Responding to the rapid growth of interest in Esports, the innovative educators at Caldwell University in Caldwell, New Jersey wanted a professional feel to its brand new Esports arena with LG commercial-grade gaming monitors and digital signage displays.
“Gaming is one of the most accessible forms of entertainment, with competition and viewership growing rapidly,” says Caldwell’s IT Operations and Digital Communications Director Anthony Yang. “However, young gamers don’t always see a college path for themselves, because many institutions have been slow to adapt. Caldwell has shown itself to be innovative and responsive to student needs, offering an outlet for professional and high-level amateur gamers to pursue Esports as both a player and a manager, which operates similar to managers for athletes and athletic teams.”
“Esports is just as competitive as physical sports, and in an Esports arena, fast responses and smooth graphics really matter,” explains Yang. “We were looking for low latency, high refresh rate monitors of a healthy size with excellent brightness and superior ruggedness and reliability backed by a strong warranty.”
The arena currently features 12 gaming stations with the high-performance LG 27-inch UltraGear 240Hz monitors, split into two sides, making it ideal for in-person team matches. For coaches who manage teams in the arena in real time, two 43-inch class 4K UHD LG commercial displays (model 43BN70U-B) provide crystal clear bird’s-eye views of the entire game field. This gives them a complete view of the game, while they can also see players’ perspectives on each individual gaming monitor.
The arena is located inside one of the university’s main buildings, Werner Hall, and the hallways surrounding the arena let guests get in on the action with four 55-inch class LG 4K UHD digital signage displays (model 55UU340C) displaying live competitions, practices and recordings of past tournaments with images four times the resolution of Full HD.
Both the Esports competition team and management degree programs launched in the Fall 2019 semester have already become very popular on campus. Competing in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, the newest Cougars (Caldwell’s mascot) have so far competed in Overwatch tournament play, a series of scrimmages in League of Legends and some Rocket League competitions. Some players also appear on traditional sports teams, such as the captain of Caldwell’s men’s soccer team taking on the role of captain of the local League of Legends Esports team.
Aaron Addison, Regional Manager for LG IT products, noted that more and more schools are opening themselves to the possibility of Esports facilities and related education programs.
“Gaming is so popular with today’s college students, who’ve basically been gaming from birth. And innovative institutions like Caldwell University are recognizing it can be an enrollment booster and a huge student life benefit,” Addison said. “Caldwell’s unique arena shows how our gaming monitors and digital displays give players the best performance available, and they show other colleges and universities what a well-built Esports facility looks like.”
Addison explained that LG’s 27GK75B-B gaming monitors are ideal for high-sensitivity online games, providing a 240Hz refresh rate for fluid motion, ultra-fast 1 millisecond latency (the lag time between the computer sending a signal and the monitor displaying it), 400 nits of brightness and custom controls for black levels and tilt/height/swivel adjustment.
Yang explained that the arena also has the fastest wired internet access in the whole university, which combines with the fastest PCs and best monitors to produce an unrivaled experience for students – and a significant education component as well with early success of the university’s first major and minor degree programs in Esports management.
