Announced at CES 2026, NVIDIA G-Sync Pulsar is rolling out this month on a range of 27-inch QHD screens aimed squarely at competitive players.
If you have played PC games in the past decade, you have likely seen the NVIDIA G-Sync logo. At CES 2026, NVIDIA is pushing what is possible with gaming displays even further. NVIDIA G-Sync Pulsar is a new display technology designed to make fast games look sharper in motion, without the usual trade-offs associated with blur-reduction modes. The first wave of monitors with the feature is expected to arrive shortly, giving PC players a chance to try it at home sooner rather than later. Based on the demo NVIDIA showcased at the show, the results are impressive.
While NVIDIA is not manufacturing the monitors itself, it is working with MediaTek to integrate G-Sync technology directly into the display scaler. NVIDIA has explained that this approach would eliminate the need for dedicated G-Sync modules. G-Sync Pulsar builds on NVIDIA’s long-running variable refresh rate technology by adding a variable-frequency backlight that strobes in sync with the refresh cycle. Instead of lighting the entire panel at once, the backlight is divided into horizontal zones that fire sequentially as each line of the image is updated. This timing gives pixels more time to settle before they are lit, reducing smearing and the double images that can appear when you flick the mouse or track a fast-moving target.
Rather than forcing players to choose between strobing and variable refresh rate, Pulsar is designed to run both simultaneously, a move many esports and competitive players are likely to welcome. NVIDIA says this combination can deliver what it describes as more than 1,000 Hz of effective motion clarity on a 360 Hz panel, or roughly four times the perceived sharpness of the same screen without Pulsar enabled.
Based on demos showcased at CES 2026, the results are impressive. In games such as Anno 117: Pax Romana, improvements were noticeable in on-screen text, even when the camera moved quickly across the map. With Marvel Rivals, text clarity also improved significantly when characters moved rapidly through the environment. For the average player, these gains may seem minor. For competitive players, however, the added clarity provides better insight into what is happening during a match, helping support quick, split-second decisions that might otherwise be missed.
Four 27-inch QHD monitors with G-Sync Pulsar are launching around CES, all built around 2560 x 1440 IPS panels with a native 360Hz refresh rate. The list includes Acer’s Predator XB273U F5, AOC’s Agon Pro AG276QSG2, Asus’ ROG Strix XG27AQNGV and MSI’s MPG 272QRF X36, with prices starting near US$599 depending on region and retailer.
Alongside Pulsar, NVIDIA is rolling out G-Sync Ambient Adaptive, a feature that uses a built-in light sensor to adjust brightness and colour temperature based on the room. Some Pulsar models, including Asus’ ROG Strix XG27AQNGV, will support Ambient Adaptive out of the box.
You can find full coverage from CGMagazine from the CES 2026 show floor, including our Best of CES 2026 selections, along with additional news, features and previews from our time in Las Vegas.
