Best Cheap Monitor for a PS5

Buy the ASUS VA24EHF2 - 1080p at 120Hz over HDMI is exactly what a PS5 outputs

A PS5's only video output is HDMI, and it sends 60Hz, 120Hz, or 1440p on newer consoles. So the cheapest honest buy is a 1080p 120Hz HDMI panel, and the ASUS VA24EHF2 is the one on this list that is all three. It is a 24-inch 1080p IPS screen at 120Hz with HDMI, and the console can use every part of that specification. If you want a bigger, sharper screen and you have a newer PS5, the Acer Nitro KG271U is the step up at 27 inches and 1440p.

The reason this page exists is that the monitor market sells refresh rates a console cannot reach, over ports a console does not have. A 100Hz panel is a very common budget specification - two of the five below are 100Hz - and a PS5 will run it at 60Hz, because the console's steps are 60 and 120 with nothing in between. You pay for 100 and you get 60. That is the single most useful sentence on this page.

What a PS5 actually outputs

4K at 120Hz, over HDMI 2.1.That is the console's ceiling per PlayStation's own support pages, and it is the figure every television marketing campaign is built around.

1440p, but only on newer consoles. Sony states that the 1440p setting is available only on consoles in the CFI-7000 model group, and that it needs a display supporting 1440p at 60Hz, or at 60Hz and 120Hz. There is a built-in test under Settings, then Screen and Video, then Video Output, which reports what your particular screen will accept at SDR and HDR, 60Hz and 120Hz, and with variable refresh rate. Run it before you spend anything. Checked October 11, 2026.

VRR, including at 1440p on compatible screens. Variable refresh rate was extended to 1440p output for VRR-capable HDMI 2.1 displays in games that support it. It is a smoothness feature, not a resolution feature, and it is not worth paying a large premium for on a budget build.

Nothing over DisplayPort, because there is no DisplayPort. This is the trap that costs people the most money. Plenty of monitors reach their headline refresh rate only over DisplayPort and cap HDMI lower. On a PC that is a non-issue; on a PS5 it makes the headline number fictional. Before buying any monitor for a console, confirm the HDMI refresh ceiling specifically.

Why a monitor instead of a television

Three honest reasons, and one reason not to. A monitor is cheaper than a television at the same panel quality, it has lower input lag by default because it has no picture processing to disable, and a 24-inch screen at arm's length looks larger than the number suggests.

The reason not to: couch co-op. If two or four of you are going to share this screen, buy a television. A 24-inch monitor split two ways gives each player a 12-inch slice, and split four ways it is unusable - which matters a great deal on this site, where most of what we recommend is played by more than one person. If that is your plan, read four-player split-screen games first and budget for a big panel instead of a good one.

The bit nobody budgets for

Sound. A PS5 sends audio down the HDMI cable, and most cheap monitors have no speakers at all - two of the five below do not. If the monitor is replacing a television, you need either a screen with speakers, a headset, or something plugged into the controller. The BenQ GW2490 below is the pick that solves this in the box, and our headset guide covers the other route, which matters more than people expect once friends are involved.

Which of the five to buy

Buy the ASUS VA24EHF2 if you want the cheapest correct answer. 1080p, 120Hz, IPS, HDMI. The console's 120Hz mode is real on this panel, the IPS panel holds colour off-axis for anyone watching from the side, and it takes a VESA mount if it later moves onto an arm.

Buy the Acer Nitro KG271U if you have a CFI-7000-group PS5 and want 27 inches. 2560x1440 on an IPS panel is the resolution 27 inches needs, and 1440p is a mode newer PS5s support. Its listing quotes 180Hz without breaking that down by port, so confirm the HDMI ceiling with the seller before you commit - the console caps at 120Hz anyway, so anything above that is headroom you will not use.

Buy the BenQ GW2490 if the monitor has to make noise. IPS, both video inputs, and built-in speakers you can route PS5 audio to. Its 100Hz means the console will run it at 60Hz, so this is the pick you choose for the speakers and the panel, not for the refresh rate.

Buy the Philips 241V8LB or the ViewSonic VS2447M only if the budget is the constraint. Both are 1080p 100Hz, which a PS5 will drive at 60Hz. They are honest screens for the money and they are the right call if 60Hz is fine with you - most single-player games target 60 anyway. Just do not pay for them thinking you bought 100Hz.

What 60Hz versus 120Hz actually changes on a PS5

Less than the marketing suggests, and it depends entirely on the game. A game has to offer a performance or 120Hz mode for the console to use a 120Hz screen at all; many story games do not and run at 60 regardless of the panel. Where it does matter is fast-moving multiplayer - racing, shooters, anything where you are reacting to another player - which is exactly the category this site spends most of its time on. If your evenings are online shooters and PS5 multiplayer, the extra spend on a genuine 120Hz HDMI panel is the one upgrade here worth making. If they are co-op stories, it is not.

If this screen is going next to a PC as well

Common situation, and it changes the recommendation slightly: you want both inputs then, so the console and the computer can stay plugged in at once. The BenQ GW2490 has DisplayPort and HDMI, which is the configuration that makes a single screen serve both machines without re-plugging anything. The dual-screen versions of this problem are at second monitor for gaming, the budget dual monitor build and how to connect two monitors.