360 Hz monitors are ideal models for gamers who want to ensure competitive advantages in eSports. Brands such as Alienware, Acer, Asus, and MSI have products of the type. The screens have a profile that fits better on top-line cards from Nvidia, G-Sync technology, and integration with features to reduce latency. Techidence has listed some common questions about the new displays for you to stay on top of the details of the high-end products.
In which situations will it make a difference?
Monitors with 360 Hz refresh are screens that change frames once every 2.8 milliseconds (2.8 ms). This gives the user a high-speed display that is ideal for reproducing fast images and lower latency.
For gamers, this can be an advantage in FPS games like Valorant and CS:GO. However, displays of this type may not be very interesting for video editors, for example, who value resolution and color fidelity more than screen speed.
This is because you can edit a 360 Hz video with a 60 Hz screen (the detail is that you won’t be able to play the material in preview or export). For casual users, the defense of such a fast display is even harder to justify. Screens of the type don’t impact day-to-day life and a 144 Hz monitor should already meet the needs, as well as being cheaper.
Is it too much above a 144 Hz or 240 Hz monitor?
The calculation is simple: a 360 Hz monitor is 1.5 times faster than a 240 Hz screen and this has practical effects for games, especially those with a more competitive footprint. In practice, the main difference is the decrease in latency, which is the measure of the delay that exists between the player’s action and its reproduction on the screen.
The Nvidia video below shows the same action being performed in slow motion on monitors with different speeds. See how the 360 Hz model’s provision of more frames per unit time ensures a more fluid image, with greater temporal resolution in the character animation.
But apart from the eSports application, 360 Hz monitors may not be the best way to upgrade your PC for gaming. It is uncertain to what extent the user will notice the difference from a 144 or 240 Hz screen to a much faster one.
What does the PC need to keep up?
The big limiting factor in the adoption of 360 Hz displays is the scarcity of hardware that can power the display. The rate at which your computer delivers new frames to the monitor is the result of a complex equation that depends on both processor and graphics card.
While the GPU renders the images, the processor is the central element in connecting to the screen and synchronizing the delivery of each of those frames. To be able to run a game at 360 Hz, you will therefore need a powerful combination of a high-end graphics card and a state-of-the-art CPU, which makes the set even more expensive.
Famous hardware sites and channels on YouTube are producing some tests on the subject at the moment. For a PC to be able to run something like Call of Duty: Warzone, for example, is only possible with a GeForce RTX 30 graphics card from Nvidia and the latest generation of processors from AMD and Intel.
Which brands and models are currently on the market?
The market for 360 Hz monitors is still new and there are few models already available on the market: altogether there are four options from the brands Alienware, Asus, Acer, and MSI. AOC is preparing to launch a new model of this type in the coming months.
In common, they all offer 360 Hz and compatibility with Nvidia’s G-Sync to ensure synchronism between monitor and graphics card. All these screens have Full HD resolution, 25 inches, and technologies such as HDMI 2.0, and DisplayPort interfaces.
Prices and Availability
The Alienware AW2521H is Dell’s gamer brand option and appears on the market for US$899 while the Acer Predator X25 comes out to US$1,099.
Another option is the MSI Oculux NXG253R which comes out at US$799 and the Asus PG259QN, cheaper on the market and available for US$699.
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