AUO's 85-inch 240Hz 4K TV Is The Ultimate PC Or Console Gaming Centerpiece
Well, it was bound to happen, folks. I just finished upgrading my home theater setup, the crown jewel being an 85-inch Samsung Neo QLED television that gets brighter than the sun (almost, anyway) and is brimming with newfangled technologies. So of course a company—AU Optronics (AUO), in this instance—would be quick to announce an even better (potentially) 85-inch model. You're welcome, enthusiasts, I took one for the team.
This has been the plight of PC builders since the beginning of PC building—buy into the latest hardware, and boom, something newer and flashier is announced. I'm not actually complaining, mind you, this is more tongue-in-cheek, because I'm genuinely curious about AUO's new 85-inch TV (not to be confused with the company's older 85-inch TV), which is said to boast a 4K resolution screen with a blazing fast 240Hz refresh rate and variable refresh rate (VRR) support. Woof!
There are a couple of things to glean from those specifications, which are some of the very few details AUO apparently only shared with DigiTimes Asia (there's no formal press release or product page for this new TV yet). Starting with the 240Hz refresh rate, I'm hoping that is a native measurement, but it could very well be a measurement obtained through intelligent processing wizardry.
TV makers generally do this through a technique called frame interpolation, which can have different marketing names such as TruMotion (LG), MotionFlow XR (Sony), and so forth. This is part of what causes the so-called soap opera effect.
AUO is one of the leading panel makers, though, and worked with NVIDIA to create Big Format Gaming Displays (BFGDs) featuring 65-inch panels at up to 144Hz. So it is not out of the realm of possibility that it created something new here.
There are bandwidth concerns that go along with it. Assuming this TV features HDMI 2.1 connectivity, it could technically support a 4K resolution at 240Hz, albeit with Display Stream Compression (DSC). Or maybe it boasts a DisplayPort 2.0 input.
The site also mentions "ultra-high dynamic range" and 96 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space. What exactly is ultra HDR? I assume it's a mixing of terms and technologies, those being 4K Ultra HD (resolution) and HDR support. The bigger question is, what kind of HDR support? It could be Dolby Vision, HLG, and/or a mix of the HDR10 formats.
Finally, the other thing mentioned is a special anti-reflection coating. Depending on the implementation, this could help with viewing in bright environments, like a living room where sunlight spills in through moderately sized windows.
In any event, I'm eager to see a full spec sheet on AUO's new 85-inch gaming TV when it emerges. It has the potential to be a gamer's dream, offering up a huge display area with a fast panel and the latest technologies baked in. Here's also hoping the price isn't too insane,
