New trends, standards and technologies for monitors
An interview with Artem Khomenko, Head of Product Management EU
Question: Which products and features have been the most requested during 2020?
Answer: During 2020, the corporate market went down compared to other years, with the massive change to work from home. Moreover, the market was in general challenged by an overall shortage of components in the second half of 2020, whose effects are still lingering on the first half of 2021. It’s been an exceptional year. Regardless, we’ve seen some interesting changes in the requests from users. The demand for UBS-C was very high, with more people looking for multi-tasking enabler screens. So, we can generally say that connectivity is the most requested feature for business and professionals, followed by better resolution, up to UHD, and ultra-wide screens. UHD is still pretty pricey, it will take a bit of time to become the new standard, but it’s users’ radar. Wider screens are more and more requested also by gamers, that find it more engaging and immersive. SuperWide monitors like 49”, are an extremely hot topic: the idea of having multi-tasking devices, great for working but for gaming as well, is particularly interesting and meets the needs of different users.
Question: Do you see technologies/innovations that are raising into the horizon and can become a must have for the next couple of years?
Answer: Another rising trend from 2020 and 2021 is having an integrated webcam: this idea of convenience and security was warmly welcomed by business and home users. Webcams and connectivity are central in the new and ever evolving working life. Within the next years, resolution will be a steady but slow change, because 4K monitors are not affordable for mainstream users yet. We’ll get there, but we still see a bigger market for Full HD and QHD right now. Super high resolution (5K, 8K) will not jump into mainstream as fast as many predicted.
For gamers, refresh rate is destined to grow, there is no end limit. There are two directions this improvement can go: focus on Full HD or try to catch up with current refresh rates on high resolution panels. Last but not least, for gamers the new HDMI and DP that will allow a new gameplay and will push everyone to reconsider the console gaming sector for this new unlocked power. Connectivity is fundamental in gaming: all innovations have to be on the same level for the gameplay to be at its maximum. Console gaming has recently seen an impressive change thanks to HDMI 2.1: it’s sensibly faster and appealing to more gamers.
From a more technical point of view, mini LED is a new option that looks pretty interesting to try out in the next years.
Question: Which standards will, instead, disappear in the short term and how they will be replaced?
Answer: Thinking about rising trends, it’s natural to also question what technologies we’ll leave back.VGA and DVI will disappear in time because, although still used, they’re seen as less and less important in the overall equipment for monitors. TN panels are less used in consumer and professional monitors, although they’re still pretty strong in gaming, because the interest shifted to IPS panels that ensure a better colour reproduction and user experience. IPS technology has really caught up and choosing a TN panel for it being fast and responsive makes less sense right now. None of these changes will happen abruptly or immediately, it will take a few years.
Question: The gaming Industry is moving more and more on cloud gaming and eSports are also growing. Which trends and development to expect in the sector?
Answer: A special mention for the real rising star in gaming: eSports.For eSports the performance has to be the fastest possible, up to 360Hz refresh rate. It will go onward, mainly for the 24” and 27” panels and for Full HD and QHD. On the other hand, high resolution might be more and more requested by professional eSports gamers, as well as bigger panel sizes. But we have to look into the bigger picture in gaming and see how powerful video cards will be: for a faster and smoother gameplay there are a lot of technologies working together that have to cooperate and be on the same level of innovation.
These are our predictions – but technology is continuously growing. Let’s see where innovation and curiosity will lead us!