This lavish gaming laptop might spoil you for any other display.
I’ve glimpsed the future of PC gaming, and it’s a stunningly vibrant realm free from any blurriness. It’s warm, visually striking, and incredibly sharp—though it comes with a hefty price tag.
I recently had the chance to test a pre-production model of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18, a massive 18-inch gaming laptop that boasts a powerful 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX CPU. It can be decked out with an RTX 5090 Laptop GPU and a whopping 128GB of RAM. The unit I tested was maxed out on specs, save for storage, which is a respectable 4TB. Pricing details are still under wraps, but given the current market trends, we can expect it to be quite expensive.
What sets the Strix Scar 18 apart is its impressive display: a 4K, 240Hz screen with an anti-glare matte finish and a feature called Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB). This Mini LED panel features over 2,000 dimming zones and can reach up to 1,600 nits of peak brightness in HDR mode. The real magic happens when you turn off HDR, allowing ELMB to split the display into smaller horizontal bands of pixels that refresh quickly, reminiscent of traditional CRT technology.
The result? An incredibly crisp image that minimizes motion blur during fast-paced gaming. Unlike the common black frame insertion method, which can introduce flicker and reduce brightness, this technology keeps the visuals smooth and clear.
When it comes to playing graphically intensive games, this laptop is a powerhouse. I launched Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K on Ultra settings with ray tracing enabled and DLSS set to Balanced, achieving a solid 45fps. Switching DLSS to Ultra Performance bumped that up to around 70fps, and with some adjustments to settings or frame generation, you could easily push for even higher frame rates. For less demanding titles like Counter-Strike 2, it maintained an impressive 180 to 200fps at high settings.
The ELMB display shines brightest in fast-paced games like Counter-Strike and MOBAs such as League of Legends. For gamers seeking the quickest response times, a clear image free of motion blur is essential. Even if you’re not a competitive player, experiencing fast-action games with this level of clarity is incredibly satisfying. Plus, when you want a more cinematic experience, you can easily switch off ELMB and enable HDR for stunning brightness.
Capturing the smoothness of ELMB in photos or videos is challenging, but you can try a simple test to see how your own display compares. Just follow these steps:
* Ensure your screen refresh rate is set to the highest possible setting (if you’re on a laptop, plug it in to avoid battery-saving slowdowns).
* Visit the Video Game Motion test on Blur Busters’ site.
* Click the full-screen icon in the top-right corner of the test window. The top half should display at 240Hz, while the bottom shows your native refresh rate.
* Wait for the frame rate numbers to turn green, indicating the test has stabilized.
* Observe the details of the characters scrolling across the frame.
Can you track the action and read character names in a Dota 2 scene? On a standard display, it can be a blurry mess, but on the Scar’s ELMB panel, everything is crystal clear. I could easily read names like Lion and Dragon Knight, along with their health bars and levels. When I switched off ELMB for HDR, the clarity diminished significantly, making it harder to read names and health bars quickly.
You can also try the classic UFO test:
* Set your monitor or laptop display to its maximum refresh rate (and plug it in).
* Load the Blur Busters UFO test.
* Click the full-screen icon and let it stabilize.
* The trailing UFO on the top row should match your screen’s native refresh rate, with slower ones below it.
* Follow the UFO with your eyes and see how much detail you can discern.
On the ELMB display, I could easily see the alien’s three eyes and the distinct lines on the UFO’s panels. In contrast, on a 27-inch Asus ROG Swift PG27UCDM, a top-tier 4K / 240Hz monitor, those details were blurred. The HP Omen Max 16 with a 2560 x 1600 / 240Hz OLED came close, but the alien’s features still lacked the clarity of the Strix Scar 18.
Most gamers might not notice these differences unless they do a side-by-side comparison. If your gaming sessions are more about socializing than competition, this level of detail may not matter. However, for those who are serious about performance, Asus is pushing the limits of Mini LED technology for gamers who appreciate the finer details.
The reason we see Mini LED in an 18-inch gaming laptop is straightforward: no supplier currently makes an 18-inch OLED. Brands like Asus, Razer, and Alienware rely on LCDs for their larger gaming laptops. The Strix Scar 18 will be available soon, and while it promises full 4K capabilities, it will cater to the most dedicated and affluent gamers. Given the current market, I wouldn’t be shocked if this fully loaded model costs between $6,000 and $7,000. If you want to be at the forefront of gaming technology, especially when it comes to those tiny details, be prepared to invest heavily.
