Katarzyna Petru
AOC and Philips officially presented what the industry had been expecting for several weeks: the world's first gaming monitors with a refresh rate of 1000 Hz. Yes – a thousand. This is no longer evolution, but a brutal breakthrough of the previous technological ceiling.
Information about such constructions appeared in leaks a month ago. At that time, it was said that AOC and AntGamer were working on something that would surpass the current records (750 Hz). However, AntGamer is staying quiet, while AOC and Philips – are not. Both brands operate under the auspices of TP Vision, so it is no surprise that their new models utilize the same IPS LCD panel.
New Models: AOC AGP277QK and Philips 27M2N5500XD
According to DisplaySpecifications, the monitors were announced at a special event in China. They will appear there first. Both models offer:
27 inches
resolution 2560×1440 px (1440p)
response time 1 ms G2G
contrast 2000:1
wide color coverage + factory calibration Delta E < 2
VESA DisplayHDR 400
On paper, this looks solid, but... well, paper has its limits with this class of products.
Dual-mode: 500 Hz at 1440p or 1000 Hz at 720p
To achieve the legendary 1000 Hz, you have to pay the price: lowering the resolution to 720p. At native 1440p, monitors only operate at 500 Hz. Sound familiar? The top OLED monitors do the same in 720 Hz mode. It's simply a limitation of bandwidth and pixel control – to push the panel to its limits, you need to reduce the number of displayed points.
1000 Hz? Sounds cosmic, but the reality is more complex
In theory – fantastic. In practice? IPS LCD is still IPS LCD. As noted by FlatpanelsHD, the claimed 1 ms G2G is just the best possible result under ideal conditions. To maintain a real 1000 Hz, the response time would have to drop closer to 0.1–0.5 ms. And IPS in 2025 will not be able to achieve that. The effect? Motion on the screen will likely not look better than on today's 720 Hz OLEDs. This is due to several factors:
An LCD pixel does not turn off instantly like an OLED, so the image in motion will always be more 'blurred',
Differences in perception at such values are increasingly less noticeable,
OLED has significantly higher contrast, perfect blacks, and faster pixel switching.
In other words: LCD has to keep up with OLED in speed because it has no chance in quality.
Who are these monitors for?
Not for movie enthusiasts. Not for graphic designers. Not even for AAA gaming, as very few people today want to play their games in 720p. This is purely e-sports equipment, designed for the most demanding FPS players: CS2, Valorant, Apex. Every fraction of a second and every slightly faster movement counts. For them – it could be a step forward. For the rest – more of a technological curiosity than a daily monitor.
Still: a historic moment. A few years ago, the industry was excited about 240 Hz. Today we have 1000 Hz… and faster than anyone anticipated. The next stage? The first 1000 Hz OLEDs. When that happens, we will truly be able to talk about a real revolution.
