portrait desktop orientation. We find 4K resolution on a 32-inch panel with a 140 PPI pixel density to be the sweet spot for delivering sharp, highly-detailed visuals, which can make for a comfortable coding experience and serve for a lot more besides. See our full BenQ PD322OU review for more details.

The Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ is made specifically for productivity and multitasking. That means that it comes loaded with multitasking features that programmers will certainly appreciate, including auto KVM (Keyboard, Mouse, Video), Picture-by-Picture (PbP) and Picture-in-Picture (PiP), and the ability to daisy chain two 4K monitors. Several highly accurate creative colour modes are on hand as well for your projects that might involve graphics, images, or videos. All those should make up for the lack of portrait mode.

As we now live in a world where working from home or remotely is the norm, its best feature is that built-in intelligent webcam that delivers up to 4K at 30 fps or 1080p at 60fps video and comes with a SafeShutter feature. That should effortlessly connect you with clients, project managers, and other colleagues whether you're based at home full-time or following a hybrid model.

Despite not having fully reviewed it yet, we have utilized it in testing and put it through its paces. And, we're happy to report that its performance is just as exceptional in practice, giving us those rich, sharp, vibrant visuals we expect from displays at this price range. 

We honestly don't know why there aren't more 16:18 monitors for coders, writers, and other multitaskers. Even though we haven't done a full review of the LG DualUp Monitor 28MQ780, LG's latest offering with a 16:18 aspect ratio and a fully articulating mount and stand, it only took us a couple of hours of use to be fully convinced of its brilliance.

Touting a squarish format, this 2560 x 2880 monitor is always wide enough to display what you need from every open window, regardless of whether it's in landscape or portrait mode. It also helps you organise those windows by allowing you to snap them up into a stack of two or three, brilliantly making them effortlessly accessible and showing more than enough content.

Of course, if you just want to focus on your code, you can maximise that window and have more than enough space to see a big chunk of it, no matter how long it's gotten, without you having to crane your neck. To round out this ultimate productivity package, the ergonomic and fully articulating stand will let you seamlessly tilt, swivel, rotate, and move it forward or backwards until you find the most comfortable position for you.

We've already included an ultrawide monitor in the list, but one that sits at the lower end of the definition and is suitable for more desk types. The Samsung CRG9 sits at the other end, offering a huge 49-inch screen, with a 32:9 ratio. It's a huge amount of workspace, which means you can have all your apps, websites and more open at once. And thanks to multiple inputs and picture-in-picture mode, you can hook up two devices and use them together on the same monitor, making for a more space-efficient option than using multiple monitors.

The monitor offers superb image quality thanks to some of Samsung's best tech, making it an ideal choice if you do photo or video editing as well as coding. It's another expensive option, but it's well worth the money for what you get.

The BenQ EW3280U may be from the manufacturer's entertainment series and designed specifically for multimedia consumption, but we found that it makes for an excellent productivity monitor. The price is great for budget-conscious coders, and features like its light sensors that detect ambient light and optimizes brightness and colour temperature accordingly are brilliant for your eyes. 

Meanwhile, its USB-C with DisplayPort Alt mode lets you not just connect your necessary peripherals but also charge your laptop and drive the display. The 32-inch panel size is just the ticket for 4K resolution viewing, allowing you to see your codes effortlessly. And, when you're done with work, you can simply sit back and enjoy a movie, thanks to its DisplayHDR 400, great set of speakers, and an included remote. Read our full BenQ EW3280U review to see more reasons why this screen gets our seal of approval.

Huawei’s spiffy offering, the Huawei MateView, is undeniably sleek and brilliantly designed. For example, it keeps its super neat, incredibly thin design while still offering an impressive selection of ports by utilising its stand. Just as impressive are its specs that include 100% sRGB and 98% DCI-P3 colour coverage, up to DeltaE<1 colour accuracy, 500 nits of brightness, and HDR 400. Of course, being a USB-C monitor, it also boasts a USB-C port that supports data and video transfer as well as up to 65W Power Delivery.

The one thing that makes it an ideal monitor for programming, however, is its 3:2 aspect ratio – something that isn’t common with PC monitors. When we tested it out for our Huawei MateView review, we found the 3:2 aspect ratio to be excellent for productivity as that extra vertical space allows a panel to display more lines of text, which means you won’t have to scroll as much when dealing with extremely long documents. That makes this one a boon to programmers, coders and web designers.

Another huge 49in ultrawide option is the Philips Brilliance 499P9H. Like the Samsung monitor above, this also offers a more streamlined alternative to working with multiple monitors. With all that screen real estate you're getting, you can spread out as much as you can, which in turn saves you time and allows you to focus on your work.

True to its multi-tasking nature, it also boasts a built-in USB-C docking station, a built-in KVM switch to easily switch between sources, and power delivery up to 65W, allowing you to power and charge your notebook via USB-C. Stock is low in the US at the moment. This award-winning monitor for programming isn't cheap, however, so only invest if the whole package is worth it to you.

The best monitors for programming: FAQs

There are some important considerations to bear in mind when buying a monitor for coding. Firstly, there's the matter of size. You'll want a screen that is large enough that you're not forced to strain to see, but not so big that you feel uneasy working on it. A huge monitor that looms over you can be uncomfortable, although that can be remedied with curved screens, which avoid you having to strain your neck to see all parts of the screen.

Another important factor is resolution. The higher the resolution, the more room you have to work, and text can look sharper too. However, ultra-high resolutions can leave text looking very small, which again is uncomfortable, although on both macOS and Windows 10, you can tweak the scaling of text so that it's more comfortable to read on high-resolution monitors.

Ergonomics are important too. The best monitors for programming are easily adjustable, offering a good range of movement. You might also like a monitor that can be rotated to portrait orientation. Other features to look out for include blue light filtering and flicker reduction, which help take the strain off your eyes. Some monitors also offer automatic brightness adjustment, which fine-tunes the display to suit the ambient light of your setting, again helping to avoid eyestrain. It might also be worth looking at the best monitor stands to ensure you get your setup just right.