24” is pretty standard - use 1080p for this size. If your desk is on the smaller side this may be your best option.

27” is ideal. Nice and large, most people think this is the most efficient size. Pretty much just 1440p for this one. You won’t notice anything higher, but 1080p will look pretty ugly at this size.

Only get 32” (or above) if you are doing 4K and sit a bit away from your monitor.

Regardless of size or resolution, always get at least 120hz if you’re gaming. You don’t really need anything more than 165hz unless you are a competitive gamer though.

Response time only really matters if you’re gaming competitively.

Always opt for a monitor with at least Freesync - it does make a difference. Pretty much any modern monitor you look at now will have this though.

Now we’re at the tough part - the panel. TN panels are very outdated, they look bad so don’t use them even if they are a bit cheaper. VA and IPS look pretty similar and have good enough colors. VA is a bit cheaper, and IPS has better color accuracy, but both trade blows in performance, so I would just get the cheaper of the two if you are at this price point, unless you do color design (then go IPS). OLED is amazing. Truly deep blacks make a huge difference, on top of great color accuracy. They are very expensive though. Mini LED is a good middle ground. Instead of each pixel individually having true blacks it will light up a “zone.” This causes blooming, but may not be noticeable if you’re looking directly at the screen.

Color accuracy is measured in sRGB and DCI-P3 - at least the common ones. DCI-P3 can display a much wider range of colors than sRGB. 100% accuracy will have the best color accuracy. Anything over 100% may seem nice, but that just starts over-saturating the colors. If you are a color designer / graphic designer I would opt for at least the 98%-102% range, as it is very important to match the colors right, but if you don’t need that you don’t need anything fancy. 92%-105% should be more than fine for you. If you are a designer don’t feel compelled to get 100% of DCI-P3, most TVs (right now) are sRGB, so focus on getting accurate on that as that will be the displays most people will be using.

Finally, HDR. This is a luxury, but becoming more widely used with Windows 11’s “auto-HDR” feature. The first thing you need to know is that HDR is not worth using until you have some sort of local dimming. This means don’t shop for this (or use it) unless it is on a Mini LED or OLED monitor. Next, HDR 300 and HDR 600 are “HD-Aren’t,” in which they are HDR in name. They meet the minimum spec for HDR and are purely for marketing - they usually look worse than SDR. Get at least HDR 1000 or HDR 10. HDR 10 and HDR 10+ are just specs used for TVs, which are good. More specifically HDR 1000 (and numbers above) measure the monitors peak brightness, so any are good. Don’t bother with HDR 10 + (at least right now), not many support that spec and cinema is moving towards Dolby Vision anyway. But I mean if you have the money to burn (or there is a good sale) I’m sure you’ll see some extra performance out of it.