We have seen monitors with higher refresh rates as manufacturers continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible – and what’s even practical, if you think about it.
Recently, TCL CSOT unveiled a brand new 4K monitor at Display week 2024 with an absolutely blazing fast 1,000Hz refresh rate, beating the previous reigning champion Asus ROG Swift PG248QP with a refresh rate of 540 Hz. Even more impressive is how TCL’s monitor is able to maintain the same refresh rate at 4K resolution, a feat that no other monitor has even come close to, as it is at least three times faster than the fastest. best 4K monitor on the market.
Certainly, a high refresh rate for gaming is incredibly important and more and more monitors are taking up the challenge. Ultra-fast renderings were one of the top trends CES 2024 with brands such as LG, Acer, Samsung, Razer and MSI presenting their new offerings with refresh rates up to 360 Hz and even 480 Hz. AMD even has has revised the certification process for FreeSync technology to require gaming monitors to have a 144Hz refresh rate.
But ultimately what is the point of all this?
Sure, you have ultimate bragging rights if you can get a 1000 Hz monitor that still maintains 4K resolution (which would be the first of its kind to combine both specs), but what use could that be? ? Let’s say you’re a professional gamer and a high refresh rate is essential. However, official tournaments have a limit of 240 Hz, so using a monitor with a higher frequency than 240 Hz for practice will not help you in a professional tournament. It can actively degrade your performance, as you essentially downgrade to a much slower speed when it matters most.
Well, what if you’re a hardcore gamer who casually competes with others online? There are no limitations in that space, so do it, right? Except that aside from the bragging rights that come from flexing your cash flow, it would be largely pointless to invest in such a screen. Considering the benefit it would give you, compared to the price of the monitor itself, and the diminishing returns at 1,000 Hz, it’s hardly worth the much higher premium you’ll pay for it. Especially since you can easily buy a high-quality monitor with a 240Hz or even 144Hz refresh rate and still have a better monitor than most.
There’s also the fact that this TCL monitor would only be useful for gaming, as other markets like productivity, editing, and art don’t benefit as much from a high refresh rate.
Frankly, it feels like technology manufacturers are participating in this arms race solely to showcase technological progress. That’s all well and good, except that spending valuable resources on the production of these monitors contributes to the big problem with electronic waste that the sector is already facing due to an abundance of PCs and laptops.
Instead of focusing on creating these types of products, TCL should invest its resources in sustainability or efficiency. It would not only tackle the e-waste crisis more productively but also improve business results.