New Monitor Roadmap 2022: What to Expect for the New Year9 min read

2022 is now upon us and it is pretty much guaranteed that there are exciting and new monitors coming our way. We don’t have the complete details of these upcoming products yet, but we might be able to paint a better picture when CES 2021 comes around. We’ll list down some enticing prospects, plus we will take a look at monitor roadmaps by checking out the incoming panels slated for the new year.

New Monitor Panel Road Map 2022

We’ve gathered information on new panel types from several OEM manufacturers to give you an insight into what kinds of variants we can expect next year. Please remember that the dates indicated pertain to the start of panel mass production and not the release of the monitor.

That means that the actual release of the products is at least a month away, but that could extend up to a year depending on the module’s status. Some of the panels listed might have been scratched as well to make way for a better, more developed variant.

AU Optronics

AU Optronics is a dominant force in the panel manufacturing market since many brands use their gaming products. The company works on VA, IPS, and TN panels, and they have OEMs for budget monitors all the way to the high-end models such as the 4K 144Hz monitors. The company also recently had a monopoly of the fast IPS category, but competitors have since caught up to it at the time of this writing.

Update January 2022:

AUO is currently working on their recently-announced displays with ART or Advanced Reflectionless Technology. 300Hz+ 1440p monitors are also in the works for Nvidia’s new initiative of upgrading the E-Sports display category. Other plans include an 8K display for prosumer displays and a venture into the OLED category with two primary panels.

AUO Mini LED Panels

AUO IPS Panels

AUO VA Panels

AUO TN Panels

AUO OLED Panels

BOE

BOE is less known in the new monitor industry, but they have a few aces up their sleeve that we should get excited about. The corporation is working on further developing their ADS or Advanced Super Dimension Switch panels which is their own take on IPS technology. An OLED competitor called BD Cell technology is also in the works

Update January 2022:

BOE is looking to play with the big boys by moving its R&D into the flagship-level segment of the market. Some of its attractive options include a 10000-zone mini LED FALD backlit monitor and a 480Hz E-Sports variant. Its lesser known than some of the OEMs here, but it is present in budget models like the ViewSonic XG2431 we reviewed recently.

BOE IPS Panels

Innolux

Innolux is another competitor in the IPS panel market which has steadily gained ground due to the rise in popularity of IPS models. Many of the affordable gaming monitors. The company aims to improve its screen specs this year with wider gamut coverage and faster pixel response times.

Update January 2022:

Innolux has been steadily chugging along in the past two years, primarily in the IPS category. Its brought us some very competitive options, but its now looking to expand its market share with flagship models that have “Megazone” and mini LED technologies.

Innolux IPS Panels

LG

LG’s main draw in PC monitors would be its Nano-IPS which provides wide gamut coverage, but it also makes OLED panels which unfortunately has not made it to PC displays yet. Another technology the company is developing is its Crystal Sound Display which emits sound through the screen instead of speakers. We first saw this tech on their high-end OLED TVs in recent years.

Update January 2022:

LG has steadily developed and improved its IPS and Nano IPS variants as shown by its popularity. However, it also has a few tricks up its sleeve in the form of newer OLED products and something called IPS Black. It’s a new IPS module that has the same characteristics as the existing models, but with substantially better contrast and black level performance.

LG IPS

Nano IPS

LG IPS Black

Samsung

Samsung is the top dog when it comes to curved VA or QLED panels with excellent colors, contrast, and HDR capabilities. The brand’s focus on the panel tech resulted in several successes, including some of the fastest and most eye-popping gaming monitors available now.

Samsung VA Panels

Sharp

Sharp is lesser-known in the monitor market, but its IPS products can be found in some Gigabyte monitors. The upcoming AORUS FI27Q-X 240Hz monitor surprisingly uses a Sharp IPS module, so you can tell that they have a future in this business.

Sharp IPS

Most Exciting New Monitor Releases from 2021

Many of the new monitor items in the charts above do not have official announcements yet, but we will publish them as soon as they are available. In the meantime, check out these exciting new products that will show up very soon. Save some money if you haven’t already since these new monitors could be your next best upgrade.

Samsung Odyssey Neo G8

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The Samsung Odyssey G8 is arguably the most exciting monitor for enthusiasts who want extreme performance. It’s a curved 4K gaming monitor, but it has a 240Hz refresh rate and a mini LED backlight. The announcement also mentioned Quantum HDR 2000 technologies, so there is no doubt about its HDR quality and performance.

Alienware AW3432DW

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The Alienware AW3423DW doesn’t look like a different monitor from its predecessors except for a few aesthetic upgrades. However, its actually the world’s first gaming monitor that will feature Quantum Dot OLED technology for excellent HDR

Samsung Odyssey Ark

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The Samsung Odyssey Ark is a beast of a gaming monitor with its 55-inch diagonal and 1000r curvature. It’s a high-refresh 4K monitor designed for extreme gaming, but it was meant to be extra flexible for every possible task. It can be rotated to give you a towering cockpit-like view, plus it has prosumer features that enable usability for editing work and content creation.

Samsung Odyssey G8 G8QNB

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This new G8 ultrawide from Samsung also sports the same features as the Alienware above, starting with its QD-OLED panel. Specs aren’t final yet, but it’s safe to assume that it will be comparable to the AW3423DW. It’s also slated for a 2022 release, but nothing is final as of this time.

LG 32GQ950

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The LG 32GQ950 offers a large 4K 160Hz Nano IPS screen with wide gamut coverage and fast response times. It also has HDR 1000 capabilities and HDMI 2.1, plus it has what’s called an A-TW Polarizer. What this does is improve its black levels and reduce IPS glow for better image quality. Specs, price, and release dates aren’t final, so stay tuned if you are interested in this model.

LG Ultrafine 32UQ85R

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The LG 32UQ85R is the first monitor to use the brand’s Nano IPS Black Technology. It’s not OLED-based, but it is rated with twice the contrast ratio as a regular Nano IPS monitor. It’s designed for the prosumer market, but we know IPS Black will soon trickle down into the gaming category from the brand.

LG DualUp 28MQ780

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The LG DualUp 28MQ780 is another tricky yet interesting monitor from LG’s CES 2022 presentation. It is a 16:18 display with a unique 2560 x 2880 resolution, so it’s tall like a regular monitor in portrait mode. It’s equivalent to two 22-inch monitors stacked on each other to give professionals more room to maneuver during intense tasks and workloads.

Acer Predator X32

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The Acer Predator X32 uses a 32-inch 4K 160Hz IPS panel that’s equipped with a 576-zone mini LED backlight. It is a G-Sync Ultimate monitor with full Adobe RGB coverage. It’s missing HDMI 2.1 connectivity according to the announcement, but nothing is final yet. You have to go with the Predator X32 FP for that, but it will be more expensive.

Acer EI491CRG9

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The Acer EI491CRG9 is a redesigned mini LED version of the Odyssey G9 with the same specifications such as its impressively fast 5120 x 1440 240Hz screen. It has an astounding 2048 zones and a 2000 cd/m2 peak output for maximized HDR potential. However, its development is currently on hold, so it will be delayed to later this year.

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The Acer Nitro XZ396QUP offers an immense 2560 x 1440 39-inch screen that’s meant for immersive or couch gaming setups. It has a 3000r curve display and a 170Hz refresh rate, and it is DisplayHDR 400 certified. Release dates are not yet available, but it is estimated to cost $700 when it drops.

Nvidia 360Hz 1440p Monitors

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Nvidia introduced four 1440p 360Hz monitors named the AOC AG274QGM, the MSI MEG271Q, the Asus PG27AQN, and the ViewSonic XG272G-2K. The goal of these new models is to upgrade the E-Sports industry to QHD from the universal, but aging 1080p display. All monitors have G-Sync Ultimate, 576-zone mini LED backlights, and wide gamuts, but only the Asus will launch with 360Hz while the other models have 300Hz. 

Asus OLED Monitors (Asus PG48UQ and PG42UQ)

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Asus will offer OLED monitors in 2022 in 48-inch and 42-inch flavors to suit most high-end setups. It’s safe to assume that the new monitors will use LG OLED panels that are similar to what the C2 OLED TVs will offer this year. Both models have 4K 120Hz, 0.1ms response time, wide gamuts, and HDMI 2.1 for the best possible 4K HDR gaming experience.

About the Author: Paolo is a gaming veteran since the golden days of Doom and Warcraft and has been building gaming systems for family, friends, and colleagues since his junior high years. High-performance monitors are one of his fixations and he believes that it’s every citizen’s right to enjoy one. He has gone through several pieces of hardware in pursuit of every bit of performance gain, much to the dismay of his wallet. He now works with Monitornerds to scrutinize the latest gear to create reviews that accentuate the seldom explained aspects of a PC monitor.