EXHIBIT A
>I responded to another uninformed individual on the interwebs earlier, who had a similar mindset. To save myself some time, I'm just going to copy/paste what I wrote him for your benefit:
>I don't have a GSYNC monitor yet. But I will be picking up the new 144Hz 1440p IPS GSYNC monitor from Acer. I was going to get the ROG Swift but didn't want to settle for a TN panel. GSYNC and the accompanying ULMB tech is absolutely amazing.
>Secondly...your statement is utterly idiotic. You said you will buy the better product, in your price range. 2 things. You have no idea what FreeSync would cost. You're assuming there is no cost associated with the custom asic scaler and design modification required. Any manufacturer that implements FreeSync is going to incur additional costs, and is also guaranteed to have a markup because business and economics, and also because FreeSync is ONLY supported by AMD, and only on some of their cards. Intel and Nvidia have not signed on to support it. So anyone that puts the money into developing and manufacturing these monitors will require an even higher manufacturer markup than the competing GSYNC monitors due to much lower potential "FreeSync" customer base. If Intel signs on to FreeSync, then we can re-evaluate this argument. But for now, this is economics 101.
>So you're bashing an existing technology, by comparing it to a not-yet-public technology, without knowing how the 2 compare (for example, there will be no ULMB or 3D Vision support for FreeSync), and without even knowing the price difference between the two. You're making an uninformed assumption, and making a complete judgment based on it. And that is wrong. AMD has Nvidia beat in one aspect of the GSYNC/FreeSync wars, and that is in naming theirs FreeSync, making people think it's actually free. And making people think it is exactly like/has all the features of GSYNC (which it is/does not). That's actually an impressive marketing win, when you consider the number of people such as yourself who've been confused to the point that you think Nvidia shouldn't charge money for taking a risk on R&D and creating custom boards and technology (which is something the manufacturer would normally have to do), and also for thinking manufacturers like to go to extra lengths to add premium niche features at a cost, without adding their own substantial markup. And at the same time...not realizing that monitor manufacturers will have to create a special asic scaler to be able to able to add FreeSync. And they're doing all of that for what...AMD? The company that is only getting 30% of current desktop GPU sales?
>When calculating R&D recovery costs, it is based off of expected sales volume. Since the expected sales of FreeSync are lower, due to fewer people being able to use it, they have to start off with a higher markup to recoup the additional costs of the hardware and also the implementation in design of FreeSync. And seeing that AMD owners are usually "value shoppers" they may find it harder to justify paying extra for FreeSync if it turns out, for example, that GSYNC has a total premium of $200, and FreeSync still has a premium of $120 (this would of course also include the fact that FreeSync does not include ULMB, which could be added separately, but which is then even more costs that would align it even more closely with GSYNC prices).
>BOTTOM LINE: Thinking FreeSync will end up being Free or almost Free, is foolhardy. As with everything in life...you get what you pay for. FreeSync *can be* (but not necessarily will be) more successful in the non-enthusiast/non-gamer market. But considering the forum we're on, and the monitors and price ranges we are discussing, whether you pay $800 for the GSYNC version or $700 for the FreeSync version without ULMB (best case scenario on pricing...but I doubt it'll vary that much), we're not talking about enough of a difference to forego certain features. FreeSync is simply intended to not leave AMD in the dust with no adaptive sync options. Because that would lead to even more AMD users jumping ship to Nvidia, and that reduction in competition would be bad for everybody.
http://archive.is/2018.05.02-180429/https://hardforum.com/threads/official-acer-xb270hu-27-1440p-144hz-g-sync-ips-ulmb-monitor-thread.1849035/page-3