Refresh rate, OLED technology? What to Consider When Buying a Gaming Monitor | Science and technology news

When thinking about upgrading your gaming hardware, it’s easy to get carried away.

Just recently, Sony announced its new PS5 Pro with much fanfare (and surprise at its £699 price tag), while Nintendo fans are eagerly awaiting the Switch 2, whose release date has reportedly been brought forward.

However, an important part of the gaming rig is often forgotten when gamers build their “battle stations” – the screen.

For many people, all flat screen TVs are the same – but nothing could be further from the truth.

So what should gamers pay attention to when choosing the perfect gaming monitor?

First, there are big differences between television screens and computer monitors. PC monitors often have higher pixel density than TVs, which simply means they can fit more pixels per inch of screen, resulting in sharper picture quality.

Monitors are also designed to have minimal input lag. This is the time that elapses between pressing a key on the user’s keyboard and the letter appearing on the screen. This can make all the difference in competitive games where buttons are pressed after split-second decisions.

PC screens are also much better suited specifically for gaming.

The emergence of OLED technology has led to a revolution in display technology. Colors appear more vibrant than ever while motion blur is reduced so players can still identify objects in fast-moving environments.

Ultra-high resolution, also known as 4K, is becoming increasingly common in high-end monitors. “4K” refers to a resolution of around 4,000 pixels, making it a good choice for gaming or professional video editing.

But arguably the most important metric to focus on when checking a screen’s technical specs is its refresh rate.

The input lag mentioned above can make or break a professional esports game, where every fraction of a millisecond counts.

AGON by AOC makes gaming monitors, and their senior product manager Cesar Acosta told Sky News that “a high refresh rate of around 240Hz is essential for competitive gaming. “It shortens the time between image updates, minimizes input lag, and provides smoother movement.” can give players a competitive advantage.

He continued that curved monitors, which are now becoming more common on the market, “can also improve immersion by better conforming to the natural curvature of human vision and enveloping the user to enhance immersion.”

However, Mr Acosta warned that OLED has a higher rate of screen burn-in, a process in which an image can become visible on a display if left on for too long.

Why do gaming enthusiasts spend so much on displays when most games aren’t even in 4K?

Well, graphics development in games is progressing worryingly. NVIDIA may be best known for making AI chips these days, but the world’s third-largest company has its roots in graphics processing units (GPUs).

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Despite gaining fame on Wall Street, NVIDIA is still the market leader in GPU production and even applies AI to its hardware to improve older games and get the most out of new games.

Bryan Catanzaro, vice president of applied deep learning research at Nvidia, told Sky News: “We want to enable video games that look like they’re straight out of the movies – realistic lighting, powered by full ray tracing, at 4k and beyond. “

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These graphics cards aren’t cheap, but they are capable of making older games look like modern releases. Their proprietary “DLSS” technology uses machine learning to artificially insert frames and pixels to improve visuals. Catanzaro pointed out that DLSS can artificially create 7 out of 8 pixels on the screen, which can improve game graphics by four times. This would upscale a game released in 1080p HD in 2014 to 4K today.

The market for monitors is large, there are many options. First-person shooter fans might want something with a lower resolution but higher refresh rate, and those looking to put their fancy new graphics card through its paces might be looking for a 4K OLED panel. The decision, as with everything in the diverse and expensive world of gaming, depends on the player, their priorities and their wallet.