Professional gaming is a lucrative business for the very top players, with team prizes in the millions, Twitch streaming, and ‘influencer’ contracts piling on the bucks, but numbers like those do not come to the average gamer, with mid-level pro gamers taking in between $12k and $60k/year on average, and while that certainly looks attractive to a 15 year old who has spent thousands of hours mastering a particular game or genre.  Once gamers move up to higher skill levels, looking for an edge becomes a bit of an obsession, and while the best gamers are skilled at what they do through days, weeks, and years of practice, there is an obsession with eking out every possible edge when it comes to hardware, and that means both at the processor level and at the monitor level.
Graphics cards are the point at which calculations for each pixel must be processed and rendered.  This includes color, brightness, contrast, texture, shadow, and a variety of other characteristics that make an image seem realistic, and with 4K as the standard resolution for almost anything gaming related, that means 8.294m pixels must be rendered by the graphics card’s GPU at least 60 times each second, with that information transmitted to Red, Green, and Blue sub-pixels individually for each pixel.  Aside from the fact that graphics cards are also used by crypto-currency miners to perform the millions of calculations necessary to generate bitcoin or other crypto-currencies, which keeps them in short supply, there is an intense competition between Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) for supremacy in the graphics card market that pushes the envelope toward faster and more powerful graphics cards on an almost daily basis.
That said, none of that matters if you can’t see the game play accurately, and that is the ‘other’ gamer obsession, as gaming monitors have become a big enough category that display producers are designing panels specifically for the category, and monitor designers are following the trend by building gaming monitors that are focused on those characteristics that can give gamers even the slightest edge over their opponents.  Traditional monitors, such as generic desktop displays are typically 17” to 21.5” and designed to be accurate for typical office functions, while those in the graphic design field tend to use larger and higher quality monitors that more accurately represent color.  Gamers need more from their monitors, and that can mean bigger, higher resolution, and higher refresh rates, and in some cases a monitor that wraps around the gamer, helping peripheral vision and off-axis quality.
In years gone by gamers tried to use larger TV displays for gaming but found that they were unable to match the necessary resolution, refresh rates, and other characteristics that were necessary for gaming, and were forced to use monitors designed for graphics processing, a better but not ideal solution.  But as gaming became more popular and the COVID pandemic kept folks indoors, monitor manufacturers realized that they could design a premium priced monitor specifically for gamers that would not require major factory retooling or technology that was beyond the reach of most panel and monitor producers.  Now gaming monitors up to 65” have become available, for a price, with many selling out quickly upon release, despite their high cost, as gamers look to edge out the competition and keep themselves from becoming fatigued after hours of game play.
In that regard, Samsung (005930.KS) has just released pricing on its 55” Odyssey Ark 4K UHD Quantum Dot/Mini-LED curved gaming monitor (LS55BG970NNXGO), a 55” monster that can swivel between typical landscape mode and vertical mode, and has a refresh rate of 165Hz, according to Samsung, the highest for that size monitor available, along with a response time of 1ms.  At 1,000 nits, the display is considerably brighter than most, due to the Mini-LED array, and has a curvature of 1000R, which would be the curvature of a circle with a 39” radius, and includes Samsung’s gaming hub, which allows gamers to play through the cloud rather than through a dedicated game.  The gamer is also able to adjust the aspect ratio and screen size to best fit particular games while allowing for multiple image sources.  Of course this does not come cheap at $3,500 and will not by itself move the needle closer to the 20m gaming monitor units expected this year (up from 7.7m in 2019), but it sets the bar a bit higher for gaming monitors, a challenge that LG Electronics (066570.KS) will take up with an update to its gaming monitor line based on OLED displays, which it insists are the highest possible quality for gaming.  Their 48” version sells for $1,500 but has no curvature.  Let the games begin… or continue.

Alienware (DELL) is the first monitor producer to use the soon-to-be-released QD-OLED panels produced by Samsung Display (pvt), in this case the 34” panels that will be produced along with 55” and 65” panels that will appear in the Sony (SNE) Bravia A95K series announced at CES, and (hopefully) parent Samsung’s (005930.KS) line of QD-OLED TVs later this year.  As Alienware has revealed pricing for the 34” QD-OLED monitor, we compared a few similar sized monitors to give some idea as the price of this new technology and how it relates to what is already available.  We note that comparing monitors is a difficult task as the number of variables can be large but we tried to show both older and newer models and how they compare along with higher and lower priced models in the table below.
We do note that the first OLED monitor, the Dell (DELL) IP3017Q was quite expensive when released, which is not unusual for an initial foray into a new technology, however the soon-to-be-released Alienware AW3423DW, while expensive as far as monitors go, is certainly not the most expensive, which is a bit surprising.  While the basic technologies, OLED and quantum dots are both used by a number of panel manufacturers, combining the two in a way that takes advantage of the positive aspects of both materials leads to new manufacturing processes that should keep costs high, especially in the early stages of production., so the fact that the Alienware monitor is not priced higher goes toward Samsung Display’s ability to maintain a reasonable cost structure from the onset of production, or at least that is what we would hope, as they also could be pricing the displays at or even below cost in order to garner interest from new customers for the technology.
Both Sony and Dell have committed to QD-OLED so there is certainly demand for the technology as a way to generate premium products, but a lack of enthusiasm from Samsung Electronics seems to have kept others in a more look-and-see mode before jumping on board.  Samsung, as the largest TV set brand, does have a vested interest in maintaining a broad line of TV technologies, with Micro-LED, Mini-LED/Quantum Dot, Quantum Dot Enhanced LCD TV, and LCD TV all part of the mix, so there are certainly pricing and tier considerations that Samsung must consider, but it will be hard for Samsung Electronics not to release at least a line of QD-OLED TVs in order to compete with rival Sony if reviews are positive, as we expect they will be, especially if prices for such sets are reasonable, as the Alienware monitor seems to indicate. 

​[1] Screen Refresh (Hz) – Time it takes for the entire screen to be repainted
[1] Display Response Time (msec) – The time it takes for pixels to shift from black to white to black, essentially how fast the display can switch colors.
[1] Typical Brightness (nits) – Average display brightness
[1] sRGB is a color space measurement that shows the percentage of that color space that the display covers.  The higher the better.

While the lack of Samsung Electronics’ (005930.KS) promotion of it’s affiliate Samsung Display’s (pvt) QD/OLED was a story that made tech press headlines,  SDC’s QD/OLED displays did get recognition from Sony (SNE), who will likely be the first to adopt the new technology in a retail oriented TV.  But more of a specialty item was the announcement from Alienware (DELL), the high-end monitor and laptop line from Dell, that they also have adopted the QD/OLED panels from SDC for what would be the first QD/OLED gaming monitor (Model AW3423DW).  While the price has not been established (most speculation is ‘expensive’ to ‘quite expensive’) Alienware did give an actual release date of March 29 for North America and April 5 for UK and Europe, which gives some indication as to where Samsung Display might be in the production ramp timeline.
The panel for this laptop is 34”, one of three sizes (55” & 65”) being produced by SDC, generating a 3440 x 1440 resolution (known as Ultra-Wide QHD), with an aspect ratio of 9:21 and a moderate curve.  The refresh rate is 175Hz, the static contrast ratio is 1,000,000:1 (essentially infinite), and 10 bit color is supported, which means the display can image up to 1.07b colors, not something you would need if you were just posting Facebook (FB) videos, but something video editors or high quality content creators would need to make sure color transitions are smooth.  Luminence is 250 cd/m2, which is typical for monitors, with a peak brightness of 1,000 cd/m2 with 99.3% of the DCI-P3 color space covered.
All in, at least from the specifications, the AW3423DW is a high quality monitor, but the real differentiator here will be how ‘pure’ the colors look to those sitting in front of the monitor.  The use of quantum dots to shift blue or green OLED light to very narrow RED and Green wavelengths should give this monitor very precise color representation, making it ideal for those in the cinema editing business or video production.  The relatively high cost (we assume) will likely limit more typical gamers, but we expect SDC will be working toward bringing the cost down to a point comparable with other high-end monitors as quickly as possible.  High-end gaming monitors can run from ~$500 to over $2,000 and video reference monitor between $2,000 and ~$10,000.

​Rather than go through innumerable press releases extolling the virtues of new products that have been pre-announced before the CES 2022 show, we thought it better to wait until the reality that many of the items announced are not currently available (demos, prototypes, etc.) or look a bit less exciting when OLED details are given or the product is actually viewed.  One such announcement from Taiwan based panel producer Innolux (3481.TT), who is ushering back in the world of 3D displays, although this time without the glasses that were an integral part of the 3D viewing experience and a great hindrance to its development in the past.  These “N3D” (Naked 3D) panels are shown in the promotional video as providing images that are inches or feet from the screen and in some cases hovering overhead, a difficult achievement without special optics or projectors.
https://youtu.be/0BgZvgoE8XI
But the biggest problem for many of the new items released (actually ‘announced’ would be more accurate) is both the lack of delivery dates and more so, the lack of price.  CES is a place where companies can show the glitz and glamor of their products without much of the recourse that follows and actual product release and consumer feedback, so we take most announcements with a grain of salt and wait until there is an actual product to look at before making any judgements as to the validity of the product or the technology.  We expect key buzzwords at the show this year to be “Metaverse”, “Mini-LED”, “VR”, “NFT”,and more quietly “Supply Chain”.  Based on Google (GOOG) search requests on a global basis for the period between December 26, 2021 and January 1, 2022, “Metaverse” had a search interest of 100 (the maximum) as did “VR”, with “NFT” down slightly to 94, while “Supply Chain” has dwindled to 49 and “Mini-LED” to 0, although the latter peaked at 100 as recently as late November 2021.

On 7/15 we noted that Samsung (005930.KS) was expected to release its first Mini-LED gaming monitor, the Odyssey Neo G9, a curved, 5120x1440 resolution 49” quantum dot enhanced LCD display.  Samsung has confirmed that it will be releasing the device this week, and while it will be available in South Korea ($2,085), it will not be available elsewhere until August 9.  The display will use the same Mini-LEDs and Quantum Dot enhancement that Samsung uses in its Mini-LED TVs, and will have 2,048 dimming zones, giving it a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, although no average brightness, a more realistic figure, was given, and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1.  The response time is 240 Hz whilst the 5,120 x 1440 resolution is essentially two Quad HD screens next to each other in a single display.
While a direct comparison against other similar monitors is difficult given the fact that no other monitors we know of are billed as Mini-LED monitors although some have direct backlights with multiple zones.  That said, Samsung’s Mini-LED backlight system gives a higher level of backlight granularity than more typical edge-lit monitors or those with direct lit systems.  The Samsung Mini-LED monitor sets a new level for gaming monitors and while certainly expensive, is a level above others, at least in specs, and should push competing brands to adopt Mini-LED backlights going forward.

If you sit in front of a display all day, monitors can become a big point of focus, and multiple monitor set-ups have become quite common in the fintech world.  That said, such set-ups are relatively difficult to maintain and have (dare we say the word?) bezels, those nasty frames around the edges of displays that keep you from having a ‘seamless’ viewing experience, as the literature reads.  Ultra-large monitors and even TVs have helped to fashion more ‘natural’ set-ups, and for gamers, such displays are a given.  Soon those multiple display configurations seen in ‘Billions’ or other perhaps older TV shows or movies, will give way to the ultra-wide monitors now being offered by the same vendors that were hawking that 13” CRT monitor that is wrapped in a blanket in your basement.

​While COVID-19 has stepped up the demand for high-end monitors from gamers, the trend was already in effect before the pandemic and ultrawide monitor offerings from well-known and obscure brands were already available more than two years ago.  Now, despite their high price tag, they have become a mainstay for gamers and are the logical choice for those that need to have multiple windows open and would like the text size to be readable without having to lean toward the display.  35” ultra-wide monitors are essentially the minimum size in the gaming world, with 49” UWs becoming more common, and while there are characteristics that give these more specialized monitors an advantage over TVs,  we have seen 55” 8K TVs used as monitors in situations where the aspect ratio and refresh rate are not an issue.
But Samsung is taking ultra-wide monitors to the next level at the end of this month, when it releases the Odyssey Neo G9 ultra-wide monitor to its already established G9 UW monitor series.  While the details of this monitor have not been revealed yet,  based on what we have seen so far, and Samsung’s desire to stay ahead of the competition, we expect this will be Samsung’s first mini-LED/Quantum Dot gaming monitor.  The G9 series already uses a curved QD enhanced LCD display (up to 49”) that has a 9:32 aspect ratio that is necessary for gaming, a 5,120 x 1,440 resolution, a 240Hz. refresh rate, and a typical brightness of 420 nits, but as we have noted before, the LED backlight system needed to operate an LCD display can cause a ‘bloom’ effect that comes from LED light leaking into dark areas or a lack of contrast in lighter areas.
In order to better manage backlighting, which is the basis for all LCD displays, the industry has been moving from what were originally a relatively small number of LEDs arranged around the edge of the display, to an array of LEDs arranged in ‘strings’ that can be more precise in matching the lighting characteristics of an image.  That said, in such displays the ‘strings’ are actually groups of LEDs that operate as one (comprising a ‘zone’) which means they could span areas of an image that contain both dark and light content, which causes the effects mentioned above.  To give the monitor or TV more contrast (the difference between the blackest black and the whitest white), backlight designers came up with Mini-LED backlighting which is an array of a large number of smaller LEDs.  By reducing the size of the ‘strings’ and increasing the number of ‘zones’ using mini-LEDs, TV set and monitor designers have increased the granularity of the backlight, which reduces ‘bloom’ and increases contrast.
As we have previously noted, TV brands have already begun to offer mini-LED backlit sets, with offerings from Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), LG Electronics (066570.KS), and TCL (000100.CH), but in the monitor world, even the higher spec gaming segment, there are only a few monitors that have high zone count backlights, and none call themselves ‘mini-LED’ monitors, making the Samsung G9 Neo sort of the first of its kind (if we are correct).  Two of Samsung’s UW competitors are the ASUS (2357.TT) ROG Swift PG27, which boasts a 27” curved QD enhanced LCD display (3840 x 2160) with 384 zones and a 144 Hz refresh rate, and the ACER (2353.TT) Predator X35, a 35” QD enhanced LCD display (3440 x 1440) with 512 zones and a 200 Hz refresh rate, both of which have a typical brightness of 600 nits. 
Samsung’s existing G49 UW monitor, while it has a 240 Hz refresh rate, its typical brightness is 420 nits, which means it is less bright than the competition.  But not only will the use of mini-LEDs allow higher BLU granularity as such backlight arrays are set-up to have more precise control over the much larger number of LEDs, the cumulative effect of a larger number of controllable LEDs across the display should also increase the average brightness.  Of course, along with all of these benefits, there are some drawbacks.  Driving this type of display will be limited to very high-end video cards and the complexity of mini-LED backlights will certainly increase the cost of such units, but the migration of mini-LEDs into monitors is a significant step in the evolution of mini-LEDs and LCD technology.  If we are right about Samsung’s upcoming Odyssey Neo G9 monitor, it will be closely examined by gamers, and if it performs the way we expect, it should reset the bar for UW high-end gaming monitors and open another market for mini-LEDs.