International Marketing Director Stefan Hammer shines brightly as he steps forward to kick off the AOC/MMD presentation. It’s not hard to see why: TPV, home to the Philips and AOC product portfolio, is doing very well. Global display manufacturing figures show that they maintained their market share of 34% last year, which is very positive. Hammer talks about the evolution of the gaming monitor market and it’s clear that future development will focus on panels with a high refresh rate. In 2023, this type of screen should represent 25% of the total number of panels manufactured. This is music to my ears, as gamers obviously want panels to be as fast as possible, and if demand and production for fast screens increases, prices will drop (and that suits my wallet very well) .
Hammer also mentions that monitor sales are slowly but surely picking up after the dip that happened during the Covid-19 years, when almost everyone in the world bought new monitors. The current trend points to an increase in the last quarter of this year. Stefan goes on to mention the launch that took place last fall and the new concept of Philips Evnia, which focuses on massive investment in gaming monitors and the creation of modern design and innovative solutions. The idea, as we picked it up in Paris in Gamereactor in October, is that all Philips gaming monitors get the Evnia name and are divided into series: the 3000-, the 5000- and the 8000-. The latter would be the best in terms of performance and elegance.
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Then AOC’s Product Manager, César Reyes Acosta, arrives to take charge of the presentation and proudly show off what’s new for 2023. First, he starts by showing some very interesting numbers that indicate what the trend of the game. While it’s not exactly a front-page story, it’s curious to see how things play out. Currently, there are approximately 2,500 million gamers in the world, and of these, 323 million are in the European Union. Their average age in Europe is 34 and around half have a higher level of education. More than half have full-time jobs with good salaries, a fact which Caesar jokes that it’s perfect for them so they can buy more expensive screens.
It then shows a graph of the past three years, starting in 2020, where you can see that sales of faster, higher resolution monitors are slowly starting to pick up. Full HD 144/165Hz displays still account for around half of sales (47%), but that trend is slowing, with QHD and 240Hz gaining the most. Ultra HD is also slowly progressing and was around 4% of the market last year, while OLED/mini-LED seems to be holding at 2% in 2023. It’s very exciting, especially with OLEDs, as they seem to be the most logical step up after IPS panels.
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César presents five new screens and headphones. Three of the screens are from AOC, two from Evnia and the headset from AOC Gaming. The AG276QZD OLED display from the Agon Pro series seems the most interesting novelty: a 27-inch OLED monitor with QHD resolution, 240 Hz refresh rate and 0.01 millisecond response time. In the demo room, I had Cyberpunk 2077 open and it looked very, very good. I played the game a bit, running around the streets searching passers-by, and the qualities of the monitor really impressed me. The color reproduction is fantastic and I really like the foot of the stand, which takes up very little space on the desk. It’s going to be really exciting to see it better when it comes out in June.
AOC Gaming brings us the AG405UXC, a 40-inch WQHD display with IPS panel, 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. It also has a true 90 watt KVM switch and is for those of you who want to use the same keyboard, mouse and monitor connected to both your work and home computer to that you can easily switch between them. It’s also coming out in June and in terms of image, it looked pretty good. However, it is quite large, so you need plenty of table space to use it.
Another monitor AOC Gaming will be releasing is the Q24G2A/BK, a 24-inch QHD with an IPS panel, 165Hz and 4ms response time. In this one they focused on the pixel density, which is 123 PPI (pixels per inch), and this is very noticeable as there is a different pressure on the image, compared to a standard FHD display of the same size, which would have 92 DPI.
The latest from AOC are their GH501 wireless headphones with up to 70 hours of battery life, DTS:X, dual sets of ear cushions and a detachable microphone. The sound looked promising in the short time I had to try them on and they are very comfortable on the head. They will be released in July, compatible with all platforms.
Philips Evnia is bringing us two new screens in May. They belong to their cheaper series and complement the already available premium models of the 8000 series. The first is called 25M2N3200W and is a super-fast 3000 series FHD VA display with 240 Hz, 24.5 inches and a time of 1 ms response. The other, the 25M2N5200P, is an even faster 5000-series FHD IPS of the same size, with 280Hz and a 1ms response time.
On the IPS screen, they had Counter-Strike: Global Offensive open for demo and I sat in front of it for a long time because of how beautiful and smooth the game was. Its lightning-fast response time, clear reproduction of colors and its refresh rate of 280 Hz give the image a pleasant calm. Looks like Philips has jumped in with Evnia and AOC, which has been at the top for years with its displays, and is entering the OLED market. From Gamereactor we are very interested and we really want to try them as soon as they are released.
