Variable refresh rates are nothing new and if you're a keen PC gamer you'll likely already have heard about Nvidia's G-Sync, which eliminates tearing caused when a display shows data from multiple frames in a single screen draw, which happens when a graphics card's output is not in sync with the display's refresh rate. By synchronizing them, using Nvidia's G-Sync or indeed AMD's FreeSync, you get a much smoother experience. There's a new feature that's coming to G-Sync monitors, though and it's called HDR. I met Nvidia in London this week to take a look at several of its new G-Sync 4K HDR 144Hz gaming monitors from the likes of Acer and Asus to see what all the fuss was about.
HDR, at least in the monitor sense, is all about brightness and colors, specifically more closely-matching what the human is capable of perceiving. Current monitors lack the ability to offer a range of colors and contrast that matches what our eyes are capable of seeing so HDR both expands what a screen can display in terms of whites and blacks at the same time plus increases the range of colors that can be displayed too.
For example, the new HDR panels offer up to 1000 nits of brightness - considerably more than current displays - and use a 384-zone full array backlight. They also conform to the DCI P3 color spectrum, which means they display a larger number of colors than your typical sRGB monitor.
This is all well and good, but what difference do that actually make side by side with a non-HDR monitor? Well, this is obviously tricky to show using a camera especially in a dark room, but take my word for it - the difference is profound. In Final Fantasy XV for example, colors, especially reds were eye-popping and so much more vivid than on the non-HDR monitor. In the shot below, you can clearly see the impact it has in areas of high contrast, for example here the characters are backlit by the sun, which washes the whole scene out on the standard screen, but on the right, you can not only see the sun and all its rays, but the characters lose little detail too.
The second side-by-side comparison is perhaps a bit trickier to show, but the key thing to take away is the detail, especially in the glowing sword. On the left, this was entirely white and saturated on the non-HDR panel and only my camera managed to pick out details. However, on the right, the HDR monitor revealed a range of oranges and yellows that were clearly visible, offering far more detail.
The two monitors shown on the day were the Asus PG27UQ and Acer X27 (shown above on the right) and rumored pricing appears to be around $3,000 for the 27in Asus and $3,600 for the Acer. That's clearly a lot of cash for a 27in monitor, but these are also 4K 144Hz screens with G-Sync support too and so far, HDR appears to be a drool-worthy feature on its own and not just a fancy word to bump up the price.
