This could be the competitive panel of my dreams: the ‘world’s first esport OLED monitor’ looks to be a 540 Hz, 24.5-inch beast

Last year at Gamescom, I got to feast my greedy little eyes on a 540 Hz monitor from Asus ROG (pictured above) and was mighty impressed. That one is a 26.5-inch 1440p/720p dual-mode deal, though, so not necessarily for esports. As I’ve argued before, 720p is a bit low even for esports. And 26.5 inches and 1440p is too big on both counts. What’s ideal then, you ask? 24–25 inches at 1080p, and it seems that’s exactly what Asus ROG has just teased in the form of a new 540 Hz OLED.

Asus doesn’t list the resolution here, but it’s gotta be 1080p at that size for esports. The CS2 pro’s fave, which I tested recently, the Zowie XL2586X+, is 24.5 inches on the diagonal and has a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080, and that seems to be what most high refresh rate esports monitors go for.

Most of those are TN or IPS, though, not OLED. Previously, the choice for ‘casual’ esports at home was between one such TN/IPS or a bigger 27-inch OLED. I’ve tried both of these options and definitely prefer the 24-inch form factor for competitive shooters, but there’s no denying how nice OLED looks, nor its super-snappy response time and motion clarity.

When testing the Zowie, I also found I could tell the difference between 360 Hz and 600 Hz, so if your rig’s powerful enough to churn out the frames, I don’t think 540 Hz is overkill. It’s not as noticeable a difference as moving up from 144 Hz to 240 Hz, or from the latter up to 360 Hz, but it’s not nothing, either. And for competitive shooters at a high level, every little can indeed help.

The whole 24/25-inch thing confuses some who aren’t used to it for esports, too. But essentially, this size can be better for allowing you to soak in the entire game scene—not missing a movement at the periphery, for instance—without having to move your eyes too much. After trying both 24.5-inch and 27-inch monitors extensively, I do prefer the former for playing a tactical FPS like CS2.

And with the panel being OLED, hopefully other games and content (movies, etc) won’t feel too diminutive on it either—maybe that vibrancy can help make up for it. At any rate, for those of you like me who perpetually debate between a fast esports IPS/TN or an OLED, it seems Asus ROG will soon have us covered.