One would think that monitors of all parts would be safe as there’s really no high-tech chips inside to drive them, plus the unprecedented innovation being witnessed in the display sector certainly outpaces the post-pandemic ramifications, right? Well, modern displays have gotten so advanced that they, too, need high-tech chips inside them with the “array driver” being exactly that. Array drivers fully integrate all functions required to drive high-brightness LEDs. These devices allow constant-current control in a single-chip solution.
BOE’s (insane) announcements
Today, Beijing Oriental Electronics announced their new bleeding-edge monitor with perhaps the world’s most advanced array driver yet. The company is using oxide semiconductor display technology to power their new monitor and it’s a true breakthrough. BOE is no stranger to breakthroughs. In fact, one of the industry’s biggest impediments was how difficult it was to work with copper; it was hard to oxidize, drill, diffuse and engrave. BOE’s work has mitigated this issue and has led to them becoming the leader in copper interconnect stack structures. Coming to actual announcement, BOE announced two new monitors. A 110-inch 8K 120Hz display panel that looks stunning while providing a high refresh rate for those crazy enough to need it at this resolution. But, it’s actually the other announcement that is the highlight here. BOE have announced an FHD+ (1080p) 27-inch gaming monitor with a refresh rate of more than 500Hz! This is the teaser video that accompanied the announcement: That’s right, a gaming monitor with a 500Hz+ refresh rate has just been announced. This is the world’s first display to have a refresh rate that high with no other monitors even coming close. Apart from the crazy refresh rate, the monitor also has a 1ms response time, 8-lane eDP connection and true 8-bit color gamut. It’s safe to say that this is one beast of a monitor, one that adds on to growing list of innovations by BOE. While most gamers are moving away from 1080p towards higher resolutions like 1440p, many e-sports players who value competitiveness actually prioritize refresh rate over resolutions. That’s why 1080p high-refresh rate displays are so common. And with a 500Hz+ refresh rate, I think you’ll have possibly the biggest advantage ever. The oxide technology used to make this monitor allows it to maintain such high responsiveness while keeping the power consumption in control and not causing a fire hazard. BOE did not give us any other details regarding these products. There’s no word on pricing or release dates yet. Heck, for all we know, this just could be an internal sample or prototype that they finally were able to get working so they announced it as these models have no official name either. Regardless, this an exciting unveiling, one that has thrilling potential if the product comes at the right time and not cost as much as a scalped RTX 3090.
