Start with the panel type
Panel choice narrows everything else, so settle it before you look at a single price. AOC works in ips and oled, and Scan carries ips, va and oled. Scan holds the wider set, adding VA to the IPS and OLED options AOC covers, so a budget or office screen and a high contrast screen can both come from one seller.
Use that split to write your shortlist early. IPS suits mixed office and gaming work, OLED fits when contrast is your priority, and VA covers the cheaper end of the market. AOC also sells more than desk panels, covering monitor, gaming monitor and portable monitor, which matters if you split your time between a desk and a sofa. The monitors rankings sort the field on the same specs.
Read the refresh rate as a ceiling, not a promise
The headline number is the top of each range. AOC tops out at 720 Hz and Scan at 720 Hz, so the two ceilings match exactly. Across the monitors in our data, refresh rates run 60 to 720 Hz, which shows the real shape of the market rather than one marketing figure.
AOC's figure comes from its ultra high refresh rate category, so it describes the fastest screens rather than a typical one. Ask which refresh rate the specific model you want offers, then hold that against the panel and price you already picked. The AOC review covers how that range is put together.
Price, and which market you are quoted in
Scan's entry price is £48.98, and Scan sells in GB, so that number belongs to a single market. Across the monitors in our data, prices run €8.70 to €262.21. Setting one retailer's entry price beside a range like that is not a like for like comparison: the range runs from the cheapest screen in the data to the most expensive, while an entry price only marks the floor of one catalogue.
So check the currency on any figure you find, then compare like against like. A cheap IPS screen and a cheap OLED screen are not substitutes, and a high refresh model carries a different budget again. If you want a second reading on Scan before you commit, the Scan review is the one to read.
Warranty, returns and the extras around them
The two headliners line up on cover, with a 3 years warranty at AOC and the same 3 years at Scan. Across the range, warranty length runs 0.25 to 3 years, so treat cover as a per model question rather than a brand rule. Scan accepts returns within 14 days, which gives you a fixed window to judge a panel where you actually sit.
Both ALTERNATE and Scan also offer an extended warranty, and both build to order and offer click and collect. Those services matter when you want a particular panel and refresh combination rather than whatever ships that week, or when a handover matters more to you than a delivery slot.
Dead pixels and the support behind the sale
Neither AOC nor ALTERNATE sets out a dead pixel policy, so a faulty subpixel becomes a returns question rather than a guaranteed swap. That makes the returns window the part to read first, and makes testing the panel on arrival worth doing while the window is still open.
Support differs more clearly. AOC works through help centre and phone, while Scan offers email, chat and phone, adding email and live chat for questions after delivery. The AOC review and the ALTERNATE review set out how each of them behaves after you have paid.
Who you are actually buying from
AOC is AOC International (Europe) B.V., founded 1967 and based in NL. Scan Computers International Ltd was founded 1986 and is based in GB, selling into GB. ALTERNATE dates back to 1992 and is based in DE. Trading history says nothing about panel quality, but it does tell you who stands behind the warranty when a panel goes wrong.
Basket shape is the last practical angle. Scan sells across computers, audio and gaming, so a monitor can share an order with a laptop or a headset, and ALTERNATE pairs monitors with the rest of a PC build. For anyone outfitting a whole desk, that is the easier order to place. The rankings also place Xiaomi and ProtoArc beside these names, with reviews for Mobile Pixels, Blackview and Micro Center covering the rest of the field.