I've been watching the ascent of OLED with a very keen eye, primarily because as a Counter-Strike 2 gamer, I know just how promising OLEDs will be for competitive gaming. And now it seems we're at the point where they've gotten good enough in specific ways to be the official panel tech of choice in an official CS2 Major tournament.
Asus' new monitor, the ROG Swift OLED PG259QWS Ace, is going to be the official monitor of the 2026 PGL CS2 major. It's a glossy tandem WOLED with a response time of 0.02 ms (GTG), which is low even for OLED.
More relevant here, though, is that it's a 720 Hz, 24.5-inch panel. We've seen high refresh rate OLEDs before, but most of these (A) are 27-inch or bigger, and (B) only achieve their high refresh rates when dropped to 720p. Getting up to 1080p is ideal for pro gaming, especially in CS2, where some will want to stretch a 4:3 resolution, and 24/25-inch monitors are preferred.
It might seem silly to some, but I've tested some pro-level monitors and can confirm that 24/25-inch monitors can make playing CS2 a little more comfortable, allowing you to see the entire game scene without squinting in a way that pushing a 27-inch monitor further away somehow doesn't quite replicate. I did also find in that testing that there are diminishing returns to higher refresh rates above about 360 Hz, but hey, I'm not a pro. I have no doubt they can make use of those extra returns, diminishing as they are.
All this is to say, the fact that we've now got a 24.5-inch OLED reaching up to 720 Hz is really going to give TN panels like those from Zowie a run for their money. Especially given OLEDs don't need to use backlight strobing to reduce motion blur because their pixels already change incredibly quickly. And, of course, given they look gorgeous.
The LG UltraGear 32GS95UE, one of our favourite OLED monitors, which also happens to hit up to 480 Hz at 1080p. (Image credit: Future)
It seems PGL (the tournament organiser) agrees. According to Asus, PGL CEO Silviu Stroie remarked: "The first OLED Major on the fastest OLED ever made—it’s a new generation of competitive Counter-Strike."
And you know what? I actually don't doubt it. CS2 tournies have been run on TNs for, well, forever. And pros have been reluctant to switch away in part for this reason: it's best to practice on the monitors you'll be using in tournaments. So if tournies start switching over to OLED, this could indeed be the start of a new generation of pro gaming, at least as far as monitors are concerned.
And we couldn't really ask for a better kind of gear for such a change to happen to than the monitor. I love writing about monitors these days, as they're one bit of PC gaming kit that hasn't felt the pricing bite of the global memory shortage.
It also helps that technologies seem to be not only improving but also actually getting cheaper, and nothing highlights that more than the wonderful world of OLEDs—$299 for a 1440p, 240 Hz panel, anyone?
Continue reading...
Asus' new monitor, the ROG Swift OLED PG259QWS Ace, is going to be the official monitor of the 2026 PGL CS2 major. It's a glossy tandem WOLED with a response time of 0.02 ms (GTG), which is low even for OLED.
More relevant here, though, is that it's a 720 Hz, 24.5-inch panel. We've seen high refresh rate OLEDs before, but most of these (A) are 27-inch or bigger, and (B) only achieve their high refresh rates when dropped to 720p. Getting up to 1080p is ideal for pro gaming, especially in CS2, where some will want to stretch a 4:3 resolution, and 24/25-inch monitors are preferred.
It might seem silly to some, but I've tested some pro-level monitors and can confirm that 24/25-inch monitors can make playing CS2 a little more comfortable, allowing you to see the entire game scene without squinting in a way that pushing a 27-inch monitor further away somehow doesn't quite replicate. I did also find in that testing that there are diminishing returns to higher refresh rates above about 360 Hz, but hey, I'm not a pro. I have no doubt they can make use of those extra returns, diminishing as they are.
All this is to say, the fact that we've now got a 24.5-inch OLED reaching up to 720 Hz is really going to give TN panels like those from Zowie a run for their money. Especially given OLEDs don't need to use backlight strobing to reduce motion blur because their pixels already change incredibly quickly. And, of course, given they look gorgeous.
The LG UltraGear 32GS95UE, one of our favourite OLED monitors, which also happens to hit up to 480 Hz at 1080p. (Image credit: Future)
It seems PGL (the tournament organiser) agrees. According to Asus, PGL CEO Silviu Stroie remarked: "The first OLED Major on the fastest OLED ever made—it’s a new generation of competitive Counter-Strike."
And you know what? I actually don't doubt it. CS2 tournies have been run on TNs for, well, forever. And pros have been reluctant to switch away in part for this reason: it's best to practice on the monitors you'll be using in tournaments. So if tournies start switching over to OLED, this could indeed be the start of a new generation of pro gaming, at least as far as monitors are concerned.
And we couldn't really ask for a better kind of gear for such a change to happen to than the monitor. I love writing about monitors these days, as they're one bit of PC gaming kit that hasn't felt the pricing bite of the global memory shortage.
It also helps that technologies seem to be not only improving but also actually getting cheaper, and nothing highlights that more than the wonderful world of OLEDs—$299 for a 1440p, 240 Hz panel, anyone?
Continue reading...
