At CES this year we saw gaming TVs from HP and Alienware. Last year, there was an Nvidia Gaming TV. Alienware and Nvidia have a 120hz refresh rate and HP has a 144hz refresh rate.
These three are a new product category for gaming TVs. This could be especially big in the Console gaming market and those PC gamers looking for a bigger display. Console gamers can now enjoy the smoothness of a gaming monitor but without having to sit two feet in front of it. Many console players who play on a TV will mostly have to experience 60hz displays and the high latency with usually around 12-15ms. The Nvidia BFGD (Big Format Gaming Display) has a rough 1ms response time, allowing console players to have that super-fast experience and have a better edge against pc players with displays of roughly same quality.
The video game industry was about $135 billion in 2018.
The global PC Game Hardware market was about $47 billion in 2018.
About 20 to 25 million gamers spend over $1800 on PC hardware. A significant market could exist for the $5000 gaming TVs.
Hardware Competition in Video Games
The Alienware has an OLED screen and Nvidia’s TV has Quantum Dot technology. Most of the gaming displays will be just IPS (in-plane switching LCD or LED) with maybe Quantum Dot like the Nvidia BFGD.
This new product category can start to level the disadvantages that console players have to face when playing against PC players.
In competitive online multiplayer games, especially shooters having a low-latency display with 144hz can be a deciding factor of who wins the round and who gets the deciding shot. E-sports players all use high refresh rate and low latency monitors because it makes a huge difference in gameplay to see the enemy moments before he can see you. The 144hz display especially isn’t just a slight difference, many current 144hz and above monitor owners just can’t go back to 60hz because the image displayed it just so much smoother and faster.
Gaming TVs like the HP OMEN X Emperium 65 are also probably going to come with specially designed speakers for gaming which can help a player to be able to hear an oncoming opponent better than before and know exactly where they are.
In conclusion, these gaming displays are going to be a significant new product category. Console gamers want to have the edge that PC players have but without sacrificing their large 4k TV and downsize down to a 1920×1080 24inch monitor just to get that advantage. These gaming TV’s will offer the best of both worlds and retain the same quality of a 4k TV. Less expensive alternatives will start appearing in 2020. $5,000 is a bit much for even hard-core gamers.
Written by Isaac Wang
