Hidden away at CES 2018 is the domestically-overlooked Design & Source tent, which contains less than 5% of the combined floorspace of massive Consumer Electronics Show. Within the tent, we discovered a treasure trove of brand new 144 Hz, 165 Hz and 240Hz monitors made by many different Chinese companies that are apparently learning fast. We photojournal our discoveries.

First up is ICB, which were exhibiting an impressive array of gaming running at 144Hz, 165Hz and 240Hz, many containing the familiar features we already have in FreeSync monitors on this side of the Pacific. As expected, 165Hz is available in 1440p format, while the 240Hz is available in 1080p format.

Next up is Inno&cn, which were exhibiting 144Hz and 165Hz monitors in their mix. Included amongst them were various funky computer cases. They immediately recognized Blur Busters and our UFO logo, it appears they have used TestUFO.com with their monitors!

As I walked along, a tiny booth Guangzhou Oceanview Sci-Tech advertising 240Hz, 165Hz and 144Hz. I got to see the 144Hz and 165Hz display. The 165Hz had a nice thin metal bezel frame compared to even certain domestic brands. The usual features such as FreeSync were also included, except for lack of motion blur reduction. The 240Hz was not present at CES, being their newest model coming soon.

I then stopped by CTX which also were exhibiting high-Hz gaming monitors at 144Hz and up. The bezel design and stands looked familiar, it is possible that an existing domestic manufacturer used them, since they also OEM for other manufacturers. As most of us know, most gaming monitor manufacture is currently outsourced to China, but they also now have a booming domestic indutry too.

Finally, we came across several Chinese eSports accessory companies that looked like they advertised to domestic markets. We saw one showing off an array of gaming keyboards:

And we also saw several Chinese VR headset vendors, as well as VR simulator machines as well:

This off-the-beaten-path visit at CES 2018 showed great surprises from a big country on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Today, now, some major Chinese companies have extremely fancy booths on the main showroom floor now, not just small booths. An example is HiSense which was also showing off the 75″ HZ75U9A, an incredibly impressive limited-edition 4K 120Hz HDR display with 2500nit peak brightness and local dimming with over 1000 zones. I thought it was OLED as there was no blooming visible even in the edges between fruit and black, but it was apparently an LCD.

As we know, quality of Chinese products can be hit or miss, but with even iPhones and Galaxys being made in China, sometimes the quality is also incredibly high. Like this 4K LCD where I couldn’t see local-dimming blooming artifacts, at least under showroom ambient lighting.

These days, China have become a force to be beckoned with, with displays and high refresh rates.

We often focus on the mainstream brands, like those in our 240Hz monitor list. However, this unexpected journey off the beaten CES path, revealed many surprises!