Some of you may not have noticed this, but NVIDIA very quietly and very recently decided to drop the 1000 nits requirement needed for an HDR gaming monitor to qualify for its G-SYNC Ultimate.
The subtle downgrade was initially spotted by Twitter user PCMonitors (@pcmonitors), who noticed that the VESA DisplayHDR 1000 prerequisite was now listed as just “Lifelike HDR”. As to when the change occurred, quick use of the Wayback Machine indicates that the 1000 nits was removed sometime between the end of November and the beginning of December last year.
Removing the 1000 nits description, sadly, still doesn’t quite help NVIDIA’s marketing for its anti-tearing display technology, especially given the ever-growing number of G-SYNC monitors that are slowly making their way to market. Also, it wasn’t until PCGamer reached out to NVIDIA for clarification that the GPU maker actually responded.
Look at the difference between this page (https://t.co/xbQ0rQDuQn) now vs. all the way back in… November 2020. Subtle removal of reference to 'Best HDR 1000 nits' and changed to 'Lifelife HDR' – without telling anybody. pic.twitter.com/mayHvebhfQ
— 🖥️ 𝗣𝗖 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 (@pcmonitors) January 17, 2021
In its official statement to the game site, NVIDIA explained that the reason it removed the 1000 nits requirement was that those numbers did not define G-SYNC Ultimate, nor did it “require the VESA DisplaytHDR1000 specification”. It also explained that due to the advancement of display panels such as OLED, newer G-SYNC Ultimate monitors were able to deliver the same “infinite contrast”, but with just 600 to 700 nits.
The statement is, undoubtedly, a far cry from what NVIDIA had touted when it first launched G-SYNC Ultimate certification. Back then, it was a selling point for high-end, premium gaming monitor such as the ASUS ROG Swift PG27UQ and the Acer Predator X27, but as of last year, the requirement now seems a little broken.
