The future of gaming monitors? TCL unveils 1,000Hz 4K display

[midian182]

WTF?! We've come a long way from the days when 75Hz was considered a blistering-fast refresh rate for a monitor. Illustrating this point is TCL CSOT, a subsidiary of TCL, which has shown off a 4K display panel at Display Week 2024 capable of reaching 1,000Hz.

The refresh rate race has gone into overdrive in the last few years, with monitors able to reach 540Hz, such as the Asus ROG Swift Pro PG248QP, which we loved, hitting the market.

As with other monitors featuring ludicrously fast refresh rates, the Asus model has a 1080p resolution and is aimed squarely at eSports players or competitive online gamers. We are seeing high-refresh-rate 4K monitors, including this ROG Swift and one from Dell, but they top out at 240Hz.

Also read: Why Refresh Rates Matter: From 30Hz to 540Hz

First spotted by Blur Busters, TCL CSOT showed off a 4K panel at a display event in California that has an amazing 1,000Hz refresh rate. The publication notes that while it had expected 1,000Hz panels to arrive, it did not expect it to debut at 4K before 1080p and 1440p.

4K 1000Hz being shown off at #DisplayWeek2024 by TCL CSOT pic.twitter.com/xc2qsYocxX

– Blur Busters (@BlurBusters) May 15, 2024

The only other solid detail about the screen is that it's an LCD, just like the 540Hz Asus monitor. It's also likely a proof-of-concept prototype; expect the first commercial 1,000Hz monitors to arrive with 1080p or 1440p resolutions. Blur Busters believes that 1,000Hz OLEDs will be commercialized by 2027, with the first prototypes likely to be announced before that time.

It's also likely that we'll need to wait a few years before other technologies can take full advantage of 1,000Hz refresh rates, especially at high resolutions; DisplayPort 3.0/HDMI 3.0 and incredibly powerful graphics cards (with frame generations), for example.

Credit: Blur Busters

For a lot of people, any monitor with a refresh rate of over 120Hz seems like overkill, especially if they don't play games that often and have no interest in competitive gaming. But as we noted in our OLED Burn-In Test: One Month Update feature, moving from a 144Hz monitor to 240Hz can also have a positive impact on productivity, thanks to the smoother, clearer experience when reading reams of text or browsing the web and the lower latency.

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The future of gaming monitors? TCL unveils 1,000Hz 4K display

 

[fraggleki]

I could see going from 144hz to 240hz but anything above seems like overkill? I'm no pro by any means but I play a fair share. Going from 144hz to 240hz I can detect a very slight difference but I believe diminishing returns start to kick in around this refresh rate. 500hz vs 1000hz I doubt anyone is going to be able to tell a difference. Maybe I'm wrong though as I've never seen a 500hz monitor with my own eyes.

 

[Dimitriid]

I could see going from 144hz to 240hz but anything above seems like overkill? I'm no pro by any means but I play a fair share. Going from 144hz to 240hz I can detect a very slight difference but I believe diminishing returns start to kick in around this refresh rate. 500hz vs 1000hz I doubt anyone is going to be able to tell a difference. Maybe I'm wrong though as I've never seen a 500hz monitor with my own eyes.

Not only that but I think there might be detrimental effects to such high refresh rates: while motion blur is usually abused for stylistic purposes and has been frowned upon by gamers, it does serves a purpose: if the screen moves fast enough by your reactions and the refresh rate is fast enough that there is no 'ghosting' effect (Effectively motion blur for our eyes, just a lot less than the stylish one added on top) then I think it might not be exactly healthy: super fast movement is a great way to trigger seizures in epileptic patients but if potentially anyone can look at a constant hyper fast changing image while playing it might not trigger a seizure on non-epileptic patients but it can't be healthy for you long term is what I'm guessing.

 

[Subset6]

Jeez, this is getting a little out of hand. Like who woke up and thought “yah, 1k hz should be a thing”. Said no one ever anywhere. Wasted frames are wasted, and don’t you waste them frames. Mah GPU is hotter then the surface of the sun guys, I think rudimentary fusion might be occurring in my case.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

I could see going from 144hz to 240hz but anything above seems like overkill? I'm no pro by any means but I play a fair share. Going from 144hz to 240hz I can detect a very slight difference but I believe diminishing returns start to kick in around this refresh rate. 500hz vs 1000hz I doubt anyone is going to be able to tell a difference. Maybe I'm wrong though as I've never seen a 500hz monitor with my own eyes.

Agreed. I think 200hz is enough for any noncompetitive gaming, but 240 is a natural doubling so fine make 240hz monitors.

Above 240, A) is only for marketing and B) something else is likely causing more latency than the monitor (e.g., mouse).

 

[toooooot]

Great for counter strike classic with rtx 5090.
But seriously, these things will get popular
when GPUs catch up eventually.
Good old games stay alive for a long time.
A crappy soulless AAAA dies in few months,
those good ones exist for 10+ years.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Agreed. I think 200hz is enough for any noncompetitive gaming, but 240 is a natural doubling so fine make 240hz monitors.

Above 240, A) is only for marketing and B) something else is likely causing more latency than the monitor (e.g., mouse).

I use a 144hz monitor, and frankly outside of competitive shooters it makes little difference.

 

[p51d007]

But but but....MORE is better isn't it?
Just another excuse to overpay for something 99% of the public would never see the benefit from
just so they can charge a higher price.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

I use a 144hz monitor, and frankly outside of competitive shooters it makes little difference.

I can tell a difference between 120 and 180hz in a competitive shooter. But I’m not sure if it is placebo or really better at 220hz, so I cap my GPU at 200.