Gaming hardware company Razer is putting on a display of technological innovation, unveiling major upgrades to the screens on its popular Blade 16 and Blade 18 laptops. These new pixel-packed panels, set to debut next week at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, aim to keep Razer’s premium portables on the cutting edge for gamers who desire both silky smooth frame rates and vibrant, accurate colors.

Spearheading the charge is the all-new 16-inch OLED display headed exclusively to the Blade 16. Crafted in partnership with Samsung, it’s being billed by Razer as the world’s first 16-inch 240Hz OLED laptop panel. For the uninitiated, OLED (organic light emitting diode) screens offer superb color accuracy and an effectively instantaneous response time thanks to an ability to turn each pixel on or off, achieving perfectly dark blacks in the process. This panel in particular touts a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and is VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certified, meaning deep blacks and stellar, focused highlights.

With a competitive esports-level 240Hz refresh rate that allows up to 240 frames per second of in-game animation, Razer is still keeping competitive gamers in mind. A custom proprietary solution called ClearMR 11000 helps minimize distracting motion blur, resulting in clearer motion clarity during frantic on-screen action. Topping out at 2560 x 1600 resolution and covering 100% of the wide DCI-P3 color gamut, this display checks all the boxes for both lightning-fast gameplay and creative work.

Not to be left waiting at spawn, the 18-inch Razer Blade 18 swoops in with its own enticing 165Hz screen update. Though not OLED, this LED-backlit panel pumps the resolution up to a pixel-packed 4K while still promising buttery smooth animation, tear-free thanks to NVIDIA G-Sync support. As with its smaller sibling, it’s factory-calibrated out of the box and verifies 100% DCI-P3 coverage.

By catering to both competitive esports warriors and creative professionals with these new displays, Razer is continuing a tradition of blurring the line between work and play. The company that made its bones with gaming hardware wants to be known for bleeding-edge displays too. And in a category not exactly renowned for accurate color reproduction, having verified color accuracy and calibration could give Razer’s new Blade laptops an edge among creative pros accustomed to more businesslike machines.

The only question remaining is if these bleeding-edge screens can help the Blade series finally claim the mainstream laptop crown. Success could be an uphill battle against institutional giants like Apple. Thermal limitations have dogged gaming notebooks in the past, resulting in loud fans and cooked components. And it may be difficult for a perceived gaming brand to shake its existing reputation in more professional circles.

But with these eye-popping new displays, Razer is undeniably drawing a dividing line between its premium offerings and more pedestrian gaming portables. If the company can stick the landing at CES next week, showing off complete laptop packages that run cool and quiet, the Blade series may finally be ready to step out of its niche gaming roots into the mainstream spotlight.