GLYFE Nation: Can we talk about some of the specific changes in relation to displays that Acer is making involving environmental sustainability?
Victor Chien: As you know right now environmental sustainability is a major theme for Acer because as we create more and more products, we want to make sure the whole life cycle of the product is environmentally friendly. This is the most important thing. So, we started developing these types of products 2 years ago and now we want to expand that concept to all our products and display parts. This is the reason why you see that our latest press release includes environmentally conscious displays. We originally started with our commercial displays and then moved our camera displays in the same direction. We aim to align everything in that same direction to ensure we play a major role in being environmentally conscious.
GLYFE Nation: As Acer continues to be environmentally conscious starting with its business practices all the way to assembling the products, what are more contributions we can look to in the future that Acer has planned?
Victor Chien: Going beyond material but also talking about energy saving. You can see this when we launch products that focus on EPGO kind of standards, and we also want to make sure they get TCO certified. Everything will be aligned with our eco-conscious corporate policy.
GLYFE Nation: Last year we spoke a lot about supply chains and logistics during the covid period and their effect on Acer’s bottom line. How much has the world opening up affected Acer’s up-trending business growth this past year?
Victor Chien: Actually, what opening up means for us is that the original demand caused by people working and learning from home has actually slowed down. Now everyone is leaving their home more and returning to their normal lifestyle, especially in the United States or Europe territories. Our current situation is more of a supply chain issue than a logistics issue which is still causing big problems. This is due to transportation costs becoming so high and inflation. In China especially their COVID-19 lockdown strategy is creating a lot of chaos. We are finding it very difficult to predict right now, there are too many factors like market inflation, logistic issues, China’s current situation, and other variables that make this a headache. We are remaining very cautious here but also doing our best to provide environmentally friendly products and better technology that meet our consumers’ requirements. Unfortunately, the outlook is still very difficult at this time.
GLYFE Nation: As graphic cards become easier to get how much of a factor in business growth has it been involving gaming products over the last year?
Victor Chien: Yes, it has contributed quite a bit because last year it was very difficult to get a graphics card. The Crypto farming industry mainly contributed to the difficulty but it’s getting better and better now, and prices are starting to drop. When these prices drop it creates a lower total cost for users to own a gaming setup. We believe this was a major factor in allowing the gaming display market to grow this past year.
GLYFE Nation: Nvidia has announced their 40 series graphic card line which we are hoping to see in the next couple of months, possibly August or September of 2022. It’s rumored that they are up to 100% more powerful than the 30 series, will this power open up the flood gates for 8k PC gaming?
Victor Chien: The original 30 series when you turn on all ultra-graphic settings and enable raytracing are still not powerful enough to run a 4k or 2k high framerate display at maximum usage. We do anticipate that the power-up from the Nvidia 40 series graphics cards will allow maximum usage for high framerate 4k and 2k gaming displays. It’s still a bit early for 8k because even with the Nvidia 40 series graphics cards we anticipate they will only be able to run at around 60hz. So, you will still need more power. Secondly, the current mainstream monitor size will not be big enough because the dot pitch for 8k is relatively small. With 27” and even up to 32” inch displays we have learned that they are a bit too small for 8k gaming experiences. 4k is relative enough but if you go to any smaller of a dot pitch then it’s not fit for many different uses. We have learned that 50”, 60” or most bigger sizes are definitely more of a factor for 8k viewing experiences.
GLYFE Nation: 8k gaming displays are very expensive right now I have seen a few on market for around $2000 – $3000. Do you think we’ll see those prices drop significantly in the next 2 to 3 years or will it be a 5-year turn before the prices drop?
Victor Chien: I think that in 2 or 3 years the prices will see a significant drop.
GLYFE Nation: PlayStation 5 is running 8k at 30 frames right now, are those the type of speeds on PC we can expect to see when 8k monitors start to become more affordable and mainstream?
Victor Chien: Yes, I would expect slow speeds early.
GLYFE Nation: What are Acer’s specific plans for 8k gaming monitors?
Victor Chien: We have been carefully following the trend and right now we are more focused on 4k for desktop displays like size ranges between the 27” to 43” range. 8K is best for bigger displays but as of now, we are not seeing it as a good thing in the desktop gaming display category. I think it’s more for the TV industry or maybe for a special large size gaming room. When the technology becomes more mature for high frame rate and smaller display scale applications we will definitely go into the market.
GLYFE Nation: So, 8k monitors are just kind of a mystery right now because we don’t know how powerful the Nvidia 40 series graphics cards are and it’s possible we might have to wait another year for the 50 series to come out.
Victor Chien: Yes
GLYFE Nation: AMD is making a big push in the graphics card industry right now. They seem to have re-emerged and are becoming more popular. Many, many years ago they were a hit but then Nvidia took over. What is your personal opinion on AMD graphics cards?
Victor Chien: I think as you know right now the graphic card leader is still Nvidia, they dominate the market. Right now not only AMD is making a push but also Intel is highly interesting in this market but honestly speaking we don’t have a very deep understanding of any technology breakthroughs or product comparisons, so I think it’s too early to say. AMD graphics cards strategy has changed and it’s still too early to anticipate what the result will be. Also with Intel, they want to start manufacturing their own graphic cards I think now we are still waiting to find out about them, information is very limited, so we will closely follow up on their progress.
GLYFE Nation: Let’s talk about the Predator XV27 3k LV and the Acer Nitro XV272U both new 27” gaming monitors can you shed some light on what the TUV Ryland Eyesafe certification is?
Victor Chien: TUV Eyesafe certification is actually low blue light technology and blue light protection but will also maintain good color. So when we pass this certification it means the low blue light protection and color accuracy quality have been guaranteed. This can not only be applied to a gaming display but also it can be good for a professional display as well, it’s a major technology enhancement.
GYLFE Nation: Is that a drawback, in order to get eye safe monitors we have to make a sacrifice on color accuracy and a little brilliance?
Victor Chien: We really did need to in the past but now with the new blue light technology we don’t need to sacrifice anything. We can now use low blue lighting technology with virtually no sacrifice and maintain a very good color accuracy in our current technology’s state.
GLYFE Nation: With this new eye safe technology do you recommend gamers use glasses on top of the built-in screen technology?
Victor Chien: The user doesn’t really need to wear glasses and that is our purpose for enhancing the built-in technology so you can have the relief of not wearing glasses.
GLYFE Nation: Where do you see eye safe technology going in the next 5 years?
Victor Chien: We have started to apply this technology across all our different types of displays to make sure that everyone’s eyes are being protected. We try to use eye safe technology to minimize harmful light but we also want to manage the energy usage, currently, we are not doing this. We recently launched low glare refection technology because eye protection is not just about low blue light but also glare reflection. Glare reflection in most cases also affects your eyesight so we put a lot of effort into evolving this technology to maximize your eye protection.
GLYFE Nation: Can you break that down a little bit on what the low glare technology actually does? Does it block lighting from the background?
Victor Chien: It’s a low Reflection rate technology we apply because lots of background lighting causes glare on the monitor so it’s difficult on the eyes. You can lose detail on the screen so we lower the reflection rate and make the screen easier to focus on to protect your eyes.
