Samsung pushes gaming monitors to new speeds
Samsung has revealed new 27 inch and 32 inch gaming displays aimed at players who care about every frame. These upcoming monitors are all about high refresh rates, starting at 165 Hz and reportedly going all the way up to an incredible 1,040 Hz.
If you are used to standard 60 Hz or even 144 Hz screens, those numbers might sound unreal. While details are still limited, this announcement signals that display makers are getting ready for the next big step in competitive gaming performance.
What high refresh rates mean for gamers
Refresh rate is how many times per second your monitor updates the image. A 60 Hz screen refreshes 60 times each second, a 144 Hz screen does 144 times per second, and so on. The higher the number, the smoother motion can look and the more responsive your games can feel, assuming your hardware can keep up.
Here is what these new Samsung displays could mean in practice:
- Smoother motion: Moving the camera in first person shooters or fast racing games feels more fluid as refresh rates climb past 144 Hz and 240 Hz.
- Lower input lag: Each refresh is another chance for the monitor to show your latest mouse or controller input, which can help in competitive play.
- Clearer moving targets: At very high refresh rates, fast moving enemies or objects can appear sharper and easier to track.
Many gamers today aim for 144 Hz or 240 Hz displays as a sweet spot between smoothness and cost. Samsung talking about 1,040 Hz is a massive jump above even the current 360 Hz and 500 Hz esports focused monitors that exist today.
Do you really need up to 1,040 Hz?
The big question is how much benefit normal players will actually see from such an extreme refresh rate. To take advantage of something even close to 1,040 Hz, a gaming PC would need to produce extremely high frame rates, likely far beyond what most GPUs can deliver in modern AAA games.
However, for very specific scenarios these displays could still matter:
- Competitive esports titles: Games like Counter Strike, Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege, and similar shooters can often reach very high frame rates on powerful PCs, especially at lower graphics settings.
- Pro level players: Professionals and serious competitive players chase every possible millisecond of advantage, and ultra high refresh displays can reduce perceived motion blur and response time.
- Future proofing: As GPUs and game engines improve, higher frame rates may become more common, making extremely fast monitors more useful over time.
For most gamers, refresh rates between 144 Hz and 240 Hz already offer a massive improvement over 60 Hz. The leap to something like 1,040 Hz is likely to bring more subtle gains that only the most sensitive players or professionals will fully notice, especially at first.
What this means for PC hardware and gaming
Even with only a short announcement, these Samsung displays hint at where the PC gaming ecosystem is heading. When monitor companies push refresh rates this high, it puts more pressure on GPUs and CPUs to deliver enough frames per second to take advantage of the hardware.
That means we can expect:
- More focus on high frame rate performance: GPU makers like Nvidia and AMD will continue optimizing for high fps in esports titles, and CPU performance in low latency scenarios will stay important.
- Better motion handling technologies: Features that reduce motion blur and input lag will become more common as refresh rates climb.
- New standards and connections: Interfaces like DisplayPort and HDMI will need to keep up with the bandwidth required for high resolution and ultra high refresh combinations.
For now, Samsung has simply put a bold number on the table and attached it to new 27 inch and 32 inch gaming focused displays. As more specs emerge, such as resolution, panel type, response times, and pricing, PC gamers will have a clearer idea of where these monitors fit in the market.
If you are building or upgrading a gaming PC today, this news is a reminder that the display is just as important as the GPU and CPU. Even if you never go near 1,040 Hz, investing in a good high refresh monitor in the 144 Hz to 240 Hz range can make your games feel far more responsive and smooth than any standard 60 Hz screen.
Samsung aiming for extreme refresh rates suggests that high frame rate gaming is not going anywhere. As the tech matures, more gamers will be able to experience smoother gameplay without needing the absolute top tier hardware, and the line between standard and competitive setups will continue to blur.
Original article and image: https://www.tomshardware.com/monitors/gaming-monitors/samsungs-ces-monitor-lineup-includes-6k-3d-display-with-eye-tracking-plus-a-dual-mode-qhd-panel-with-a-blistering-1080p-1040hz-option
