GIGABYTE today launched four new BRIX mini-PC models featuring 8th generation Intel Core processors. These include the GB-BRi5-8250, the GB-BRi7-8550, the GB-BRi5H-8250, and the GB-BRi7H-8550. The GB-BRi5-8250 and the GB-BRi7-8550 are built in a more compact 0.46L (34.4 x 112.6 x 119.4mm) chassis, while the GB-BRi5H-8250 and the GB-BRi7H-8550, come in a slightly taller 0.63L (46.8 x 112.6 x 119.4mm), with added room for a 2.5-inch drive bay. As their names suggest, the GB-BRi5-8250 and GB-BRi5H-8250 are powered by the Core i5-8250U processor (4-core/8-thread, 1.60~3.40 GHz, 6 MB L3 cache, 25W TDP); while the GB-BRi7H-8550 and GB-BRi7H-8550 implement the range-topping Core i7-8550U (4-core/8-thread, 1.80~4.00 GHz, 8 MB L3 cache, 25W TDP).

The 0.46L models offer two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, a 32 Gb/s M.2-2280 slot, a second M.2-2240 slot holding the pre-installed WLAN card, HDMI and mini-DP display output, two USB 3.0 type-A ports on the rear panel, and two USB 3.1 ports on the front-panel, including a type-C port; and network connectivity including a gigabit Ethernet connection driven by Intel i219-V controller, and Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168 WLAN card with dual-band 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2. Stereo audio makes for the rest of it. The 0.63L models simply add to this feature-set with a 9 mm-thick 2.5-inch drive bay that has SATA 6 Gb/s interface. All models feature VESA mounting, so you can tuck them away behind your monitor. The company didn't reveal pricing.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced that DP8K Certified DisplayPort cables-native DisplayPort cables that are guaranteed to support DisplayPort High Bit Rate 3 (HBR3)-are now available in the marketplace. HBR3 is the highest bit rate (8.1 Gigabits per second (Gbps) per lane) supported by DisplayPort standard version 1.4, and provides the speed required to drive 8K video resolution at 60 frames per second (fps) using a single cable, as well as multiple 4K displays. Key applications supported by HBR3 include high-performance gaming, augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) and television broadcasting. With HBR3 already available in a wide array of consumer products, including GPUs and monitors, the availability of cables that have been certified by VESA to support HBR3 provides a crucial final link to the ecosystem.

ASUS today introduced the ProArt PA27AC monitor that meets displayHDR 400 standards. This 27-inch monitor features an IPS display panel with WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) native resolution, and covers 100% of the sRGB color-space with its 8bpc color depth. The monitor meets VESA's displayHDR 400 standard, with a peak luminescence of 400 nits, 8bpc image quality, and standard dynamic mega contrast dimming. The PA27AC also offers support for AMD FreeSync technology. Other vital specs include 60 Hz refresh-rate, and 5 ms (GTG) response time. The monitor takes input from DisplayPort 1.2a (needed for FreeSync), HDMI 2.0, and HDMI 1.4. The DisplayPort interface is USB type-C, and supports Thunderbolt 3 daisy-chaining (one port in, one out). The company didn't reveal pricing.

Since its launch in August, Samsung's CHG90 - the world's largest QLED gaming monitor - has emerged as an industry innovator and pioneer. The monitor's leadership position recently received further validation from the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA), who, following a rigorous testing procedure, confirmed that the CHG90 (along with the CHG70) exemplifies its DisplayHDR 600 performance standards and is the industry's first display to be certified as DisplayHDR compliant.

Up until recently, there had been no standard specification for the HDR performance of PC monitors and laptop computer displays. But earlier this year, VESA, an international non-profit that sets and supports industry-wide interface standards for displays, established the DisplayHDR standard. The fully open standard specifies HDR quality, including luminance, color gamut, bit depth and rise time. It consists of three levels (DisplayHDR 400, 600, 1000); specifically, the DisplayHDR 600 tier indicates that HDR content can be enjoyed in bright indoor lighting conditions.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced it has defined the display industry's first fully open standard specifying high dynamic range (HDR) quality, including luminance, color gamut, bit depth and rise time, through the release of a test specification. The new VESA High-Performance Monitor and Display Compliance Test Specification (DisplayHDR) initially addresses the needs of laptop displays and PC desktop monitors that use liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.

The first release of the specification, DisplayHDR version 1.0, establishes three distinct levels of HDR system performance to facilitate adoption of HDR throughout the PC market. HDR provides better contrast and color accuracy as well as more vibrant colors compared to Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) displays, and is gaining interest for a wide range of applications, including movie viewing, gaming, and creation of photo and video content.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced a major update to its Display Identification Data (DisplayID) standard. The new version 2.0 of this universal display standard simplifies connecting and configuring modern display products, including PC monitors, consumer TVs and embedded displays (e.g., display panels within laptop and all-in-one systems). The result is a best-in-class plug-and-play experience. Advanced capabilities supported include 4K-and-higher resolutions, high dynamic range (HDR), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), and refresh rates of 120 Hz and above.

The DisplayID standard was originally launched in 2009 to enable the widely adopted Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) standard to keep up with newer-generation display technologies. However, with the EDID standard nearing the end of its effectiveness, a standard with new standalone structures, unencumbered by legacy architecture, is needed to properly and efficiently communicate modern display capabilities, thus ensuring an optimal user experience for future display technologies.

ECS today rolled out the LIVA Z Plus ZE mini-PC featuring legacy connectivity, combined with otherwise modern hardware, which puts its applications halfway between retail/POS (point of sale) and educational/robotics. The mini-PC features four RS232 serial COM ports, so you can directly plug in POS peripherals such as barcode/RFID scanners, receipt printers, credit card POS machines, electronic weighing scales, etc. It comes with rather powerful 7th generation "Kaby Lake" SoC options, including Celeron 3965U, Core i3-7100U, Core i5-7200U, and i5-7500U, bolstered by Intel vPro.

Besides factory-fitted SoCs, the LIVA Z Plus ZE comes with two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel memory, and one M.2-2242 slot with both PCI-Express 3.0 x4 and SATA 6 Gbps wiring. Besides the four RS232 ports, it features four USB 3.0 ports (three type-A, one type-C), two 1 GbE wired network interfaces, 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0 WLAN, stereo HD audio, and display outputs that include one each of HDMI 1.4 and miniDisplayPort. Measuring 117 mm x 128 mm x 51 mm (WxDxH), it supports VESA mounting, which lets you tuck it away behind your monitor. It draws power from an external 65W power brick.

MSI proudly announces a new, fanless, aluminum mini PC: the MSI Cubi 3 Silent and Cubi 3 Silent S. The Cubi 3 Silent series are MSI's first fanless mini PCs and are featured with the Intel Kabylake-U processors to provide efficient performance. The Cubi 3 Silent series have a comprehensive connectivity to suit the needs of both consumers and businesses. Next to that, these new mini PCs can be upgraded with ease.

By simply removing 4 screws on the bottom side of the Cubi 3 Silent, the user has access to its M.2 Slot, 2.5" HDD and SO-DIMM memory modules. The MSI Cubi 3 Silent is mountable to a wall by VESA standards or can be combined with an HDTV, so the user can enjoy Ultra High-Definition and high quality media entertainment at home. A black and a silver version of the MSI Cubi 3 Silent series are globally available by end of October 2017.

With the DH270, thanks to the Intel H270 chipset, an HDMI 2.0 port now also features on Shuttle Mini-PCs for socket LGA 1151 desktop processors. However, the model presented here has more on offer and shows itself to be versatile at other places, too. The case design has proven to be successful since the DS61, the first model with dimensions of 19 x 16.5 x 4.3 cm (DWH). The space-saving steel chassis can withstand ambient temperatures of up to 50°C and, thanks to the VESA bracket and various threaded holes, it is also suitable for individual mounting options on screens and surfaces. The operating position is flexible and can be horizontal or vertical.

As well as offering space for one 2.5-inch drive and one NVMe SSD, the XPC Barebone DH270 also provides two SO-DIMM slots for up to 32 GB of DDR4 memory. Any Intel Core processors (LGA1151) from the seventh and sixth generation with up to 65 Watt TDP are suitable. There is a total of two M.2 slots on the mainboard, 1x M.2-2280 and 1x M.2-2230, which can be used for an SSD and WLAN module, for example. With 1x HDMI 2.0 and 2x HDMI 1.4b, this model enables multi-screen workstations or digital signage scenarios with up to three 4K monitors (1x 60 Hz, 2x 30 Hz).

The first 3-litre PC from Shuttle with a fully-fledged PCI Express x16 3.0 slot virtually spells the end of limitations. This is because almost any expansion card can now be fitted in the Mini-PC, which is only around 7 cm high. Computing power is delivered by new Intel Core processors of the 7th generation and the latest of storage and drive technology.

The XH110G model from the XPC slim category is a compact barebones PC in a 25 x 20 x 7.85 cm (DWH) format. Its mainboard with an Intel H110 chipset can accommodate up to 32 GB of DDR4 memory and Intel processors (LGA1151) with up to 65 W of TDP. Two M.2 slots, one being M.2-2280 and one M.2-2230, may for example accommodate an NVMe SSD and a WLAN module - or also lots of other commercially available M.2 add-on cards.

Shuttle Inc., the global leader in small form factor computer technology, announces the latest Intel Apollo lake platform, XC60J support with 8 COM ports to power highly interactive Kiosk, vending machine, POS and more. The XC60J is the first 3-liter model with fanless design, powered by Intel Celeron J3355. With built-in Intel HD Graphics and processor, the XC60J can support 4K/Ultra HD video playback and HEVC/H.265 high definition video playback.

With one built-in M.2 2280 Type M and one M.2 2230 Type A/E expansion slots, you can easily install an M.2 SSD, Wi-Fi module or other compatible devices. The XC60J is highly connectable with multiple I/O: USB 2.0, USB 3.0, HDMI, DisplayPort, SATA 6Gbps, COM, and Intel Dual Gigabit LAN ports. Seven RS232 and one RS232/RS422/RS485 ports which support 0V/5V/12V. Connect to barcode scanners, receipt printers, keypads, and other peripherals makes XC60J easily configured into peripheral-heavy POS, Kiosk, and Digital Signage systems.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has recently announced plans to form a special working group within its ecosystem, whose mission will be to develop standards for XR (eXtended Reality) products and development. XR envelops both VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality), and VESA has apparently had enough of differing vendor implementations. According to VESA, "the lack of standardization is causing compatibility issues between products from different vendors, as well as increasing the complexity and cost of development, ownership and replacement. Lack of compatibility can also create confusion for end users and impede broader acceptance of AR/VR products."

Considering the XR market's value is expected to hit roughly $162 billion dollars by 2020, we can certainly see how "compatibility issues" and "lower acceptance of AR/VR products" could affect what is looking to be an extremely lucrative market. Let's just gloss over the fact (slightly paradoxical, actually) that we're now looking at two different XR standards groups, VESA's newly-announced initiative, and Khrono's OpenXR.

Acer, a global leader in computer monitors, today announced the U.S. availability of the Acer ProDesigner BM320, a large 32- inch monitor producing brilliant 4K UHD (3840x2160@60Hz) visuals with professional-grade color. "We're pleased to offer this cutting-edge monitor primed to meet the high demands of graphic designers, film and video producers, animators and others who require optimum color precision and image quality," said Ronald Lau, director - stationary computing.

Outfitted with the Acer ColorPlus technology suite, the Acer ProDesigner BM320 ensures consistent color output in addition to sharper and clearer visuals. These technologies include built-in 100 percent Adobe RGB and 100 percent sRGB coverage for storing, producing and presenting a wide and accurate range of hues required for color matching across applications and print output. Providing the ability to adjust hue and saturation, 6-axis color adjustment lets professionals obtain the exact shade they prefer. In addition, super sharpness technology optimizes the quality of even low resolution images by slightly enhancing the edges.

If you're looking for an enclosure for a media streamer or a work computer, SilverStone has just announced a compact chassis that you might be interested in. The VT02 measures 6.5 (width) x 2.87 (height) x 6.16 inches (depth). The fact that the chassis supports a mini-STX motherboard means you will not be constrained by your choice of an off-the-shelf processor - just remember that a Kaby Lake CPU is required for 4K Netflix. You can even acquire a more powerful drop-in upgrade down the road. The height of the system, however, will severely constrain your choice of cooling, but if you're looking into such a product, you know this already.

The chassis supports 2x 2.5" hard drives or SSDs, with the front panel including 1x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1x USB 3.0 Type-C, and an audio and microphone jack. A vertical LED light bar on the front panel handles power-state notifications, and the case increases its air circulation through large vents on the top and sides. It sports a VESA MIS-D 75 x 75mm mounting plate, which allows this chassis to be attached to the back of your TV or monitor. The Vital Series VT02 Mini-STX has a one-year warranty, and retails for 28,90€ / $31.50.

After announcing an entire Omen line of products last year, HP took to CES 2017 to announce the availability date of one such previously-announced products: the Omen X Curved Gaming Monitor. It's a beautifully achieved, 35" Wide QHD display with 100Hz refresh rate and a 4ms response time. The display's bezel measures under 6.87mm on the top and the sides (which should prove nearly invisible), and further complementing the immersive gaming experience is the 1800R curvature; this means the distance from someone's eyes to any point of the monitor should be equal, if they are positioned correctly.

AOC's AGON line of PC monitors has been increasingly added to by the company - which usually signifies strong sales and brand recognition. In trying to cater to an even more diverse consumer base, AOC has now added a new offer to their AGON line of gaming monitors: the AG251FZ.

The AG251FZ 25" is a 16:9 ratio monitor, which comes in at the still-dominating 1920*1080 resolution, sporting a TN-type panel with a 1ms Grey-to-grey response time which allows it achieve a 240Hz refresh rate. The panel offers 16.7 million colors, brightness of 400cd/m2, contrast ratio of 1000:1, and pretty decent viewing angles of 170/160. On top of that, the monitor also includes AMD's royalty-free FreeSync (active from 48Hz towards the 240Hz maximum refresh rate), with 1x HDMI 2.0 and 1x DisplayPort 1.2a adaptive sync compatible inputs, as well as more legacy 1x DVI and 1x VGA inputs. The monitor also features a connectivity hub, sporting 4 x USB 3.0, Audio out/in, and Microphone in/out ports.

Following the launch of the NC01 series in a typical NUC format, the Shuttle XPC nano product range is growing once again. The NC02 models are the immediate successors and put the sixth generation of Intel Core processors in a micro-format. The NC02 models are sold as barebones PC as standard which include the case, mainboard, heatpipe cooling system and power supply unit as key components. Four different models with soldered Celeron, Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 power-saving processors are available to cover as many application areas as possible.

The base model NC02U is driven by an Intel Celeron 3855U dual-core processor clocked at 2x 1.6 GHz. The 14 nm architecture as well as the power consumption of less than 10 Watt in operation promise low energy consumption and enhanced performance. With its ultra-slim dimensions of 141 x 141 x 42 mm, the housing is 13 mm taller compared to the NC01, enabling the units to support even 15 mm high 2.5" drives.

AOC late last week unveiled the AG241 line of 24-inch monitors featuring high refresh-rates, and WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolutions, under its AGON brand targeted at PC gamers. The series includes two models, the AG241QG and the AG241QX. Both displays feature 23.8-inch TN-film LCD panels by AU Optronics, and are visually similar for the most part, except two key features. The AG241QG offers up to 165 Hz refresh-rates and supports NVIDIA G-SYNC technology; while the AG241QX offers refresh-rates of up to 144 Hz, and supports AMD FreeSync technology.

Both models offer viewing angles of up to 170°/160° (H/V), 1 ms response time (GTG), 1000:1 static contrast ratios, a rheostat-based WLED illumination (flicker-free), active blue-light reduction, and matte anti-glare screen surfaces. Gamer-specific features such as display presets that are specific to gameplay type (genre-specific), a retractable headset hook on the side, VESA wall-mount, and a 4-port USB 3.0 hub. Both monitors take input from DisplayPort 1.2/1.2a and HDMI connectors. Available from November, the AG241QG is expected to be priced at £519, and the AG241QX at £389.

MSI proudly announces its latest and smallest mini-PC to date: the MSI Cubi 2. This tiny desktop is built on a concept of nifty technology and a brilliant design to suit the needs of both consumers and businesses. MSI upgraded the Cubi with the latest Intel Kabylake-U power saving processors. Users can benefit from a powerful handheld-size PC capable of carrying multiple modular hard disks that provide a large base for data storage. MSI Cubi 2 is mountable to a wall by VESA standards or can be combined with an HDTV, so the user can enjoy Ultra High-Definition and high quality media entertainment at home. With plenty of ports to connect to external devices, Cubi 2 is the essence of small, smart computing. A black and a white version of the MSI Cubi are globally available by end of September 2016.

Smaller than a lunchbox or an XL soda can, MSI Cubi 2 is the smallest mini PC in its kind, with a 0.45 liter case that still provides all the elements of a desktop-worthy PC. With curved edges, a smooth surface, a subtle ventilation frame and conveniently positioned I/O ports, the MSI Cubi 2 is not only the smallest, but also the smartest in its kind.

ASRock unveiled the Z170M-PIO2, a micro-ATX socket LGA1151 motherboard with a unique angled PCI-Express gen 3.0 x16 slot that lets you install a graphics card parallel to the plane of the motherboard. It takes away the need for PCIe riser cables in certain PIO form-factor compliant SFF chassis. The PIO form-factor is an emerging standard of compact SFF cases that you mount along the VESA wall-mount bolts of your display. Technically, the board conforms to the uDTX form-factor, but is compatible with micro-ATX and PIO form-factors.

Its star-attraction aside, the Z170-PIO2, as its name suggests, is based on the overclocking-ready Z170 Express chipset. It supports up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory with its two memory slots. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors. Besides the angled PCIe x16, you get an mPCIe slot (for WLAN cards), and one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot. Four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, 6-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of its connectivity.

ID-Cooling is ready with a new enthusiast grade rail-type case, which doubles up as a VESA-mount monitor stand, so you could pack a real wallop behind your >27-inch display. The rail-type case features a 3-dimensional T-shaped frame, with an L-shaped frame tapering to the back. The cage has room for a mini-ITX motherboard, but with enough clearance for a long, 2-slot high-end graphics card. You also get room for a fairly big high-Wattage PSU, and enough clearance for a DIY liquid-cooling loop (including a reservoir, a 240 mm x 120 mm radiator), and the works. A tinted tempered-glass panel tops off the case from the rear. A small cutout lets you manage your cable spaghetti and route cables to your monitor.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced it has published version 1.4 of the DisplayPort (DP) audio/video standard. The first major update to DisplayPort since version 1.3 was released in September 2014, DP 1.4 is also the first DP standard to take advantage of VESA's Display Stream Compression (DSC) technology. DSC version 1.2 transport enables up to 3:1 compression ratio and has been deemed, through VESA membership testing, to be visually lossless. Together with other new capabilities, this makes the latest version of DP ideally suited for implementation in high-end electronic products demanding premier sound and image quality.

DisplayPort is a packet-based, extensible protocol for transporting video and audio data. Initially introduced as a new external interface, its flexibility has enabled its adaptation to embedded displays and incorporation into other connectors like the new reversible USB Type-C interface and Thunderbolt. Its Multi-Stream Transport (MST) capability enables high-resolution support of multiple monitors on a single display interface.

MSI proudly announces an upgrade of its smallest mini-PC to date: the MSI Cubi N. This tiny desktop is built on a concept of nifty technology and a brilliant design to suit the needs of both consumers and businesses. Thanks to the implementation of a wide range of the Braswell Intel processors, users can benefit from a palm-size PC that is now more powerful than ever! It is capable of carrying multiple modular hard disks drives that provide a large base for data storage and has a new fanless design to insure ultra-silent operation.

MSI Cubi N is mountable to a wall by VESA standards or can be combined with an Ultra-HDTV, so the user can enjoy Ultra High-Definition and high quality media entertainment at home. For commercial applications, Cubi N comes with plenty of ports to connect external devices, and is the essence of small, smart computing. The MSI Cubi N is globally available by end of October 2015.

Crono Labs is a new crowd-funded startup that's on a mission to turn monitors with VESA mounts into AIO-looking, gaming monstrosities. Their contraption is a lightweight micro-ATX chassis that mounts on to the back of your monitor over standard VESA mounts, and houses a micro-ATX or mini-ITX motherboard, a standard ATX PSU (with reasonable length restrictions), two each of 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drive bays, and a 2-slot graphics card bay that's arranged along the plane of the motherboard, rather than perpendicular to it, using a PCIe riser. It has room for graphics cards as long as 10.5 inches (26.67 cm).

It comes with its own sturdy stand, so you needn't worry about a >10 lbs object (the case and your build) weighing in on your monitor's frail stand. The case is airy along its sides and is topped off with a groovy brushed-aluminium panel. Then there are nifty bits like the handle. Crono Labs is seeking as little as $2,000 to get build prototypes, on its Indiegogo campaign, it's already halfway through that goal, but your coins could help. Check them out here.

For those looking to build an extremely compact NAS server that's fan-less; Akasa unveiled the Abel MT at Computex 2015. Made entirely of aluminium, with body panels that double up as heatsink for the CPU and PCH, the Abel MT can enclose a 5th generation Core "Broadwell" NUC system board. Eight types of "Broadwell" NUC system boards are supported.

A star attraction with the Abel MT, is its two 2.5-inch SATA hot-swappable drive caddies. Other features include two USB 3.0 front-panel ports, VESA mounts (letting you tuck it away behind a monitor), and cutouts for WLAN antennae. The company also unveiled the Abel S, a fan-less NUC case with roughly the same dimensions and features as the Abel MT, but with a slimline optical drive bay, instead of the two 2.5-inch caddies. The case includes front bezels for both tray-type and slot-in type optical drives.