NVIDIA might have unveiled their G-SYNC HDR tech for gaming displays last year but there is still currently no product available on the market that features it. However, that is about to change as the latest reports from NVIDIA state that they are expecting the new products to launch during the coming month of April.
NVIDIA G-SYNC HDR 4K 144 Hz Displays Headed For April Launch But Will There Be A Graphics Card That Can Drive Gaming On These Beasts?
The NVIDIA G-SYNC HDR displays were created alongside AU Optronics to deliver the ultimate PC gaming experience. Unlike HDR TVs, these monitors were designed from the get-go with gaming in mind. As a result, they will feature virtually non-existent additional input latency whereas most TVs add a significant amount while gaming in HDR.
During the initial announcement, NVIDIA showed off two products that would utilize their latest G-SYNC HDR Technology, the ASUS ROG Swift PG27UQ and the Acer Predator X27. Both displays are going to use the NVIDIA reference G-SYNC HDR design and feature a resolution of 3840 x 2160 (4K), 144 Hz refresh rate, approximately 1000 nits brightness and 384 individually-controllable LED backlight zones.
The backlight illuminates the screen, and with 384 individually-controllable LED backlight zones, light will only be shown when and where it is required, enabling G-SYNC HDR displays to simultaneously produce bright bold colors and deep blacks, reminiscent of the very best plasma displays. Monitors with fewer backlight zones, edge-lit backlight zones, or with only a single global backlight are incapable of matching the contrast and image quality of the new 4K G-SYNC HDR monitors, and with 384 controllable zones we have unparalleled control over the picture, producing the best images you’ve ever seen on an LCD gaming display.
NVIDIA G-SYNC high dynamic range displays are able to reproduce more realistic images with high brightness, excellent contrast, saturated color and smoother motion than traditional standard dynamic range displays while offering stutter-free, tear-free, low latency gaming Not all displays claiming to be HDR provide the same visual experience. True HDR displays need a thoughtfully engineered combination of:
- Higher Brightness
- Greater Contrast
- Wider color gamut
- Higher refresh rate
To further enhance the monitor we have applied a Quantum Dot Enhancement Film (QDEF), to create deep saturated reds and greens out of the blue light produced by the 384 controllable LED backlight zones. First used on high-end HDR televisions, QDEF film is coated with nano-sized dots that emit light of a very specific color depending on the size of the dot, producing bright, saturated and vibrant colors through the whole spectrum, from deep greens and reds, to intense blues. This enables a far larger set of colors to be displayed, producing pictures that more accurately reflect the scenes and colors you see in real life. The end result is a color space 25% larger than the traditional sRGB color space, close to the DCI-P3 standard used in the best digital cinemas. via NVIDIA
According to Anandtech, the main reason for the delay seems to be the production of AUO panels and changes in reference design for the tech by NVIDIA. While this has led to a launch slip from '17 to 2018, NVIDIA has finally revealed at GDC 2018 that they will be shipping the displays in Q1 of '18 which ends for NVIDIA on 29th April (matching their FY2019 Calendar). The ASUS STRIX ROG Swift PG27UQ was to be priced at $1199 US but it remains to be seen if price will be affected after the long delay. There's no word on pricing related to the Acer product but these are just some of the many technological achievements that NVIDIA has made for the gaming display market. NVIDIA also announced their very impressive 65 inch, BFGD or Big Format Gaming Displays at CES 2018 which come with 4K 120 Hz G-SYNC HDR. More on them here.
I think the more important question is, will there be a graphics card in April that will drive gaming on these monitors at their fullest? Current cards like the GTX 1080 Ti can deliver playable FPS on 4K resolutions but 120 - 144 Hz refresh rate gaming is a whole other level of performance required. Sure one can just add a second card for SLI but we all know the current state of multi-GPU gaming optimizations. We are aware that NVIDIA has a new graphics card lineup planned for launch in the coming months but we expect no new cards launching alongside these monitors. So if there's an update from NVIDIA, we will definitely provide them here first.
