On Top of the Game

Samsung puts in the work so you can play like a pro

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 27 September 2019 – Vodacom rAge, now in its 17th year, is South Africa’s biggest annual video gaming, technology and geek culture exhibition. Over the course of a weekend tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans descend on the venue for three days of gaming, gadgets, and geek lifestyle entertainment. One of the hot topics at the event will be the best monitor for gaming. Popular gaming content creator Grant Hinds believes a great gaming monitor must have a fast response time, high refresh rate and outstanding colour accuracy.

“It’s the 120hz to 144hz range, where it matters, and having a monitor that has a highly specced refresh rate means that your response time in-game is as fast as it possibly can be. This makes a massive difference in competitive games, giving you more of an edge,” says Hinds.

Samsung has therefore focussed on these very attributes. There is a wide selection of screens that cater for just about every type of gamer, from a 24″ FHD for students, all the way through to a 49″ Super Ultra-wide for professional gamers and content creators, with Picture in Picture for live streamers and video editors. Then there’s the FreeSync Curved gaming monitor, many gamers view as the best in the world. Curved monitors are a fairly recent innovation but are already being embraced by avid gamers across the planet. The awesome benefits of a curved screen have already been around without many of us realising it. For example, a screen in a movie theatre is curved to make the experience more immersive.

“Because light is directed from all angles you can see more, which means you’re able to react faster. That’s just one reason why Samsung’s 24” Curved gaming monitor has captured the imagination of gamers everywhere,” says Reggie Nxumalo, B2B Director at Samsung South Africa.

As Hinds explains, “I consider myself a power-user: I stream, edit video, play games across multiple platforms and broadcast – all from my room. Monitors can often be the bottleneck that could turn your gaming setup from an average one to an outstanding one. I prefer a 144Hz for competitive gaming and the most realistic colours for broadcast. Samsung has the best of everything I’m looking for.”

Hinds sees the future of gaming in smart, connected gaming monitors that include streaming gaming services like Stadia, and integrating them directly into the screen, which will allow innovative manufacturers like Samsung to craft their monitors for game services directly.