Monitor Math: Why the Biggest Discount Rarely Wins
A 45% off sticker can cost you more than a 12% markdown. Here is the arithmetic a discount sticker hides.
A discount is a ratio, not a result. It compares two prices, and the original price is often fictional. The number that matters is not percent off — it is cost per useful year.
A middling panel at a spectacular discount is the most expensive monitor you can buy, because you will replace it in two years and blame yourself. A calibrated panel at a modest markdown is the cheapest, because it leaves the desk when you do.
When we score a display deal, we weight panel type, measured brightness, and input selection well above the sticker. The hottest deal on the board is frequently the least dramatic one. That is not a bug in our ranking. It is the point.