Glossy VS Matte Monitors: Which Is Better? 

I just recently purchased the Alienware 34" QD OLED with the Glossy. Its my first GLOSSY panel. My man cave is conditioned enough to give me minimal reflection onto my Screen. Happy Days. I really like Connor as a You Tuber. Been subbed to his channel for about a year now. Even sometimes if he doesnt have alot of content to work with, he makes it sound interesting with this energized presentation that sounds like the Sham Wow Guy. Remember him? He now has a second YT channel called The Display Guy. Anyway glad to see Gordon and PC World recognize Connor for his efforts.

Can we just get glossy monitors with a DIY matte layer (included) we can apply if we want? Idk how hard this would be to do, but it can't be that bad. Probably no worse than putting a screen protector on your phone.

Glossy all day finally someone making this video Thank You so much for this!

I am genuinely convinced that at least 80% of the people saying they prefer matte have never actually tried a high end glossy display. No, your 768p glossy laptop from 2013 DOESN'T count as an actual showcase of glossy displays unfortunately, you definitely need to actually experience it to really have any idea what it is like. Obviously yes, some people will still prefer matte, but definitely not the overwhelming majority like it is now.

Glossy for movies and gaming in the dark. The moment there is any light source or even reflected light of the screen itself, matte all the way. I hate reflections. Somehow I'm able to notice even the tiniest reflection of keyboard, glass of water or anything which disrupts my immersion a lot more than tiny blur by matte in normal conditions. Easier on the eyes. But then I'm also not into 4k yet. Because GPUs until recently struggled a lot with high refresh at 4k and it's still expensive as a whole.

I'm a designer, I need glossy monitors. I need to see proper color, not a blurry mess. I can only use LG Ultrafine 5K or Apple Cinema/Thunderbolt/Studio/XDR displays

i was trying to clean my monitor today cause it looked dirty and I realized it was just the matte coating looking like trash and making everything gritty and dirty looking. im definitely on team glossy but im also on team choice. these display companies are so massive that its pathetic if they cant figure out how to offer both options for people for whatever reasons someone may prefer one over the other.

Glossy all the way, matte hurts contrast in oled, mini led or other high contrast displays. All macs are glossy and basically everyone loves them. All our phones are glossy too. I even had to sell my 512gb steam deck because the screen looked worse with the anti glare coating in it. Just put the option for matte and glossy

I've noticed that this comment section is very based regarding matte coatings. Apperantly ya'll do not appreciate better contrast, colors popping and high clarity in terms of visual quality from glossy screens 🤔

You can't forget where you came from in you want to truly appreciate where we are. Offices used to be filled with CRT rounded glass monitors, and either florescent bulbs or incandescent bulbs. Reflections legitimately hit harder back in the day, and crts weren't bright enough to make up the difference. Modern LED lighting in an office or home office, combined with much higher panel brightness has greatly reduced the need for matte finish. (though i will add matte finish requires less cleaning)

It depends on the size of the monitor and the distance you're viewing from. Smaller screen, you have to seat a lot closer, reflection become a problem, if you seat a lot further, only light coming from directly behind you will get reflected. As for phone, you can adjust the viewing angle very easily, so it's not a problem as well. That's why most glossy monitors are 34" and up.

I don't think using phones as an argument for why glossy screens aren't an issue on a laptop makes sense because a phone screen is a lot smaller and it's a lot easier to control the angle at which you are looking at it is than with a laptop. I had used a laptop with a glossy screen and based on my experience with it I would almost always go for a matte display on a laptop.

A 3rd option is in between. My monitor (Korean 40” monitor that is really a tv panel) is semi-gloss

This was cool! Matte vs Glossy... The battle rages on!

At work I sometimes make art frames, and one of my glass choices is museum glass, which is 7x more expensive than usual one. Virtually no reflections. I wonder if it could be used for monitors?

I don't have the luxury of a closed environment with my PC. I don't have AC, my window need to be kept open because I need the air stream. I even had putted a dark furniture behind me to get less reflections back when I used CRT monitors. But when I got my first matte LCD monitor, what a beauty. Not a inch of reflection. Some will say that you can increase brightness to overcome reflections, but I also have astigmatism and I'm highly sensitive to very bright light sources. So a bright monitor would get me blind at night. My current monitor is a Benq with shortcut buttons at the base, that permit me to change setups with a single press. At night, I change to less brightness because a day config is too bright to me. In the end, I get the appeal of glossy finish, but don't think for a moment it serves for everybody. Different people have different needs and the last thing we need is this mentality of "I like/use this, therefore everybody does".

All macs have glossy screen. Apple offers a very good anti reflective coating. I don’t know what’s up with monitor manufacturers.

can anyone guide me to a glossy monitor which is 27inch please,all these tech companies who you buy monitors from don't add info about it being glossy or not

Unfortunately, glossy monitors are VERY rare. For me it's not so much about the "blur", it's about the colors. The white that you have on a glossy screen cannot be reproduced on a matte screen.

Great see Gordon talking to new and upcoming Connor 🙂

Pls suggest any glossy monitor moddle no.pls pls pls ..im tired but not found in market are online

Glossy monitors are far superior. It's a big shame that they're hard to find now. I can't stand the way matte screens diffuse the light. It bothers my eyes.

Glossy for the best picture. 💯

You can buy polishing compound and make any monitor semi-gloss.

does it even matter for ips mini led displays

I feel like for laptops it really depends on the brightness of the screen especially when you're using it outside

I have a matte Steam Deck and after using glossy monitors for a long time I must say I really like it. It gives that feeling of being visually connected to the game world instead of looking at it through a sheet of glass.

Matte gang, as a 3D Model and Graphic Designer I can't afford color skewing on the screen when the precision in determining the colour, edges and composition is so important. I know that the colours pops nicely on the glossy screen but it's difficult to work in bright environment with glossy screen. I started with glossy few years ago, switched to High Refresh Rate Matte with fantastic SRGB + Adobe coverage and never looked back.

What can you recommend out there for me a glossy finish monitor. Without the cost of arm and leg

It's weird seeing Connor not flying into the center of the screen as his character at the start of the video. Kinda nice seeing him in a normal light, though I appreciate his theatrics.

A T.V. that is glossy is ok I guess since your not watching 1/2 the time but looking at a glossy monitor screen requires work on your end. Maybe both options will be supported.

I sit in front of my monitor doing work (design and video production) all day long. I'll choose a matte finish over glossy ever single time. All my monitors are matte. My Steam Deck is matte. There should always be choice in the market. There are good use cases for both and no ones eyes/brains are exactly the same.

Nice video. Didn’t know he had a display channel.

What about for outside on a football field work in the summer and I need a computer monitor? semi matte, matte, glossy?

I enjoyed this discussion as I love sharp and vivid colors and images for photo and gaming . What glossy 4k 27” or 32” monitors do you recommend?

I just canceled my preorder for the LG 27" GR95QE-B 240hz and i hope later this year LG is going to bring the same panel with a glossy finish.

Hey its Connor! what an explanation!! a painter couldn't have said it better! Now all you need is a frame and a Lisa (Mona) :)

Glossy all the way!

i was so hyped to buy the samsung neo g8 4k mini LED gaming monitor. so much so i drove down to my nearest pc world today to eye ball what they look like. i left so buzzing to buy one and now i am back to being confused as as far as i am aware its a full matt panel haha

GLOSSY FOR LIFE! REALLY DID YOU FORGET CRT-MONITORS!

Excellent debate. Very helpful info about high-end resolution (OLED/4K) are better in gloss, and white color more true with gloss.

Hate when I'm playing a game and it turns night (in game), and all I see in the monitor is myself looking at a monitor.

High end color editing monitors that go so far as including hoods to block direct reflections… are still matte. They’re talking about “high end” in this video but they just mean gaming monitors not serious professional tools.

it's sad that companies stopped making glossy monitors and they stick to mate screens!

Define "high end" almost every expensive industrial with the best contrast and high pixeldensity and all you wanna name it... are all non-glossy... they are all matte. Yes glossy screens do tend to look more "bright" more contrast and or saturation... but those colors are mostly pumped up so it looks amazing.

Very good looking mustache, now I am convinced glossy is better now :-)

You must get the display that matches the feng shui of your home. I have one of Dells 34" QD-OLED displays, which is a glossy display with an anti-reflective coating. Looks great and can easily recommend. I think dell has a good approach as their anti-reflective coating diffuses the light enough to prevent distractions while gaming. Not sure how great that coating is for content creation though.

Got to admit it's prefer matt I'd prefer if I had a choice. But maybe not if it causes issues.

It’s true that matte or semi matte finish screens somehow degrade the image quality, but glare is much more difficult to live with. I have very little control of positioning, so I’m with Gordon here. But if you can avoid glare and distracting reflections, then I agree that glossy screens provide the best picture quality. I wonder what Connor thinks of the anti reflective screens on iPads (Air, Pro, Mini). Screen quality doesn’t seem to be affected by the coating.

Depends on if you are in an area that you can control the lighting in the room. Brightness, location, etc.

Would it kill manufacturers to have a choice? They could start with limited quantities of glossy. If the glossy sells, increase production. I would bet that glossy would overtake matte.

why no subtitles?

Gordon, Gordon, Gordon…you simply need to get a CONTROL “cone of shadow,” which will prevent reflections. Disclaimer: Maxwell loves the cone.

I much prefer glossy monitors because it makes the colors look richer.

Watching this on a TN panel...

Connor is a good dude, so is Gordon =) .

look at how matte guy is dressed, age, & weight compared to glossy guy, has a sense of aesthetics & style, need I say more about which of the two places importances on aesthetics, creativity, art, sophistication, polished, glossy, sharpness, depth, high contrast? This is a perfect illustration.

If you looked like Tom Selleck Jnr of course the Glossy screen for a Deep focus of the tash is paramount.

I just wish my laptop screen was IPS instead of shitty TN and my LG ultrawide monitor was glossy instead of mate which destroys the contrast in an otherwise perfect panel.

Both are good for different purposes. That said, I have large windows in my work area, I'll take a matte screen any day of the way.

Everyone talks OLED for desktop. As someone who has caused burn-in on IPS until image retention is resolved, no way. Right now on the HP with a LG B2 I run black background and hidden transparent Taskbar.

yeah if you are buying a monitor it should be glossy. but if you are buying a laptop or a portable monitor/screen. it should be matte display. coz common sense that buying a monitor means you are going to just leave it at home where you have control over the lightings. but buying a laptop and a portable screen is telecommuting and it is important that the glare should be reduced. glossy on smartphone is a different story. coz it is easy for you to adjust the position of your phone using your hand to see the screen clearly. but you can't do that with laptops and portable monitors.

I don't get the pixel density argument. I had a 4k 28" matte monitor and it was fine. If the DPI is much higher than that, you're not going to see the extra resolution. Contrast might be arguable, but personally I have zero need for HDR, and don't see a problem with SDR. Light hitting a matte display at worst results in contrast reduction. Light hitting gloss means you see everything. My worst PC display was a glossy one on a laptop I got. Every time I used it had to try to angle it to find a location that didn't reflect badly. I do have an OLED TV, and even then, yes, I'd love for it to be matte too. When it is on you don't see if it is glossy or not, but I do see the unwanted reflections. Space is not generous so rearranging the environment is not a good option.

Matte. I get that Gloss is prettier, but watching TV and having a spot where the light is blasting is annoying. While trying to read code - is impossible.

I prefer matte laptop screens for work because I am able to look at my screen for 3 hours or more and it feels fine and doesn't hurt my eyes at all and I prefer to use glossy screen in a tablet or smartphone for media consumption. That simple. Nowadays in 2023, people have all three: laptops, tablets and most important gadget: smartphones.

I work in a lab with massive windows, even here I prefer my glossy screen, i have 2 at work. BUT at home were I can make my room as dark as cave why in hell i am going to pick a blurry screen?

Glossy!!!! It wouldn’t be an argument if we had options for both.

I also have a 32in 4k monitor matte. I could gaf about matte vs glossy. I bought the cheapest 32in 4k monitor that wasn't a TN panel for 349CAD

I have a glossy 500 nits 2k IPS screen 89/89/89/89 so I have the best view from everywhere I'm looking my laptop screen :) Reflections? nah with 500 nits at max bright doesn't bother me at all :) Long life to the Glossy team!

OLED+GLOSSY equals any light reflectioning Am light matte is always preferable yeah you are not gonna notice in bright scenes but anytime you are displaying anything dark.

What about a glossy display with a matte finish attachable piece. Maybe for laptops and or desktop displays or phones and tablets for outdoor or bright rooms. Then we could always have glossy, but with an optional matte. Maybe this would come with terrible viewing problems, or flimsy frames or broken and or difficult to store contraptions, if it's meant to be detachable. Though an option like this may be viable for those who require it, if your location doesn't involve direct sunlight, lamplight, firelight, room lights, then maybe this option is not applicable to your situation. Saying this there are likely already products like this, probably for phones and tablets at least, but maybe not as easily for laptops and desktop displays.

No one actually sells glossy monitors tho

Right now Valve announced OLED Deck and I am trying to do as much research on glossy Oleds as I can because matte is for the higher tier SD and mid tier has glossy. Seems like Oled does better with gloss for entertainment.

glossy displays with anti glare/reflections would be a nice option

my sister tv drive me insane when they have the matte finsh and the contrast is worse the color is warmer though but the picture isnt is sharp their tv downstairs is older and isnt 4k and has a wayyyyyyy better picture butt its matte but its a good matte scren and the panel i swear is beter qualit but hey 500 dollor 1080p vizio vis cheap 4k basic model viizo but you know what their best tv was their tcs and it was cheaper and it wss grreat it broke sadly but it think the vizio they boutght is a knowck off or something cuz the pixels are interlaced but if it s 4k it looks alot better but the hdr is fake thtink

B Roll guy had covid 🤣

glossy makes the text more visble epescilly matte diffuse light all over the place it looks pcoo 4k oled matte its blurry glossy is sharp and the refletion is less blurred and you wont notice

Connor is awesome!

GLOSSY!!!

2007 720p 60hz glossy panel looks 100% better than my 1440p 165hz LED matte monitor...

im a bit irritated that there isnt more glossy monitors.

If im spending all this money on an oled monitor i dont want a matte layer ruining the picture quality. Glossy all the way.

Glossy is way better especially if your gaming!!

Matte, because whatever advantage a glossy panel has, the moment there's even a tiny bit of reflections in it, the quality goes out the window. Better color? Sure, but if the color mixes with the color of ur face (or whatever bright background u have), what's the point then? It's matte or nothing for me, at least for a monitor.

That's kind of not true, not all glossy TV and monitor are highly reflective. Rting did rank LG C2 with glossy finish as less reflective than a matt monitor, I didn't get it at first and even made an inquiry with them about that. But then I went from my old FV43U VA to the C2 42 myself and you know what? They were right. Yes, the C2 is glossy and yes, it's nowhere bright enough to fight any sort of glares. But unless you shine a flash light directly on it, you will have to try really hard to see your face on that display. Imagine you're looking at something like a black jade. Yes, it is reflective but it's also black and most of the time, what you see is the shadow and not a direct refelction of your environment on it. The FV43U on the hand, despite being semi-gloss - is highly reflective. Yes, I don't really see the 1:1 of my face but I saw the colour of my skin, the LED backlight of my keyboard and mouse, along with every light source in the room despite the fact.

All your mobile devices you are using outside has a glossy screens, that's a really strong point👍 I would be very surprised if anyone wanted it to be matt by their own will. It's just stupid, because it will make a great picture of your precious smartphone obviously worse. The screen will be evenly lit (instead one light point) lowering overall contrast, colours and even hiding fine details. Definitely make sense in a specific situations and limited scenarios, but in everyday usage, i don't think so.

Matte screens work everywhere. Glossy only in theater situations where the user is far enough away from the monitor so that light coming from the monitor doesn't bounce off the user and is then reflected on the monitor's screen. Any other argument is an attempt at performing mental contortions.

Matte. My first experience with one was ordering a 2011-ish MBP from apple and having the option to trick it out with a matte panel (Apple was cool). The stock option was the glass covered panel we all know as standard in 2023. I was just getting started in uni and wanted something that would deal with open windows and fluorescent lights. Ordered, was smitten. Did exactly what wanted it to do. Have tried to go matte with all the things ever since.

Glossy monitors make the colors pop more but become quite reflective in a lit room. After having used both glossy and matte monitors I'd have to say I prefer using the latter as the colors will still pop if the panel is of good quality and I won't have that much of an issue with smearing on the glass or light sources/ the sun creating an issue. My Thinkpads have all been matte displays as my Dell laptops with glossy screens weren't hacking it outdoors. Smartphones I do like flat glass screens and tempered glass screen protectors but will admit the matte film screen protectors allow for better sunlight visibility at more angles.

Glossy makes only Sense on O-LED TVs - Monitors. Matte makes sense only on non O-LED Monitors - TVs. Why You ASK? Go Look up what OLED is and go Look up what LCD or IPS or Nano LED or Mini LED is. :)

For work or creator purposes where you gotta be looking at the screen for hours on end matte is the way to go because reflective lights can get annoying after awhile. But if gaming is the primary go definitely go glossy. Also glossy screens have some really good anti reflective material nowadays.

I have a matte monitor next to my glossy. windows and sub right behind me. The glossy looks better. People are insane.

Matte is just a failed and outdated tech for a gaming monitor. I definitely have an advantage in fps because I game on my 34 inch oled that has a glossy finish compared to my 4K gaming monitor with as matte finish.

Gordon Win by the classic terabyte. I even like more my pictures in matte paper.

I am a glossy man myself i looked at the monitors side by side and it was no question just dont touch it

Glossy

Why not both ffs?

Confused, the guy with the glossy head argues for the matte monitor :P

I prefer the ever so slightly matte coating (semi-gloss). It isn't as distracting as having full mirror reflections, nor does it look like you spilled vaseline all over the screen.

Glossy just better 😌