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The Best Monitors for Assassin's Creed Shadows

Shadows is a game about light, contrast and distance. These are the panels that actually show you what the art team drew.

Assassin's Creed Shadows key art
Screenshot: Assassin's Creed Shadows — via Steam

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Shadows leans harder on contrast than almost any open-world game of its generation. Naoe’s entire stealth layer is built on the difference between lit and unlit, which means a panel that cannot hold a black level is not just less pretty — it is less playable.

A night scene in Assassin's Creed Shadows
On a weak panel, this scene turns into grey mush and the stealth read goes with it. Screenshot: Assassin's Creed Shadows — via Steam

What matters here

Black level, before anything else. OLED is a genuine gameplay advantage in this game, not just a visual one.

Resolution over refresh. Shadows is not a competitive shooter. 1440p at 120Hz serves it better than 1080p at 240Hz, and 4K serves it better still if you can drive it.

Size, within reason. 27in at 1440p and 32in at 4K sit at roughly the same pixel density. Going bigger without going higher-resolution just makes the image softer.

An aerial view of the hideout in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Distant detail is where resolution earns its money in an open world. Screenshot: Assassin's Creed Shadows — via Steam

Who should buy what

If your graphics card can feed 4K, the OLED is the clear pick and the difference in night scenes is not subtle. If it cannot, buy the 1440p IPS and spend the savings on the card — an OLED fed 40fps is a worse experience than a good IPS fed 100.

What to skip

Any panel sold on refresh rate alone. In this game it is the specification that matters least.

The picks in full

#1
Best overall

Lumen 32 OLED 4K 165Hz

Panel
32in QD-OLED
Resolution
3840 x 2160
Refresh
165Hz
  • Per-pixel black level, which is the whole point in this game
  • Enough resolution that distant detail survives
  • You will need a serious graphics card to drive it
$899 Check price at Amazon
#2
Best value

Lumen 27 IPS 1440p 180Hz

Panel
27in IPS
Resolution
2560 x 1440
Refresh
180Hz
  • The sweet spot for hardware most people actually own
  • No burn-in worry for long sessions
  • IPS black levels flatten the night scenes
$329 Check price at Amazon
  • Monitor
  • Buying Guide
  • Assassin's Creed Shadows

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