Normally, CES brings a raft of display announcements, but it seems a bit quieter this year. That's not to say there's nothing notable: In addition to a new spate of 27-inch 4K/240Hz displays and 1440p/500Hz options forthcoming, there are some novelties as well.
But in addition to monitors, there were some specification announcement updates that you'll run into as we head into 2025. They include:
- VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600: OLED has traditionally gotten a pass on brightness in VESA's HDR display certification because it's really hard to make OLED really bright, and it's got great contrast regardless. But highlights matter, so I'm glad to see the brightness levels creep up. I'm not sure whether we'll see it first on laptop screens or desktop monitors.
- New VESA ClearMR tiers: ClearMR is VESA's standard for a way to certify and convey motion clarity (really more of the lack of motion artifacts) by evaluating the contrast of a screen element in motion (the ratio of clear edges to blurry edges. As refresh rates rise, so does the metric and as refresh rates have been rising...VESA added three new levels: ClearMR 15000, 18000 and 21000.
- DisplayPort 2.1b: Monitors have barely ramped up on support for DP 2.1a, but the DisplayPort Association is way ahead of them. The DP 2.1b standard it announced at CES is really about a new DP80LL active cable specification necessary for long cables to carrying 2.1a bandwidth signals (80Gbps) without disruption or degradation. For monitors, you'll want DP 2.1 in order to handle 4K at high refresh rates or real HDR (or 8K, if you're going there) without having to rely on display stream compression.
- HDMI 2.2: HDMI 2.1 brought variable refresh rate support, key for connecting a monitor to a TV or console; HDMI 2.2 raises the bandwidth to 96Gbps (you'll need a new Ultra96 HDMI cable!) including an upgrade to the bandwidth of HDMI Fixed Rate Link technology. That means potentially higher refresh rates when connecting to consoles, although probably not until the next gen arrives.
LG UltraGear 45GX990A
Dual-mode, 5K2K, bendable OLED
LG launched a new GX9 line of UltraGear gaming monitors at CES 2025, with debut models 45GX990A, 45GX950A and 39GX90SA -- as the names indicate, two 45-inch and one 39-inch displays. GX9 designates the company's "premium OLED gaming monitors," which I guess means all the latest features. The most interesting of the three (to me, at least), is the 45GX990A, because it's the most kitchen-sinkiest of the three -- relative high resolution (5,120 x 2,160), support for multiple picture sizes and refresh rate configurations (dual mode) and a curved-to-flat bendable screen (like the Corsair Xeneon).
The 39-inch model incorporates WebOS, to make it "smart" -- operate standalone to run apps and stream.
Samsung Odyssey OLED G6 G60SF
High-refresh OLED
Samsung announced a handful of monitors at CES 2025, and this looks like the most notable -- or at least newsworthy -- gaming monitor. Mostly because gamers get excited by high numbers (except if it's latency). In this case, the company has updated its G6 line with a 500MHz refresh rate version of its 1440p, 27-inch OLED.
The company also revealed that the 3D display it teased at last year's show is now a real product, and it's for gamers. Like competitors, the 27-inch Odyssey 3D (G90XF) uses a lenticular layer plus eye tracking to create a 3D view.
There's also a new Odyssey G8 (G81SF), which the company claims is the first 27-inch 4K OLED. Both support DisplayHDR True Black 400.
Asus ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDPG
Another speedy OLED
Asus' ROG gaming line has similar offerings to Samsung, including a 27-inch, 4K/240Hz QD-OLED (ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM) and a 27-inch, 1440p/500Hz QD-OLED (ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDPG); it makes sense that the new models are similar because Samsung makes the panels.
Dell 32 Plus S3225QC QD-OLED monitor
The speakers make it
Dell made some minor refreshes to its Alienware monitors, instead leaving the most interesting changes to its mainstream S series. Its new QD-OLED is pretty typical for its type -- 32 inches, 4K/120Hz, USB hub. But this model adds custom-tunable 3D Spatial Audio with AI-driven head-tracking and beamforming technology. I got to try the monitor before CES, and while it won't replace spatial headphones for 360-degree sound, it's pretty good at widening stereo to about 180 degrees; possibly better, because the audio I listened to wasn't really surround. And even if you don't care about the spatial aspect, it has dual 5-watt speakers that offer more power than you typically get from ones built into displays.
HP Omen 32X Smart Gaming Monitor
Now with Google inside
This is a pretty run-of-the-mill mainstream gaming monitor -- 32 inches, 4K/144Hz -- but the little difference here is that HP has incorporated Google TV to compete with LG, Samsung and others in order to offer standalone cloud gaming and streaming app support, along with Android. Other companies who've offered this capability generally have their own TV operating systems on which to build these features.
MSI MPG 322URX
DisplayPort 2.1a arrives
There may be other displays which debuted DisplayPort 2.1a support, but if few of the manufacturers are highlighting it except MSI -- and as long as the company is shouting it, we might as well highlight that model. Like others mentioned here, this is a 4K/240Hz QD-OLED, and the high resolution/refresh rate, high bit-depth combo can use the extra bandwidth of the new standard.
MSI announced the deluge of monitors we're used to seeing at CES, but a few strike me as notable. Like the me-too 27-inch 500Hz QD-OLED (MPG 272QR QD-OLED X50), as well as a 24-inch, 1080p/600Hz model (MPG 242R X60N) which uses a Rapid TN panel.
It's not all about gaming, though: one highlight is a 24-inch USB-C portable monitor. I don't really think of 24 inches as portable, but I'm also not six-feet-plus tall.
Corsair Xeneon 14.5-inch touchscreen
System control at your fingertips
This isn't a traditional monitor, but it's an interesting concept: a small, standalone touchscreen (2,560x720 resolution at 60Hz) that you can use for apps, system metrics and more. Yeah, you can do all that from your main screen, but if you're kitting out a gaming system, this looks way cooler -- you can even mount it inside. There isn't much detail about it available yet, though.
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