Monitors at CES 2024: An exciting OLED showcase and what it taught us about the year ahead in monitors

Summary

• CES 2024 showcased a range of exciting monitors, including smaller IPS panels and high-end OLEDs with impressive refresh rates.
• Both Samsung's QD-OLED and LG's WOLED panels were prominent at the event, with multiple manufacturers using them in their upcoming monitors.
• The market will see a significant shift towards OLED monitors in the gaming industry, making it an exciting time to invest in high-end gaming displays.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) never fails to deliver with its extravagant tech demos and far-out concepts that aren't going to happen anytime soon. This year was no different, with a typical tidal wave of over-the-top products, but much of what we saw at the CES 2024 show floor was exciting real tech coming into reach. Monitors were one of them, and having spent a few days reflecting on what we saw at the trade show, it's clear to me that 2024 will be an exciting year for monitors on the whole.

We saw many exciting monitors at CES this year, from relatively smaller and simple IPS panels to high-end OLEDs that take refresh rates to places they've never gone. The best thing about the monitors we saw at CES this year is they're all real products coming soon.

1 32-inch QD-OLED & WOLED 4K panels

Samsung's QD-OLED panels are seen in huge numbers

32-inch monitors were seen in huge numbers this year at CES 2024, and they all use either Samsung's QD-OLED or LG's upcoming WOLED panels. The Alienware AW3225QF stands out from the rest on this particular list as it's the only one sporting a curved panel with a subtle 1700R curvature. The rest of the QD-OLEDs are all fairly similar, and that list includes several options from the likes of MSI, ASUS, and more.

HP's OMEN Transcend 32 signals the company's entry into the world of OLEDs. It uses the same Samsung QD-OLED panel currently in mass production and supports Dolby Vision HDR and HyperX-tuned audio. It features a USB-C port with 140W power, but there's no word on whether it'll come with a DisplayPort 2.1. You can turn to the Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P for DisplayPort 2.1, as it's the only model announced so far with the official DP 2.1 support, complete with full UHBR20 bandwidth. In case you're wondering, the rest of the models support DisplayPort 1.4 with Display Stream Compression (DSC) to deliver 4K 240Hz output.

There's also the MSI MPG321URX and the Samsung Odyssey G80SD, which use the same panel technology and are completely flat. The MPG321URX features the company's OLED Care 2.0 to prevent screen burn-in, while the Samsung Odyssey G80SD's highlight is an anti-glare coating missing from other QD-OLED monitors from CES 2024. The ASUS ROG Swift PG32UCDM, which was shown at Gamescom last year, also made an appearance at the CES 2024, and it'll be sold alongside other ROG monitors as a QD-OLED option.

LG's WOLED panel may be worth waiting for

Some manufacturers have opted to use LG's WOLED (White OLED) panels, which are being manufactured later this year. Like Samsung's QD-OLED, this one also measures 32 inches in size and supports a 4K resolution and up to 240Hz refresh rate. The highlight of this panel is that it also offers the ability to switch the panel to a relatively lower 1080p resolution while boosting the refresh rate to a whopping 480Hz. This is thanks to a feature that LG uses, Dynamic Frequency and Resolution (DFR), which you'll see the display manufacturers pushing as dual-mode operation.

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The ASUS ROG PG32UCDP made headlines at CES this year for this dual-mode operation, which can support 4K 240Hz and FHD 480Hz outputs. LG will have an UltraGear monitor variant of its own under the model name 32GS95UE. This particular monitor uses the WOLED panel with dual-mode support. Plus, the UltraGear model will also support things like 'Pixel Sound' technology for an improved audio experience with the speakers behind the panel.

The Alienware AW3225QF is already available to pick up in the U.S. market, and it'll be followed by the MSI MPG321URX in February. The rest of the QD-OLED monitors showcased last week at CES don't have an official release date yet, but they'll likely end up on the shelves during Q1 2024, as the panel is already said to be in mass production. Alienware and MSI have confirmed $1,200 price tags for their monitors, so expect the rest to be priced around the same price when they arrive later this year. There's no official word on the pricing or availability of these monitors that use LG's WOLED panels. Still, we expect them to land on the market sometime in Q3, depending on when the panels enter production.

2 27-inch OLED screens with up to 480Hz

A more sensible option for most gamers

We also saw a bunch of 27-inch gaming monitors, both with QD-OLED and LG's WOLED panels at CES 2024. These monitors are solid options for those who don't want to splurge on a massive 32-inch panel for gaming. 27-inch is still a decent size for gaming monitors, and it particularly shines with 1440p resolution. A bunch of these 27-inch monitors were seen at CES, but the one that stands out the most is perhaps the ROG Swift PG27AQDP monitor. This was announced as the world's first 480Hz OLED gaming monitor, and it remains the only 27-inch option out there with such a high refresh rate on offer. Some other highlights of this particular monitor include 1300 nits of peak brightness, including a USB-C port and support for Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB), essentially just a fancy marketing term for black frame insertion (BFI).

LG has also announced the new UltraGear 27GS95QE monitor as an upgrade to its existing 27GR95QE. This updated model uses its existing WOLED panel and supports up to 1440p resolution and 240Hz refresh rate. If you'd rather have a QD-OLED panel instead, then there's also the Dell Alienware AW2725DF. This monitor ditches LG's WOLED in favor of Samsung's QD-OLED. It tops out at 360Hz but is already available in the US market.

MSI MPG27QRX is also a good option if you're looking at a 27-inch QD-OLED monitor for your setup. This MSI monitor uses the same panel as the Alienware AW2725DF but comes with a USB-Type-C with 90W output and MSI's Panel Care 2.0 feature set like its 32-inch siblings. Gigabyte's Aorus FO27Q3 is also a good option to look forward to if you are in the market for a high refresh-rate gaming monitor. It remains to be seen whether it'll get the same features and specifications as its 4K sibling, though. Samsung's Odyssey G60SD stands out a bit in the 27-inch lineup due to its added matte AG coating. The G60SD is a bit thin on the feature set compared to its 32-inch QD-OLED sibling, but you still get a solid screen for gaming.

None of the 27-inch monitors, except the Alienware AW2725DF, have an official release date or the associated pricing information just yet. Most of them will start shipping within the next few months, but the ROG monitor with LG's WOLED will arrive later this year.

3 Large format Ultrawide monitors

New models with existing OLED panels

There were no major breakthroughs in the ultrawide monitor space, as almost all new monitors announced at CES 2024 are simple upgrades to the existing options that are out there. We'll see a bunch of new ultrawide monitors over the next couple of months on the market from the likes of Acer, LG, and Samsung, but it's worth highlighting that pretty much all of them use the same WOLED or QD-OLED panels on the existing monitors.

They're essentially just updated models of the existing monitors out there, so you'll see Odyssey G95SD as an upgrade to the existing Odyssey G95SC, the new UltraGear 45GS95QE, and more. The added features vary based on the monitor you pick up, but they largely include things like an added USB-C port, support for features like KVM, higher brightness, and more. We also spotted a few LCD ultrawide monitors at CES, some of which use a VA panel while others have an IPS LCD. You can expect to see most of these monitors in Q1 2024,

4 Monitors with G-Sync Pulsar coming later this year

Nvidia announced the new G-Sync Pulsar technology alongside its Super GPUs at CES. This technology allows you to use their ultra-low motion blur (ULMB) at the same time as the G-Sync variable refresh rate for smooth visuals. We've seen manufacturers like ASUS using this particular technology with ELMB, which has already been announced for ROG Swift models. Nvidia details its technology as a superior option to the existing solution in its blog post. It has implemented an algorithm that dynamically adjusts strobing patterns to varying render rates.

Simply put, Nvidia is claiming a technology that ensures perfect sync between Adaptive Overdrive and backlight pulse with the screen's refresh cycle. Its technology, however, requires the use of a new type of panel, meaning it won't be made available to existing G-Sync monitor users via an update. You can only expect new G-Sync Pulsar-supported monitors to arrive later in the year, and we expect to learn more about them in the coming months.

A massive year for OLED monitors

Looking at all the OLED monitors dazzling at CES, it's safe to say that the gaming industry is gearing up for a significant shift to OLEDs. It's truly an exciting time to be in the market for a high-end gaming monitor, as we'll continue to see new monitors roll out on the market in the coming months. Even those who may not be tempted to pick one up right now will eventually end up with one of these as the prices go down and the technology improves. In the meantime, you can continue taking advantage of the monitors in the budget space, which is also expected to see better options throughout the year.