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The Asus 500Hz monitor is proof that science has gone too far

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

Asus has announced a new ultra-fast monitor today at Computex 2022. The new 500Hz monitor was actually unveiled by Nvidia during its show keynote. The Asus ROG Swift 500Hz gaming monitor is its name, and it's the first monitor to reach the staggering 500Hz refresh rate.

Naturally, this can only be achieved through the tried-and-true TN panel technology. Nvidia claims this is a new form of TN it's calling E-TN (esports TN). TN is a very mature tech, which makes it relatively cheap. It doesn't have the best colour accuracy, vibrancy or view angles, but it can consistently be driven to produce ultra-low latency and high refresh rates.

The ROG Swift 500Hz, unsurprisingly, only comes in 24" running at 1080p. It's mainly designed for esports players and competitive gamers. This typically means the resolution is low to make it possible for games to reach those high framerates.

The monitor, which does not yet have a price or release date, is G-Sync compatible, and will ship with Nvidia's G-Sync Esports Mode, which adjusts vibrance. As a new product, it will also include Nvidia's Reflex Analyzer support, which can measure end-to-end system latency - provided you have an Nvidia Reflex-enabled mouse and a GeForce GPU.

500Hz is a bit useless and incredibly niche. While most monitors today support 120-165Hz quite easily, there does exist options of 240Hz and even 360Hz - making 500Hz a big overkill. While Nvidia claims the monitor will offer smoother gameplay overall, thanks to its low latency, you won't be able to make the most of it until you can run your games at or close to 500fps.

Even at 1080p, you're going to need a beefy GPU and CPU, and even then, you're limited to the least demanding games on the market, such as Valorant, CS:GO and maybe Overwatch and Rainbow Six: Siege.

Nvidia's video above demonstrates the difference in latency between 500Hz and the more common 144Hz and 240Hz. Using a 1000fps camera, the video shows how easier it can be to see opponents and react faster in Valorant.

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