This story is part of our continuing coverage of CES 2020, including tech and gadgets from the showroom floor.
Major tech shows like CES bring together all the world’s best display manufacturers, whether they’re making monster TVs or more intimate laptop displays.
But even just focusing on PCs gives you a great selection of screens to look at and we’ve picked through all the most exciting displays to find the best monitors of CES 2020.
Lenovo ThinkVision Creator Extreme
Professional monitors are in a class of their own when it comes to color clarity and crisp visuals, which is why companies like Apple charge up to $5,000 for them. Lenovo is looking to compete in that far-from-saturated space with its new 27-inch, 4K ThinkVision Creator Extreme. Announced just ahead of CES 2020, it is one of the first mini-LED monitors we’ve ever come across, and it’s a rather impressive piece of kit.
With a price tag half that of Apple’s Pro display, you might expect its specifications to be lacking in comparison, but you’d be wrong. With support for 99% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and 100% sRGB coverage, its colors really pop. The mini-LED backlighting technology it uses also gives it a massive 1,152 zones for local brightness control, whilst still being able to hit a brightness of 1,000 nits at peak output — enough to garner it the HDR1000 rating.
The Creator Extreme goes on sale in April and should be a popular choice for professionals.
Asus ROG Swift 360
Being the “world’s fastest” monitor might not seem like an important title to hold, but in the world of competitive gaming, it can make all the difference. Although a 360Hz display isn’t going to give a major uplift in performance over 240Hz screen — certainly far less than a 120Hz does over a 60Hz panel — it’s a great selling point. If you want the fastest possible display money can buy, Asus has it.
The TN panel at the heart of this display is only 1080p, but it comes with G-Sync certification, which means it supports variable refresh rates (a good thing, as few games will stay consistently close to 360 FPS) and that it has passed 300 Nvidia quality tests.
It won’t have the color clarity or contrast of a nice IPS display, but Asus is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on a gaming monitor with the Swift 360. We’re sure gamers with high-end GPUs will find a use for it when it goes on sale later this year.
Samsung Odyssey G9 Curved Gaming Monitor
Samsung has been at the forefront of ultrawide monitor development for years, with fantastic standouts like its excellent CHG90 display grabbing our attention and easily holding it. But as with all things, technology moves on, and CES 2020 saw Samsung unveil updated versions of some of its best displays.
Building on the success of the GR9, the new G9 ultrawide is super slim, with near invisible bezels, and a gorgeous panel. A full 49-inches diagonally, this massive monitor uses Samsung’s QLED technology for great contrast and color clarity, and it features a 1000R curvature, for maximum immersion.
That’s fantastic for watching films and gaming, the latter of which is also bolstered by a 240Hz refresh rate, Nvidia’s G-Sync technology, a 1ms response time, and a peak brightness of 1000 nits, guaranteeing fantastic HDR support.
You’ll need a hefty GPU to run it as its native resolution of 5,120 x 1,440, though. It goes on sale later this year, but we don’t know for how much for yet.
Acer Predator X32
Acer flat-out brought it at CES 2020 with its new Predator X32. With a $3,600 price tag, you would expect it to be something quite special and it is, with almost every bell and whistle that modern gaming monitors can offer.
Part of the G-Sync Ultimate certification program, the Acer Predator x32 supports G-Sync adaptive syncing technologies, has passed more than 300 quality tests at Nvidia’s HQ, and supports 1,000 nits brightness or more, for stunning HDR. In fact, this screen has a brightness peak of 1,440 nits, so it goes way beyond the minimum. It is DisplayHDR 1,400 certified, making it one of the few monitors to be given that rating.
With a 10-bit color display panel at 4K resolution, a 144Hz refresh rate, 1,152 zones for local dimming for fantastic HDR, and 99% coverage of the sRGB color space, this monitor lacks for little. It has excellent colors, high-contrast, and a vibrant picture that will be hard to beat.
It’s set to go on sale sometime in Q2.
MSI Optix MAG342CQR
At CES 2020, MSI unveiled its Optix Mag342CQR, a catchily-named display with a 1000R curvature. It claims that such a curve actually improves a gamer’s reaction time by up to 45%, which seems like a hell of a jump, but if it’s even slightly true, that could be a major selling point for this new generation of curved screens.
Alongside its heavy curve, this 34-inch display has a resolution of 3,440 x 1,440, a 144Hz refresh rate, FreeSync adaptive frame syncing, and full 10-bit color support, with 100% of the sRGB color gamut supported. It also has a 1ms response time, for ultra-fast gaming, and is based on a VA panel, so it should have reasonable viewing angles.
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