Nvidia lowers its standards – Their G-Sync Ultimate Specification has been Downgraded

Nvidia has downgraded their G-Sync Ultimate standard, quietly dropping the specification’s HDR targets to allow the company to release a larger quantity of monitors and create a larger market for its latest G-Sync display modules. 

PC Monitors on Twitter first spotted this change, noting that Nvidia changed their G-Sync Ultimate webpage from changing “Best HDR 1000 Nits” to “Lifelike HDR” within the past two months. Since then, Nvidia has revealed G-Sync Ultimate monitors that do not meet the VESA DisplayHDR 1000 standard. 

Before now, Nvidia only listed the best HDR monitors as being G-Sync Ultimate, requiring a Full-Array Local Dimming (FALD) backlight, Nvidia’s G-Sync Ultimate Module and VESA DisplayHDR 1000-grade HDR. Now, Nvidia has revealed DisplayHDR 600 and DisplayHDR 400 monitors as G-Sync Ultimate displays.  

Nvidia has not publicly confirmed that they have lowered their HDR Ultimate displays standards, but the evidence is out there. Based on these apparent downgrades to Nvidia’s DisplayHDR specification, it looks like Nvidia wants to release a large quantity of G-Sync Ultimate displays onto the market; and they are lowering their standards to achieve this goal.

With VESA DisplayHDR 1000 monitors being rare within the PC market, it makes sense for Nvidia to update their standards to make G-Sync Ultimate a more achievable standard. Most OLED TVs cannot meet DisplayHDR 1000’s brightness requirements, highlighting how over the top Nvidia’s standards are when it comes to brightness. Contrast matters more than brightness when it comes to HDR screen quality, as brighter highlights are meaningless if dark areas of the screen are over-brightened.