The future of displays with Victor Chien, next@acer October 2021

Following the July 2021 next@Acer event, their next global press conference for October 2021 had a bigger focus on the environment with the hastag, Made for Humanity. Once again, we have Victor Chien, General Manager, Digital Display Business, to answer a few questions regarding the latest product reveals.

Interview has been edited for clarity. 

Do you think there’s been a change in what consumers expect from displays in recent years?

Victor Chien: During the COVID-19 period, we saw a lot of need for monitors, since people are working or learning from home and people spent so much time in front of a display. With this lifestyle change, users wanted bigger displays that came with other features, as the displays weren’t just for productivity, but also entertainment.

In turn, gaming displays became more popular, and when you spend so much time in front of the screen, you will want vision care features, like low bluelight, for example. Adjustable stands are also sought after to get better viewing angles as needed. These are just some of the trends we have found out.

Do you plan to release a portable gaming display that can be folded?

Victor Chien: Samsung for one has foldable displays for the smartphone market. We’re looking in that direction and working with technology providers to see what we can do with foldable displays. We’ve only just begun, but we believe that this will be possible in the future. Of course, foldables still aren’t really mainstream yet, and we need to further work on the reliability of foldable displays in such large sizes.

Do you have any plans for small monitors with seamless wireless casting, or maybe Smart TVs?

Victor Chien: We did have wireless displays before. We’re still looking into the product line, and we do plan to provide them, but small sizes in general would mean you sit near the display, making wireless somewhat unnecessary. Then again, for bigger size screens, you’d want more distance between you and the display, in which case, wireless would be a good feature. We’re working on it.

Why did you decide to release a gaming projector? Is it made for PC or console gamers?

Victor Chien: We launched 2 kinds of 4K projectors with certain gaming features, namely they support variable refresh rates. You can attach it to your console or PC. For example, on console, you can get up to FHD resolution and 120Hz with the projector if it’s capable. Then for PC, you can get up to FHD resolution and 240Hz, so you could try to hook up to a 300-inch display and provide a home theater experience. That’s on top of having the best colour performance and uses LEDs.

Since Acer has an Xbox special edition monitor, what about collaborations with others?

Victor Chien: We have worked with Sony to make some of our gaming displays compatible with the Playstation, but no joint brand or special editions yet unlike our Xbox display.

What made you decide to enter the console gaming market? How has it been so far?

Victor Chien: COVID-19 meant that a lot of people have spent more time at home and in front of their displays, so that’s why we wanted to provide displays that work for both PC and console games. In fact, a lot of gamers do play both PC and console games, so the displays are multi-purpose. We’ve tried to include the most up-to-date technology, providing console gamers with variable refresh rate support.

For variable refresh rate in specific, it’s high in demand for the best user experience, so we’re providing a solution, from the smallest size to projector support. The multi-usage nature of our displays is one step towards our commitment to being environmentally friendly, driving our product innovation. We’re also doing this with the Vero line-up.

That’s all the time we had with Victor Chien this session. If you’re in the market to get a new display, Acer looks like it’s got a pretty good spread to suit your needs.

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