Intel's next generation "Ice Lake" processor could integrate a significantly faster integrated graphics solution (iGPU), if a SiSoft SANDRA online database entry is to be believed. A prototype "Ice Lake" chip was benchmarked, with its iGPU being described by the database as "Intel UHD Graphics" based on the company's Gen 11 graphics architecture, which succeeds the current Gen 9.5 architecture implemented on "Coffee Lake" and "Kaby Lake." This iGPU is endowed with 48 execution units (EUs), which work out to 384 unified shaders; against 24 EUs and 192 shaders on Intel UHD 620. SANDRA also describes the iGPU as being able to share up to 6 GB of memory from the system memory; and featuring 768 KB of dedicated cache. Its reference clock is 600 MHz, double that of the UHD 620, although its boost clock remains a mystery. "Ice Lake" is being built on Intel's new 10 nm+ silicon fabrication process, so it's understandable for the company to significantly enlarge its iGPU.

HP today announced immediate availability of some monitors specifically geared for the professional - or at least pixel-conscious - crowd. The EliteDisplay S270n monitor features a 4K, IPS, 27" diagonal, 350 cd/m² brightness, 1300:1 static contrast ratio panel with 14 ms gray to gray response times. Display input duties can be allocated towards 1x DisplayPort 1.2 or 2x HDMI inputs (1.4 and 2.0). Additionally, there's 1x USB Type-C supporting Displayport 1.2 which is able to deliver up to 60 W of power to a connected device.

The other three models HP has announced today sport the Z27, Z32 and Z43 monikers, which directly reference the diagonal size of the monitors. The feature set is practically the same across all three of these models; they offer the same 4K UHD resolution and IPS based panels. 350 cd/m² remains as the peak brightness value, as well as a 1300:1 static contrast ratio, but the response time is improved on the 27" and 42" models to 8 ms gray to gray (the 31-inch model is at 14 ms, just like the EliteDisplay). The HP Z27, Z32 and Z43 all support 1x USB Type-C which supports DisplayPort 1.2 and can send up to 65W of power to the connected device. Display outputs are the same across these monitors (1x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x Mini-DisplayPort 1.2, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x USB Type-C, but the Z27 and Z32 pats only carry three additional USB 3.0 ports, while the Z43 ups that number to 5x. All monitors are available now, with pricing being set at $549 for the EliteDisplay S270, while the Z27, Z32, and Z43 are priced at $559, $899, and $799 respectively.

ASRock introduced a pair of mini-ITX desktop motherboards implementing Intel's new Celeron "Gemini Lake" SoCs. The ASRock J4105-ITX and J4105B-ITX, as their names suggest, are powered by Celeron J4105 "Gemini Lake" SoCs, which combine a quad-core "Goldmont Plus" CPU ticking at 2.50 GHz, with new Intel UHD 600 Graphics. The integrated graphics features hardware-acceleration of 10bpc HEVC video encoding and decoding in addition to new DRM standards, which should enable Netflix 4K, and other on-demand video services at 4K UHD resolution. The J4105-ITX and J4105B-ITX are similar, but for the latter featuring legacy connectivity such as LPT and RS232 COM ports, replacing 8-channel HD audio with 6-channel, and a DVI port. While the former has a PCIe x1 slot, the latter has an x16 slot with x2 wiring.

The board draws power from a 24-pin ATX connector. The SoC is cooled by a fan-less heatsink, and is wired to DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, supporting up to 8 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2400 memory. The 22 mm M.2 slot that has x1 wiring, is recommended only for a WLAN card. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gbps ports on the J4105-ITX, and two ports on the J4105B-ITX. Both boards come with gigabit Ethernet. Display outputs include DVI, HDMI, and D-Sub on the J4105-ITX; while the J4105B-ITX features D-Sub and HDMI. Both boards are expected to be priced around $170, given that the SoC itself costs $107.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced that it will unveil the new ROG Swift PG65 big format gaming display (BFGD) with NVIDIA G-SYNC at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. The 65-inch 4K UHD ROG Swift PG65 is the world's largest gaming display format, and is designed to bring uncompromising performance and a giant screen experience that's ideal for PC gaming. The new monitor will be on display at the ROG Showcase Room at Encore Las Vegas, Fairway Villa, from January 9-12, 2018.

Intel created the Core i9 brand to differentiate two key groups of Core X series HEDT (high-end desktop) processors, with the Core i7 X-series parts featuring 28-lane or 16-lane PCIe interfaces, while the Core i9 X-series parts featuring the full 44-lane interfaces present on the "Skylake-X" silicon. The Core i9 brand also earned a degree of exclusivity as it allows Intel to ask upwards of $999 for these client-segment parts, with the top-end i9-7980XE scraping the $2,000-mark. Intel sees the potential for a similar segmentation for its mobile processor lineup, even if not on grounds of PCIe lane budget or core-counts.

The Core i9 mobile processor family could bring the highest-levels of 6-core "Coffee Lake" desktop processor performance to the notebook platform. Intel is giving final touches to the Core i9-8000 series "Coffee Lake-H" processor lineup, which could feature the full 6-core/12-thread configuration of the "Coffee Lake" silicon, alongside 12 MB L3 cache. The first SKU in the lineup could be the Core i9-8950HK, sniffed out from the change-log of the latest FinalWire AIDA64. These chips could enable large (>17-inch) gaming notebooks with one or more high-end graphics cards, the latest advancements in cooling, 4K UHD or curved displays, etc.

Club 3D as the pioneer of Multi Stream Transport Hubs strengthen our presence in this segment with the announcement of the following products to complement our already established MST Hubs. Since our first introduction back in 2013, we are reaching a maturity level on these product lines and therefore we are introducing a lighter version packed in a polybag and powered solely with USB power. Compared to our further continued CSV-5XXX line of MST Hubs the new items will differ in some major points:

• all models are powered by USB only, no power supply needed
• different packaging: polybag instead of retail box
• no reset button on the product, for repeating digital handshake just plug the MST Hub on/off from the Display Port.
• no MiniDP to DP Adapter included in the box.

Microsoft has said that demand for its upcoming Xbox One X games console is meeting expectations, and then some. Panos Panay, corporate vice president of devices, told CNBC that he wouldn't be able to talk about specific numbers, but that demand was, quote, "super high". He added that "I won't compare it to other consoles. What I'll say is the demand for Xbox One X right now is exactly where we anticipated, even more so when you see that excitement for the product... this is something that resonates with gamers."

The demand is so high, in fact, that there have been numerous reports of shortages, which means supply isn't even being able to sustain demand for the new Xbox, 4K-enabled console that launches on November 7th. Whether this stems from the fact that demand really is "super high", or limited production, or a mix of those two, is always up for debate. However, one only has to consider the amount of hardware that's being crammed in such a tiny box to glimpse the massive effort in engineering that was needed for this console - it's a mass of custom hardware, 60% smaller than the Original Xbox One, while delivering almost 5x the performance. It's likely this demand is fueled by the total of 130 games (and counting) that have already been confirmed to receive Xbox One X compatibility patches. The presence of a UHD Blu-Ray solution also doesn't hurt its media pedigree either, though the $499 cost of entry is somewhat steep by console standards. Here though, it's definitely well deserved - at least when one takes into account the hardware.

Philips is preparing to launch another two monitors to its lineup. These are more geared towards the professional market due to their feature-set and absence of adaptive sync technologies (cue NVIDIA's G-Sync and AMD's FreeSync), but offer pretty interesting capabilities other than that. The 328P6AU offers a QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution on its 31.5" IPS-ADS panel. It can hit 400 nits of brightness (which AMD says is enough for FreeSync 2 HDR-ready panels and other manufacturers are touting as HDR capable as well). It can reproduce 98% of the AdobeRGB color gamut (thus, it can likely cover 100% of the sRGB color space). Refresh rate should be at 60 Hz.

Back at the end of June, Club 3D already announced the next generation of video splitters that are capable of supporting Dual Monitor @ 4K60Hz. Today we are proud to announce our first docking station which supports as well Dual Monitor @ 4K60Hz. And that is not everything. The new model - CSV-1460 - comes with a lot of ports and is a fully hybrid docking station. This means you can either use it with the USB Type-A cable that is delivered, or if you already have one of those ingenious thin Ultrabooks or Notebooks with Type-C Ports, you just choose the Type C cable out of the box.

Former generation USB docking stations based on USB 3.0 or 3.1 suffered from a limitation of 30Hz if you were aiming at using the highest resolutions like 3840 x 2160 (4K). The latest developments from DisplayLink make it possible now that with CSV-1460 the resolutions can be taken to a new level. Not only one time 4K60Hz is possible, the docking station even offers Dual Monitor functionality and each of the ouptuts supports 4K60Hz. The only requirement is to have a free USB Type A 3.1 Gen 1 socket in your device. This new SenseVision product is powered by DisplayLink 6950 SoC.

Intel has just opened the proverbial lid on their 8th Gen "Coffee Lake" family of CPUs, which should bring about a democratization of cores for the masses. Acer has been quick to jump on the 8th Gen bandwagon, by announcing their new Nitro 5 Spin laptop, which brings with it the increased performance and "UHD graphics" of Intel's 8000 series of CPUs.

The Nitro 5 Spin is being marketed as a convertible, gaming-focused laptop, whose 15.6 1920*1080 IPS panel can be rotated to multiple locking positions through a 360º hinge. The gaming part of this laptop seems a little subdued - an NVIDIA GTX 1050 graphics card is confirmed to be on board - while memory configuration, and even the specific Intel 8th Gen processor inside, are still a mystery. The company also said that 802.11ac MU-MIMO Wi-Fi will be par of the course for their new offering, and that we should expect this take on Intel's 8th Gen mobility CPUs to be available sometime in October, for a respectable $999.

Here are the first pictures of the retail boxes of 8th generation Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors. The first wave of processors based on Intel's new 14 nm "Coffee Lake" silicon will be 6-core parts in the Core i5 and Core i7 brands, which will be launched on 22 August; with Core i3 following on much later in the year, or even early-2018. The boxes confirm several things about these chips, beginning with the fact that their integrated graphics cores will be branded "Intel UHD Graphics 6xx," and that they will require motherboards based on Intel 300-series chipset, even though their socket is "LGA1151."

There doesn't appear to be a socket key difference between these processors and "Kaby Lake," so it's possible that while 300-series chipset motherboards support older "Kaby Lake" and "Skylake" processors, "Coffee Lake" will only work on 300-series chipset, and not older 200-series or 100-series. Intel making the bold move of branding its new integrated graphics "UHD" could hint at its credentials with hardware-accelerated decoding of new video formats such as 10-bit VP9 at 4K without breaking a sweat; and new display connector standards such as HDMI 2.0 and DP 1.4. The various models that make up the first wave of 8th generation Core i5 and Core i7 desktop processors, are tabled below.

ASUS rolled out the VP28UQG, a 28-inch gaming-grade monitor with 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160 pixels) native resolution. Adding to its gaming credentials are 1 ms (GTG) response time, support for AMD FreeSync adaptive v-sync technology, and ASUS GamePlus, a collection of gamer-friendly features such as OSD crosshairs, frame-rate counter, and game genre-specific display presets. The monitor also features TÜV Rheinland Certification for flicker-free brightness control, and blue-light reduction.

The VP28UQG features a TN-film display panel with 170°/160° (H/V) viewing angles, 3840 x 2160 pixels native resolution, 1 ms response time (GTG), 10-bit (1.07 billion colors) palette, 300 cd/m² maximum brightness, and 1000:1 static contrast-ratio with dynamic mega-contrast ratio. Display inputs include one DisplayPort 1.2a, and two HDMI 2.0 connectors. The monitor features an audio DAC that puts out audio from the HDMI/DP input (your graphics card) to a 3.5 mm analog headphones jack. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Club 3D is proud to announce the next generation of SenseVision video splitters today with the introduction of two brand new splitters, CSV-1474 (USB-A to HDMI 2.0 Dual Monitor 4K 60Hz) and CSV-1477 (USB-A to DP 1.2 Dual Monitor 4K 60Hz) with this press release.

Former generation video splitters or USB graphic adapters based on USB 3.0 or 3.1 suffered from a limitation of 30 Hz if you were aiming at using the highest resolutions like 3840 x 2160 (4K). The latest developments from DisplayLink make it possible now that with CSV-1474 and CSV-1477 the resolutions can be taken to a new level. Not only one time 4K60Hz is possible, both splitters offer Dual Monitor functionality and each of the outputs can offer 4K 60Hz. The only requirement is to have a free USB Type A 3.1 Gen 1 socket in your device. The two new SenseVision products are powered by DisplayLink 6950 SoC. Our new future-proof products will be ready for shipment on June 30th. Wide availability of the products in the market we expect in the first week of July.

And here I was thinking the whole point of having standards was to homogenize offerings for a given feature, ensuring the same minimal requirements were met by anyone (or any product) looking to carry a sticker emblazoning its capabilities. Yet here it is, another HDR standard, which Samsung and Amazon are calling HDR10+.

The HDR10+ standard looks to slightly bridge the gap between the HDR10 standard as certified by the UHD Alliance, and the Dolby Vision one, which boasted better HDR reproduction whilst carrying higher specifications to be adhered to. The greatest change in HDR10+: the adoption of Dynamic Tone Mapping, which stand upon variable dynamic metadata to help adjust brightness and contrast in real time, optimized on a frame-by-frame basis, a feature present in Dolby Vision but lacking on the UHD Alliance's HDR10, which resulted in some overly darkened bright scenes.

Dell, which makes some of the best computer monitors around (though they really don't tend to be the most cost-effective), has announced a new addition to its line of monitors. The UP2718Q is a 27" monitor which boast of 4K (3140* 2160) resolution, and supports the UHD Alliance's HDR10 standard. Its peak brightness of 1,000 nits ensures its adherence to the HDR standards (which backs up to 400 nits brightness on non-HDR material), while the 100% Adobe RGB, 100% sRGB, 100% REC 709, 97.7% DCI-P3, and 76.9% REC2020 color coverage ensures this is a panel best used by professionals who need extreme color accuracy. Connectivity wise, we find 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x mini-DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0a ports, 2x USB 3.0 ports, and a hub of 4x USB 3.0 ports, two of which are capable of charging.

Sometimes bigger is better, especially when it comes to storage space. That is why SP/ Silicon Power, a leading provider of memory storage solutions, has added higher capacity memory cards with up to 256GB to its Superior Pro SDHC/SDXC UHS-I (U3) and Elite microSDHC/microSDXC UHS-I series. The latter one is for the mobile photo and video "junkies" among us. With 256GB extra storage, it's the perfect companion for Android smartphones and tablets, as it keeps them well equipped for storage devouring high-quality photo shooting or video recording on the go.

The Superior Pro SDXC UHS-I (U3) is indispensable for high-performance video and photography use and its 256GB capacity caters for the particularly high demand in storage space for 4K high-resolution Ultra HD video recording. UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) ensures smooth performance for the capture of excellent image quality.

Jon Peddie Research (JPR), one of the most regarded research and consulting firms for graphics and multimedia, today announced that the global PC Gaming Hardware market has breached the $30 billion mark for the first time (let that sink in for a moment).

Comprised of pre and DIY built gaming computers, upgrades, and accessories such as input devices and audio/communication systems, the market exceeded $30 billion in 2016 and is forecast to grow at a 6% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) through 2019. Due of an entrenched PC gaming culture, large population, and a lack of significant console traction, the Asia Pacific Region is noted as leading the world in both growth and market size with a forecasted 7% CAGR to 2019 from a TAM (total addressable market) of almost $11.3 billion in 2016. However, North America and Western Europe both individually lead Asia Pacific for High-End hardware, albeit at lower growth rates of 5.78% and 6.63% vs. 9.61% respectively. The western appetite for PC gaming systems costing thousands of dollars is indeed strong (though we didn't need a JPR report to tell us that, now did we?).

The UHD Alliance (UHDA), the inter-industry group charged with fostering an ecosystem that fully realizes and promotes the consumer benefits of Ultra HD entertainment technology, announced today the completion of performance specifications for portable devices. Viewing high quality content on laptops and other mobile devices has increasingly become a staple in entertainment consumption, and with continued improvement of screens on devices ranging from smartphones to laptops, the specifications define performance criteria for delivering a premium experience across the spectrum of portable devices.

Consumer adoption of Ultra HD hardware and software has seen incredible growth since its introduction, with an estimated 100 million households worldwide currently enjoying an Ultra HD experience, and an estimate 450 million households with UHD TV's by 2020.* As the category has grown, so has the UHD Alliance, which was founded in April 2015 by 10 companies and now counts more than 50 global leaders in consumer electronics, entertainment, content distribution and technology among its membership.

At CES 2017, Samsung Electronics plans to demonstrate how it has stepped up its game in the entertainment monitor space with the unveiling of its new CH711 Quantum Dot Curved monitor. Additionally, Samsung will also showcase its recently launched CFG70 and CF791 Quantum Dot displays at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Booth #15006, Central Hall.

"Today's multimedia consumers have heightened expectations; they demand an immersive experience that makes them feel like they're part of the games they play and the content they view," said Andrew Sivori, Vice President, CE-IT Product Marketing at Samsung Electronics America. "Our new Quantum Dot Curved monitors offer brilliant design, richer color, and even deeper contrast than ever before."

Already an industry leader renowned for integrating cutting-edge technology into its premium, high-resolution monitors, LG Electronics (LG) is pushing the industry to the next level with plans to introduce a HDR-compatible 32-inch UHD 4K monitor at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next month.

The availability of HDR content continues to expand, covering a wide range of fields from movie to games. The enhanced picture quality offered by HDR technology is instantly recognizable to even the most casual user and manufacturers are already pushing this promising technology to its fullest potential. With professional-grade picture quality and exceptionally vibrant colors, HDR compatible monitors will appeal to creative professionals, gamers, and anyone else that takes image quality seriously.

In January 2016 Club 3D brought a solution to the market as an upgrade since GPU solutions were not bundled with HDMI 2.0 connectors. Users needed to spend a lot of money for the latest graphics card, Notebook, Ultrabook or MiniPC, that were equipped with up to date technology HDMI 2.0 output for 4K@ 60Hz.

With the introduction of the CAC-1070 (DP 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 Adapter) and CAC-1170 (MiniDP to HDMI 2.0 Adapter) Club 3D has been the first company in the market to fulfil this demand. These 2 products have become our star products for 2016. Now it is time to develop things further and introduce the next products for this demand.

Samsung Electronics extends its innovation in displays with the release of its most powerful and visually compelling curved gaming monitors to date. The CFG70 (available in 24 and 27 inch) and CF791 (34-inch) monitors provide distinguished curvatures of 1800R and 1500R, respectively. Other best-in-class features include interactive LED lighting, an intuitive user dashboard, and AMD FreeSync Technology for the ultimate gaming experience.

"Incorporating the same quantum dot technology found in our incredible TV lineup, the CFG70 and CF791 monitors are poised to deliver the most realistic experience for gamers and consumers alike," said Andrew Sivori, Vice President, Consumer IT Marketing at Samsung Electronics America. "In addition, we've bolstered color accuracy, refined the display curvature and significantly reduced MPRT (Moving Picture/Pattern Response Time)."

Microsoft's new slim Xbox One S console achieves its slimness - including its inbuilt power-supply, by significantly reducing thermal load of its key components. This begins at the heart of the console, its SoC. A semi-custom chip by Microsoft and AMD, the SoC powering the Xbox One S is built on the 16 nm FinFET process at TSMC. The chip powering the original Xbox One was built on the same foundry's 28 nm node.

The new SoC isn't merely an optical shrink of the original 28 nm chip down to 16 nm FinFET, Microsoft added a few components to the chip, including an HEVC hardware decoder, hardware CODECs for Blu-ray UHD with HDR; and a revamped display controller with HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2. The chip also performs 1080p to 4K UHD upscaling, with a native upscaling algorithm. The eSRAM memory bandwidth is increased slightly from 204 GB/s from 219 GB/s.

Western Digital Corporation, a global storage technology and solutions leader, today introduced a new suite of 256 gigabyte (GB) microSD cards, which includes the new 256GB SanDisk Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card - the fastest microSD card in its class. The new suite of cards also includes 256GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card, Premium Edition, the first 256GB card optimized for mainstream consumers. The new additions deliver leading speed and capacity in a fingernail-sized card, giving smartphone, drone and action camera users the performance and capacity they need to capture professional-grade videos and photos without worrying about running out of space on their device.

"Our microSD cards are now at the center of many consumer devices, and we're excited to not only raise the bar with the launch of the world's fastest microSD card, but to also offer a family of 256GB microSD cards that give consumers the flexibility they need to capture life at its fullest," said Dinesh Bahal, vice president of SanDisk product marketing, Western Digital. "As a leading global storage provider with one of the most trusted flash brands, we take pride in transforming the way consumers capture, store and share their content."

At Acer's next@acer Global Press Conference in New York today, the company announced new notebooks, desktops and monitors in its powerful and award-winning Predator gaming line. The new Predator 17 X notebook and compact Predator G1 desktop include top-of-the line computing technology and are NVIDIA GeForce VR-Ready, as well as ready for virtual reality (VR) devices from Oculus, HTC Vive, OSVR and StarVR.

"The new Acer Predator gaming systems are designed to deliver the ultimate gaming and virtual reality experiences for our customers," said James Lin, general manager, Consumer Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. "Virtual reality offers unlimited new possibilities, not just in gaming, but across a wide variety of industries and applications in professional environments. As we showed today in our VR partner demos, Acer intends to give our customers the tools they need for both playing and working in this new digital world."