CES 2020: How NVIDIA's 360Hz monitors stand to change esports

NVIDIA came to this year's Consumer Electronics Show with a full lineup of products for the everyday PC user. They range from video cards, laptops equipping the latest GeForce tech, G-SYNC compatible OLED TVs, new advances in ray-tracing, and more. However, the most intriguing item looked to target a different user: the esports professional.

On Sunday, NVIDIA first revealed a new G-SYNC display with a wild 360Hz refresh rate, targeted specifically at esports players. Running at 360 frames per second, NVIDIA hopes the ASUS ROG Swift 360 will change esports forever. For Shacknews, we had to experience this for ourselves to believe it. With that in mind, we paid NVIDIA a visit prior to the start of this year's CES to try this game-changing monitor out for ourselves.

On the surface, the ASUS ROG Swift 360 looks like any standard PC monitor, featuring a 24.5 inch display. However, the difference is evident the moment a first-person shooter or MOBA begins running.

"Adding this to the esports industry, we level up the entire playing field," said Seth Schneider, NVIDIA's Esports Product Manager. "As spectators, we look for those insane moments, inhuman reactions, those crazy flick shots. Giving them technology like this, unlocks their potential to the fullest extent, so as viewers, we get to see more of those insane moments. And that's where those true stars are born, who really take that half a millisecond and make those plays."

Following a brief explanation of how the ASUS ROG Swift 360 works, it was time to witness the difference. There were two monitors running a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive demo. The idea was to snipe a moving target with the AWP sniper rifle from the T-spawn point across the Dust II double doors. First, I took on the challenge on a standard 60Hz TN panel monitor. Out of ten shots, I was only able to nail two, missing more often than not, thanks to display and input lag. Then came time to switch over to the ASUS ROG Swift 360. Here, there was no lag to speak of and it showed in my results, as I successfully score eight kills out of ten shots. Check out the results below.

.@Ozz_Mejia tried out @nvidia’s new 360 hz monitor technology at #CES2020https://t.co/tRyeZVRr03 #esports #CES pic.twitter.com/N4IKjpcMCj

— Shacknews (@shacknews) January 6, 2020

That was just for me, an FPS novice who spends more time blowing himself up with frag grenandes than scoring headshots. Now imagine what something like this would mean for an actual esports professional. In fact, I didn't have to wonder very long. Along with a leaderboard of other press members who attempted this demo, everyone could see the name of legendary Counter-Strike pro Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert, who similarly had two successful shots in ten attempts on the 60Hz display and then turned in a flawless 10/10 kill rate on the new 360Hz hotness.

The current professional CS:GO landscape, as well as other competitive gaming circuits, use 240Hz monitors as the current standard. However, the difference even between 240 and 360 was fairly clear. Another demo was running a top MOBA game on 240Hz and 360Hz monitors. The camera was rotating quickly, with the 360Hz still displaying clear on-screen text, while the 240Hz display's text was a little blurrier, given how quickly the screen was scrolling. Now imagine how some of the top competitive players in the world could work with these extra boosts. Think of the enhanced level of play in the Overwatch League, the Fortnite World Cup, the Rainbow Six Majors, the upcoming Call of Duty League, and DreamHacks across the globe. With the various advantages that the ASUS ROG Swift 360Hz display is offering, the esports game could very well change going forward and open the door to much greater feats of competitive gaming in the future.

While much of NVIDIA's lineup was impressive, it's the G-SYNC esports displays that may very well be the company's greatest contribution to CES 2020. According to the NVIDIA website, there is no current release date or pricing information for the ASUS ROG Swift 360. Look for more information in the near future.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?