There are no limits to the screen diagonal and even a few inches can be used efficiently for many activities. Nevertheless, there are standard sizes that one encounters when buying a monitor, whereby each size seems to have its own field of application. For example, monitors of the medium size are very well suited for image and video editing, whereas it can be a few inches more for gaming. For everyday web surfing or writing an e-mail, the classic 17-inch or smaller monitors, which are also known from many laptops, are sufficient.
17 inch
What looks quite big on a laptop is hardly ever found on stationary PCs. However, 17 inches are still suitable for normal office work or surfing the Internet. Beyond that, a 17-inch monitor could still serve as a second or third screen.
19 – 22 inch
This size is already suitable for gaming and is generally a good entry-level size for many different activities. General activities like internet research or writing emails can be done wonderfully with these screens, because the typeface is generally larger with these sizes, which is more comfortable for the eyes.
24 – 27 inch
side by side on the desk.
Most monitors are found in this range, where the Full HD format has also established itself. They are big enough for various activities and are also suitable for multitasking since two windows can comfortably fit next to each other. Furthermore, they can be used as common gaming monitors. Especially e-sports gamers often play on smaller screens since they rather rely on the speed of a monitor instead of screen space.
30 inch and larger
Very large monitors are especially suitable for editing pictures or videos because they offer enough space. However, the resolution has to be right, otherwise fonts and menus of programs quickly become too small and illegible. A 4K monitor can also be used for gaming if the graphics card is compatible. Especially strategy and construction games benefit from a large screen.
The right distance
As a rule of thumb, 1.2 times the screen diagonal is the recommended distance. For a 27-inch monitor with a diagonal of about 68.5 cm, this formula results in a distance of about 82 cm. This is your minimum distance and ideally, you can add up to 20 cm. However, you also have to take individual preferences into account and make sure that texts can be read without any effort, for example.
