Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP review: OLED hits its stride

We spot a bunch of monitors twelvemonth aft twelvemonth packing nan aforesaid panel, but erstwhile Asus puts retired a caller display, I salary attention. It’s been down a ton of nan best gaming monitors money tin bargain complete nan past respective years, and its latest addition, nan PG32UCDP, has nan chops to beryllium alongside them.

It’s nan first dual mode OLED from Asus, allowing you to spell betwixt a 4K show astatine 240Hz and a 1080p show astatine 480Hz astatine nan property of a button. I’ve seen this aforesaid sheet antecedently from LG, but Asus has taken nan sheet further. It’s nan brightest OLED I’ve tested, and it comes pinch a suite of OLED attraction features that are difficult to contend with.

Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP specs

Design

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I’m a instrumentality of nan creation Asus has stuck pinch for its ROG Swift displays this year. As nan institution has done for years, nan show is raised disconnected your table pinch a metallic tri-point stand, nan guidelines of which has an LED built successful that casts an ROG logo onto your desk. The limb that connects to your show tin swivel connected apical of nan stand, and it gives you a coagulated scope of adjustment, including 30 degrees of swivel and 25 degrees of tilt.

On apical of nan stand, you besides get a 1/4-inch equine for attaching conscionable astir thing you want. Most commonly, you’ll connect a tripod caput truthful you tin person a due camera connected apical of your display, but you tin besides usage it equine a microphone, a light, aliases conscionable astir thing else. If you don’t attraction for nan guidelines — which would beryllium a shame since Asus is 1 of nan fewer brands that puts a batch of thought into nan guidelines creation — you tin ditch it for a 100mm x 100mm VESA mount, arsenic well.

Even without nan goodies for illustration nan 1/4-inch equine and lighting, I emotion nan look of nan PG32UCDP erstwhile it’s each group up. Because of nan lifted feet of nan stand, nan show covers most, if not all, of nan information that really connects to nan monitor. You don’t spot a vertical file supra aliases beneath your display.

Features

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Impressive arsenic nan PG32UCDP is — much connected that beneath — Asus arsenic a marque isn’t supra stuffing AI features into nan display. The features scope from full gimmicks to 1 neat idea, though I don’t deliberation immoderate of them are going to sway a buying decision.

The astir useful characteristic by acold is called AI Visual. It picks up whatever’s connected your surface and automatically adjusts nan image profile, moreover blending different image profiles together. It’s not automatic, truthful you don’t person to interest astir nan show automatically adjusting itself unless you explicitly show it to.

The different features are a spot gimmicky. You get AI Crosshair, which is your modular on-screen crosshair you’ll find successful conscionable astir immoderate gaming monitor, isolated from nan colour adjusts depending connected what’s down it. Then there’s AI Sniper, which automatically zooms into targets successful FPS games. Finally, there’s MOBA Map Helper, which tin flash nan representation successful a crippled for illustration League of Legends whenever a conflict breaks out.

They each activity to varying degrees — I recovered AI Crosshair nan astir accordant — but nan AI features aren’t a large trading constituent here. I chiefly utilized AI Visual, which was decent astatine adjusting nan image betwixt my desktop and games. It would spell a small acold erstwhile pulling up immoderate videos pinch vibrant colors, flushing nan surface retired pinch an oversaturated look, but I fishy that’s thing Asus tin proceed to refine complete time.

Ports and menu

I don’t want to discarded a batch of clip here. For ports, you’re getting a azygous DisplayPort 1.4 larboard and 2 HDMI 2.1 ports. It’s nan modular setup — nary DisplayPort 2.1. However, for illustration different Asus monitors, you’re free to move disconnected nan lossless Display Stream Compression (DSC) utilized connected nan DisplayPort relationship if you choose.

The OSD useful a treat, pinch a precocious solution and plentifulness of size to spot your settings.

I want to talk astir nan nosy worldly — nan USB-C port. Asus has made USB-C a captious characteristic connected its PG-series displays, and it’s moreover shown up connected monitors for illustration ROG Strix XG27AQDMG. You tin usage USB-C arsenic an input via DisplayPort Alt mode, and nan show tin present up to 90 watts of powerfulness done nan USB-C connection. Even better, Asus includes a KVM move truthful you tin switch your peripherals betwixt nan USB-C relationship and different input automatically.

For that, you’ll request to usage nan built-in USB hub, which is packed pinch 3 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports. That’s important. Most monitors person a USB hub, but very fewer really person high-speed USB ports. You’re getting 3 5Gbps ports here, allowing you to connect a webcam aliases moreover an other difficult thrust without a monolithic nonaccomplishment successful speed.

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Asus has a coagulated on-screen show (OSD), but you astir apt won’t interact pinch it much. The overmuch much convenient measurement to power nan show is pinch Display Widget Center — Asus’ desktop app that lets you return power of your show settings pinch a keyboard and mouse. If you’re a heathen for illustration maine and can’t beryllium bothered to download different app, however, nan OSD useful a treat, pinch a precocious solution and plentifulness of size to spot your settings.

I person an rumor pinch Asus’ naming conventions, though. There are conscionable immoderate unusual decisions. For instance, nan default image mode is nan Racing mode, and for nary clear reason. And nan brightest HDR mode is Console HDR, arsenic opposed to Cinema HDR aliases Gaming HDR. In addition, nan dual refresh complaint characteristic is called FPS Boost, which makes sense, but it’s still a spot of an opaque name. Getting to nan settings is very easy, but if you’re not privy to these weird naming conventions, you’ll person to spell done a batch of proceedings and error.

Image quality

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The PG32UCDP uses a WOLED sheet from LG Display, and it’s nan aforesaid sheet I checked retired successful nan LG UltraGear Dual Mode OLED. A show is much than conscionable a panel, however, and nan PG32UCDP is impervious of that. Although it falls successful a akin scope to nan UltraGear display, Asus really comes retired somewhat up connected colour coverage, colour accuracy, and moreover highest brightness.

Coverage is precisely wherever I’d expect it to beryllium — 100% of sRGB, precocious 80s for AdobeRGB, and 97% of DCI-P3. That’s almost identical to what I saw pinch LG’s display, and it’s connected nan money for different OLED displays, ranging from a WOLED show for illustration nan Sony InZone M10S to a caller QD-OLED for illustration nan MSI MPG 321URX.

The much absorbing comparison is colour accuracy. Samsung Display has undoubtedly won this procreation pinch its QD-OLED panels, but nan WOLED successful nan PG32UCDP still isn’t bad. I wouldn’t usage it for aggravated colour activity retired of nan box, however, pinch a colour correction good supra 1, moreover successful nan sRGB Cal mode. A QD-OLED sheet for illustration nan Alienware 32 QD-OLED provides overmuch amended colour accuracy retired of nan box, going a decent measurement beneath a colour correction of 0.5.

After calibrating nan display, I was capable to get beneath a colour correction of 1, which is good. You tin surely usage this show for colour work, beryllium it for photos aliases video, but I’d powerfully urge calibrating it up of time. The colour accuracy isn’t bad by immoderate means, but location are overmuch amended options if that’s your superior concern.

On nan brightness front, nan PG32UCDP is unmatched. In HDR, it managed to deed 1,229 nits, which is nan highest consequence I’ve ever recorded for an OLED monitor. Unfortunately, location are immoderate clear trade-offs for larger model sizes. Even moving from 1% of nan surface to 4% of nan screen, nan PG32UCDP loses much than half of its brightness. You get immoderate insanely agleam highlights here, but nan HDR image isn’t importantly brighter than SDR crossed nan board.

You tin spot that by comparing my SDR results to my HDR results. Up to a 10% window, nan PG32UCDM kisses 400 nits, and astatine a 10% model successful HDR, it’s only up by 74 nits. Still, we’ve travel a agelong measurement pinch OLED complete nan past year. For nan PG32UCDP, you’re getting 400 nits, which is plentifulness agleam successful SDR, while first-gen OLED monitors for illustration nan LG UltraGear OLED 27 struggled to moreover support 250 nits successful SDR.

Gaming

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Gaming connected a 32-inch 4K show is incredible, particularly erstwhile it’s OLED. It’s nan cleanable size, nan cleanable pixel density, and cleanable HDR experience, astatine slightest pinch nan tech we person now. As you’d expect from a high-end gaming monitor, you besides get G-Sync Compatible certification, and afloat FreeSync Premium Pro, truthful you’ll person adaptable refresh complaint sloppy of what graphics paper you have.

The large woody present is nan dual refresh complaint feature, however. You tin usage nan show astatine 4K and 240Hz, aliases trim nan solution down to 1080p astatine 480Hz. Going from 4K down to 1080p — you’re losing a ton of pixels. However, nan nonaccomplishment isn’t arsenic terrible successful believe arsenic it whitethorn look connected paper. When going to 1080p, each artifact of 4 pixels fundamentally move into 1 bigger pixel, truthful nan 1080p mode looks shockingly sharp. It’s a measurement down from from 4K, for sure, but not arsenic large of a measurement arsenic I expected.

The thought present is clear. You’ll usage nan 4K mode pinch astir games, from Cyberpunk 2077 to Alan Wake 2, and you tin quickly switch complete to 480Hz if you want to play Valorant or Overwatch 2. There’s a legit usage lawsuit present for nan dual refresh complaint feature, but I’m not judge it’s worthy nan other cost. This is simply a $1,300 monitor, while different 32-inch 4K OLEDs for illustration nan MSI MPG 321URX and Alienware 32 QD-OLED tin beryllium recovered beneath $1,000 — and they some still travel pinch a 240Hz refresh rate.

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The astir nonstop competition, however, is Asus’ ain PG32UCDM, which is fundamentally nan QD-OLED type of this show without nan dual refresh complaint feature. It, too, will group you backmost $1,300, truthful successful that context, nan value really isn’t excessively bad.

Still, I person a difficult clip justifying a dual refresh complaint erstwhile location are cheaper 32-inch OLEDs from different brands — peculiarly considering nan 240Hz refresh complaint these monitors already pack. If you’re successful nan marketplace for this people of display, salary adjacent attraction to nan games you scheme to play. There are only a prime fewer titles that moreover use from a 480Hz refresh rate, truthful make judge they’re connected your shortlist earlier picking up nan PG32UCDP.

Warranty and burn-in

Asus has established 1 of nan astir cohesive suites of burn-in mitigation features successful nan industry, which it rounds up nether nan “OLED Care” banner. For starters, you get a pixel cleaning feature, which nan show will punctual you astir astatine prime intervals — you tin move disconnected nan reminder — arsenic good arsenic a screensaver that will footwear successful aft nan surface has been idle.

The much absorbing features spell deeper. Asus includes pixel shifting pinch different accommodation levels, arsenic good arsenic a characteristic that observe and automatically dim fixed elements connected your screen. That includes a HUD successful games, and besides things for illustration your taskbar. Additionally, Asus includes its azygous brightness feature. This limits nan brightness of nan show beautiful drastically, but it besides ensures that immoderate parts of nan surface aren’t burning successful faster than others.

These other features are great, though you’ll beryllium good pinch conscionable a screensaver and nan occasional pixel cleaning.  The large woody is that Asus includes a three-year warranty pinch nan show that covers burn-in. You shouldn’t tally into burn-in wrong 3 years, but it’s a bully backup successful lawsuit you get a show that degrades faster than expected.

The champion dual mode monitor

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As is nan lawsuit pinch nan LG UltraGear Dual Mode OLED, astir buyers are amended disconnected redeeming a spot of money by going pinch a regular 32-inch 4K show alternatively than spending up specifically for nan dual mode feature. It’s useful, and it looks great, but it’s difficult to warrant erstwhile location are now 4K OLEDs beneath $1,000.

However, if you request nan dual refresh rates, this is nan champion show I’ve seen pinch nan feature. It’s nan brightest, astir feature-packed, and it comes pinch nan fantabulous creation and support chops that has made Asus conscionable a mammoth successful nan industry.