24inch monitor to go with 32inch

unwashed potato! · 27 Dec 2025 at 00:09

i have 2 dell G3223Q monitors side by side.

i also have my very old 27inch benq in portrait but i'd like to replace this, partly because the old screen low quality is now more obvious, but also i dislike that with the new screens being 4K, when i move a window across the screens the zoom is all out.

what resolution screen should i look for to help solve this? I want the new screen to also be in portrait and be similiar in width as my 32" is in height so that when the new screen is in portrait, they are similiar dimensions.

is the only way i can get it so the windows don't appear zoomed in when swapping between screens, is to have another 4k, even if it's only 24inch? or would a QHD 24" work ourt the same as a 4k 32"?

MartinPrince · 27 Dec 2025 at 00:31

Yes the best way to do this is to get a 24" 1440p monitor as that way the PPI matches better.

(If you lived in the Midlands I'd come round and calibrate them for you for free, that way the colours match as well fun from one screen to the next.

)

radderfire · 27 Dec 2025 at 00:36

You would need to calculate the Pixels Per Inch of the existing monitor and match it as closely as possible.

Alternatively, you could by to your budget and then attempt to fudge a match by playing with resolution and "Layout and Scaling" options in display settings for each monitor. You'd have to turn the resolution down on the 4K monitors though.

unwashed potato! · 27 Dec 2025 at 00:38

MartinPrince said:
Yes the best way to do this is to get a 24" 1440p monitor as that way the PPI matches better.

does it make a difference that i have the scale set to 150% for text/apps etc on the 4k screens?

MartinPrince · 27 Dec 2025 at 00:45

unwashed potato! said:
does it make a difference that i have the scale set to 150% for text/apps etc on the 4k screens?

Not really because you would likely do the same/similar scaling on all 3 monitors.

I think the best current Dell match is the P2425D as that is IPS, 100Hz and 1440p. If you can cope with 60Hz then you have more options.

tamzzy · 27 Dec 2025 at 00:48

MartinPrince said:
If you lived in the Midlands I'd come round and calibrate them for you for free

ooooo come calibrate my screens!

MartinPrince · 27 Dec 2025 at 01:06

tamzzy said:
ooooo come calibrate my screens!

As soon as I'm back in the country next week I'll send you a message and we can arrange a date.

(Call it my news years resolution to give a little back after reading that Xmas article on the BBC

)

tamzzy · 27 Dec 2025 at 01:12

MartinPrince said:
As soon as I'm back in the country next week I'll send you a message and we can arrange a date. (Call it my news years resolution to give a little back after reading that Xmas article on the BBC )

It's a date! :cry:

unwashed potato! · 27 Dec 2025 at 21:57

MartinPrince said:
best current Dell match is the P2425D

have ordered this today for delivery tuesday.

how likely is the screen going to be different enough with colours that i'd need to calibrate them? i figured ips, dell, how different are they going to make their monitors?

MartinPrince · 28 Dec 2025 at 00:33

unwashed potato! said:
have ordered this today for delivery tuesday.

how likely is the screen going to be different enough with colours that i'd need to calibrate them? i figured ips, dell, how different are they going to make their monitors?

The fact that they are all Dell and IPS means you may be able to get fairly close manually. The problem I always had doing it by sight was getting a consistent D65 white point, as normally most monitors I've come across out of the box in default mode are quite a bit off.

For ~10 years since I've started profiling and calibrating my dual/triple/quad monitor setup means I've never had that problem as with the .icm file created by the calibration, getting loaded when Windows boots, they all match near perfectly in colour and brightness. (120 nits)

My good mate just got 2 VA and 1 IPS monitor in his setup and after profiling and calibrating all 3 he couldn't believe how close I got them to match.

Let us know how you get on and if I'm ever visiting family in Redhill I'll give you a shout.