[PCM2]

ASUS Pros:

– The ASUS includes a heatsink which, according to the manufacturer, can aid brightness and reduce image retention risk. It also means it doesn’t require active cooling from the fan. The LG’s fan was a low-powered one which we found unobtrusive, but I appreciate some people prefer that there isn’t a fan. They view it as something else to worry about potentially ‘going wrong’ in the future and some people with entirely silent systems and who are sensitive to such noises might not like it. Point to ASUS.

– The ASUS offers superior SDR brightness levels and is free from any real ABL (Automatic Brightness Limiter) there. The LG’s brightness is more limited, and it shows slightly greater fluctuations – or significantly more depending on the preset and settings used (see point below). The brightness should still be sufficient for many users on the LG, as most will set their monitor between 100 – 200 nits for normal SDR usage. Well done ASUS for pushing this panel well!

– The LG shows more aggressive ABL (Automatic Brightness Limiter) behaviour than the ASUS. How aggressive it is depends on the settings used – it’s minimised using ‘Gamer 1’ if you also disable ‘Smart Energy Saving’ and keep the contrast at the default of ‘60’. A separate issue is a weird feature called CPC (Convex Power Control) which dims the screen at the edges and particularly towards the corners to conserve power when certain content is displayed. We noticed this on the desktop quite frequently and could record the behaviour using a colorimeter with enough bright content present, but didn’t find it a problem for gaming or video content. It could potentially activate with darker shade combinations and may be visible in certain game or video scenes. Either way, it’s an odd feature and should be something a user can disable easily in the OSD instead of having to access the service menu. Point to ASUS for the excellent ‘Uniform Brightness’ setting and not including a weird feature like CPC.

– The ASUS had a better white point out of the box (though not perfect for the 6500K target) – the LG was way off base, requiring large corrections which also ate away at the maximum brightness a bit. Point for ASUS.

– The ASUS offers a more flexible sRGB emulation setting which doesn’t restrict any other setting in the OSD, which is neat in its own way. The LG still allows brightness and colour channel adjustment, at least. And one more ASUS point.

LG Pros:

– The mitigation measures (‘OLED Care’) are slightly better implemented on the LG overall, in my view. The ‘Pixel Move’ feature was less obtrusive on LG as the image moved around in a more gradual and less displaced fashion. So we were happy to leave it on with the LG but had to disable it on the ASUS – mileage may vary. The LG has automatic scheduling for its maintenance cycles, whereas the maintenance cycle of the ASUS has to be run manually – which is less convenient. On the flipside some may appreciate the ‘Adjust Logo Brightness’ feature of the ASUS as an additional measure which can be easily activated or deactivated. The ‘Screen Saver’ feature worked well on both screens, though I liked the way the screen blanked completely after 10 minutes on the LG rather than just dimming. Overall advantage to LG.

– The ‘Black Stabilizer’ on the LG could be raised slightly to give a small but still welcome increase in dark detail, without negative consequences. The setting couldn’t be raised very much without odd moving artifacts being introduced and eventually raised black depth. On the ASUS, the ‘Shadow Boost’ setting couldn’t be raised at all without raising black depth noticeably. Point for LG.

– The LG provides superior HDR colour calibration. The ASUS showed a muddying of some shades and various imbalances, more noticeable in some scenes than others. This was using MCM103 firmware on the ASUS and an RTX 3090 – it’s possible things are worse with the RTX 40 series on the ASUS using MCM103. A few days ago (just before posting this thread), ASUS released MCM104 firmware which we can’t test ourselves (request for user feedback) as we no longer have access to the monitor, but they note: “Optimize HDR color accuracy and 30% color saturation improvement”. Based on what I could test, point for LG.

– Full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and features on the LG, whereas just ‘HDMI 2.1 VRR’ for the ASUS. This means you can run the LG at its native QHD 240Hz via HDMI (120Hz on ASUS) as well as ‘4K’ UHD 120Hz with its downsampling mode (60Hz on ASUS). Advantage LG.

– The LG supports hardware calibration in a very quick and convenient way via ‘LG Calibration Studio’, which is neat for users with a compatible calibration device. One more LG point.

Neutral:

– The IR remote of the LG offered a convenient and intuitive way to control the OSD, but the very limited functionality offered by the OSD control joystick is a strange decision. It would be useful to have full OSD access with this joystick as a backup, in case you lose the remote or need to replace the batteries and there is some down time before you get replacements sorted. The ‘OnScreen Control’ software offers more functionality than the joystick but less than the remote. Point for LG for convenience, removed for the possible inconvenience if remote is ‘inoperable’ or ‘unavailable’.

– Design elements are of course subjective. The ASUS has its obvious ROG styling elements, including lighting and the rather chunky stand design won’t be to everyone’s taste. The glossy lilac bar beneath the bottom bezel of the LG might not float your boat, either. The LG’s screen can be placed ~1.74 inches closer to the wall than the ASUS with the included stands, by my calculations. The ASUS has a half-length ‘power brick’, whereas the LG’s is full length so takes up more space. I know that can be an important consideration for some, whereas others won’t care. Both models had ‘annoying’ lighting features on the rear. Annoying because they were difficult to actually appreciate from the front – the pretty logo on the ASUS is only visible to the wall and the misleadingly named ‘Hexagon Lighting’ of the LG is too weak to illuminate the wall effectively. Though it still adds a bit of ambience. Subjective, so draw.

Conclusion:

So conveniently, I make that 5 points each. 😉 Of course, there is more to consider with either model and this whole ‘points’ thing was just a bit of fun. Everything will be weighted differently depending on personal preferences, so I’d highly recommend reading and perhaps watching the reviews of both the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM and LG UltraGear 27GR95QE-B to get a full flavour for what both models offer.

[papyrcat]

Do you have any insights on the Corsair XENEON 27QHD240? From what I’ve gathered it’s the same panel but with a more elucidated warranty regarding burn in and pixel problems, and perhaps a bit less aggressive tuning than the ASUS in regards to peak brightness.

[PCM2]

No experience with or feedback to share on the 27QHD240, but it does use the same panel yes.

[VirtualBoost]

Hi there!

Sorry for hijacking the thread a bit but I’m a bit at a loss. I purchased the PG27AQDM and during the same day that I received it, I had severe image retention/burn in. This has been documented here in case anybody is interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED_Gaming/comments/132k12r/had_the_new_asus_pg27aqdm_for_a_day_already/

This led me to then contact Asus Support in Japan, which wasn’t a very pleasant experience. That has been slightly documented in the thread above and more in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED_Gaming/comments/13pb08z/update_on_my_rma_on_the_asus_pg27aqdm_asus_japan/

In any case, the story finally came to an end as I received word from Asus that since they didn’t have any monitors in stock to replace my copy with, I would receive the full amount as a refund which I accepted.

However, this now leaves me at a loss, since I was excited for an OLED gaming monitor and was looking forward to had a new, working copy of the PG27AQDM. So, I wanted to see with you guys what I should do:

• Purchase a new Asus PG27AQDM and hope that the monitor is better than my previous. But considering my experience with Asus Support, this seems like the worst option. Also, it seems to be completely sold out in Japan anywhere that I look
• Purchase a LG 27GR95QE instead. It seems that this monitor is more safe than the Asus one, but I worry about the SDR brightness and if the ABL is annoying, since it doesn’t have the “Uniform Brightness” setting.
• Hold out until a new revision or the next wave of OLED gaming monitors come out.

Now I know of course that I have to decide for myself in the end, but I would greatly appreciate any insight regarding what the better option (in my case) would be.

[PCM2]

Hey VirtualBoost,

Not hijacking this thread at all, you’re very welcome to post here. That sounds like a very unfortunate and annoying unit-specific issue and not something I’d expect to see broadly on the PG27AQDM. Even if you use the monitor normally for a much longer period (ideally a number of years) you shouldn’t expect that sort of thing to occur.

So I’d definitely agree with the “panel failure” side of things here. It’s true ASUS pushes the panel harder, but that alone shouldn’t account for what you saw. If you really liked the monitor or like the monitor aside from that, I’d say it’s worth giving it another shot eventually if you “need to”. But if returns are a possibility for you why not try a 27GR95QE? That’s really the only way to know if it’s suitable for you or not and that’s something you should work out pretty quickly in terms of the brightness for example. That way you’ll also have peace of mind that you won’t have to deal with the support team for ASUS Japan you found so problematic last time, which I feel is important.

[VirtualBoost]

Thank you for your reply! Unfortunately, returns are unheard of in Japan and stores will usually just point you to the maker directly for any issues that occur, so that is what makes the decision a bit risky.

I understand if it is hard for you to answer, but I used the PG27AQDM at 80% brightness in SDR, can I reach a similar brightness with the 27GR95QE (with the firmware that supposedly increase brightness slightly)?

[PCM2]

That’s pretty easy to answer in some ways actually as the data is in the respective reviews. 😉 At 80% brightness (defaults with ‘Uniform Brightness’ on) the PG27AQDM was recorded as 211 – 213 nits. The 27GR95QE was recorded as 187 – 204 nits using ‘Gamer 1’ with minimised ABL. So it’s not quite as bright, but not miles away either. What makes the answer less straightforward is that you have to factor in the CPC on the LG explored in the review and mentioned earlier in this thread, which will dim the edges and particularly corners a bit for some content as well. I do suspect you’ll find the LG looks somewhat dimmer compared to what you’re used to on the ASUS, but whether it’s too dim or something you wouldn’t get used to is hard to say.

[cxmae]

Do you think it would be possible to add a brightness stabilizer similarly to how the CORSAIR OLED in a software update?

[PCM2]

The ‘Brightness Stabilizer’ on the 27QHD240 is similar in principle to the ‘Uniform Brightness’ setting of the PG27AQDM. Though I haven’t seen data on how much brightness still fluctuates with that setting active or how bright the monitor can go, so I can’t say it’s equally effective. User comments seem to suggest it dims the screen significantly when enabled and they subjectively consider it “too dim”, so I don’t think it’s equivalent. And I don’t see LG adding a similar setting, though the ABL behaviour using ‘Gamer 1’ set up per the review is fairly minimal anyway and I don’t see them pushing up brightness further.

[cxmae]

Ah, I see. I’m really tempted to return the LG OLED and go for the ASUS OLED as the CPC is driving me nuts at times. Is there anything I should worry about with the asus? I also play on console a lot but also use my pc to game on.

[PCM2]

The points of comparison and relative strengths and weaknesses are all covered in this thread. Even with the latest MCM104 firmware the ASUS doesn’t seem to match the HDR colour experience of the LG. And one person even suggested it made their SDR colour experience worse. Although they weren’t specific on why and I’m not sure if it was just a calibration issue. If you just want a nice all-round OLED experience with a more LCD-like brightness control on the desktop (i.e. no CPC and no real ABL) then the ASUS is worth a try.

Edit: Tim’s Monitors Unboxed testing of MCM104 seems to show some solid improvements and he specifically noted there were no significant changes for him for SDR content comparing the firmware versions. For reference, his current test rigs use the RTX 3070 and RX 6700 XT. So it’s possible performance still lags a bit on the RTX 40 series, but I only have user anecdotes to go by there.

[cxmae]

I read your LG review and saw that you tried accessing the service menu but turning off CPC wasn’t there due to settings not showing. I read that enabling AGING should show you all the options that you can disable/enable. Could you maybe check it out for me and report back? Thanks!

[PCM2]

Good news – that’s absolutely right. You can indeed disable CPC, with the caveat that you need to do it again if you turn the monitor off or it loses power. I’ve amended the section of the written review covering CPC to highlight the process of disabling it for those who wishing to do so:

“This monitor includes a feature called CPC (Convex Power Control) which is also found on various LG OLED TVs. This causes the screen to dim towards the edges, mainly near the corners, to reduce power consumption at the expense of uniformity. This can come into play most noticeably where bright shades dominate, including on the desktop when a lot of white space is displayed. It may also appear at times with darker shade combinations. It didn’t activate during this test [Datacolor Spyder uniformity test], even if we shifted the corner measurement area so it was very close to the bezels. That’s because the test includes a white square with most of the screen showing black. The Datacolor SpyderX software’s colour channel adjustment page includes a lot of white space. Here, we measured ~160 cd/m² for the centre and ~130 cd/m² towards the corners of the screen. Indicating that the corners are ~23% dimmer than centre. Interestingly the image ‘stabilised’ and the corners brightened up to ~160 cd/m² after 30 seconds or so. CPC can create a sort of ‘vignette’ when it activates – some people won’t notice this and it doesn’t look all that different to an average LCD in terms of brightness uniformity. But it stood out to us compared to other OLED models we tested, more so on the desktop where it’s more readily noticed. CPC can be disabled in the service menu using certain remote controls (MKJ39170828). With this remote you can access the service menu by pressing ‘IN START’ which on the remote we used was above and to the left of the navigational button. Set ‘AGING’ to ‘ON’ (1), close the service menu and re-open it, then enter the ‘DEBUG Module OLED’ section (2). From there, set ‘CPC enable’ to ‘OFF’ (3) and back out of the service menu. We’d recommend being careful not to change additional settings in the service menu and if possible setting everything up how it was (including setting ‘AGING’ to ‘OFF’) if you need to send your monitor in for service for any reason. This setting should really be something the user can easily disable, even in the normal OSD, as there’s no tangible real-world benefit to this setting aside from a slight reduction in power consumption. Some other models sharing the panel (such as the PG27AQDM) don’t have such a feature.”

– The monitor will not automatically run its cleaning cycles with ‘AGING’ set to ‘ON’ (prerequisite for CPC), so they should be periodically run manually. It will not give messages to say the cycle is complete or hasn’t been completed – the ‘hexagon lighting’ will cycle various colours when the cycle is active and stop when complete. The ‘DEBUG module OLED’ section of the service menu shows how long the monitor has been in use since the last ‘Image clean’ (recommended after 240 minutes or 4 hours) and ‘Pixel clean’ (recommended after 30,000 minutes or 500 hours – around 2 months with 8 hours per day usage) cycles have run.

– If you run a cleaning cycle, power off the monitor, it loses power because Windows sends it to sleep (‘Turn off display after’) or because a signal is lost CPC will re-enable itself. We found the setting remained enabled if the system was shut down for a brief period, perhaps under an hour.

[papyrcat]

I have the Corsair variant right now (Xeneon 27QHD240) and coming from my CHG70, it is worlds beyond what that panel was capable of. Unfortunately one area in which it is not absolutely excelling is full screen brightness. I know you’ve not tested this one in particular but apparently the brightness is similar to the LG model. Would you say the jump in nits from ~150 to 250 on (for example) the ASUS is a significant uplift to performance in brighter scenes? Not expecting LCD levels of light, just a bit more consistency. Usually (unless you are web browsing full screen) its not very noticeable but there are occasions when the weakness becomes very apparent. Games like The Finals with vibrant, single color backgrounds leave everything looking quite dimmer than intended.

Since the ASUS is unavailable and their warranty is…questionable, I have found the AW3423DWF to be on sale for the same price which I acquired this monitor for, and I hear it has comparable SDR brightness to the ASUS 27″. I previously avoided the ultrawide space for fear of compatibility issues with videos, shows and games but I can’t deny it still seems quite appealing, plus is backed by Dell’s excellent burn in guarantee, so I’m considering doing a swap at this point. Would you say the image quality would be much improved? At $1000 for either screen, and given the excellent reviews with the Alienware models (plus I believe the F variant has firmware able to updated on the consumer end and less input lag than its older brother) its starting to seem like a no-brainer.

[PCM2]

From what you describe, I’m not really sure the 27QHD240 is providing a similar experience to the LG. Per the 27GR95QE review, it is able to sustain 187 – 204 nits and is actually at the brighter end of this as brighter shades dominate, using ‘Gamer 1’ and with ‘Smart Energy Saving’ disabled. Visually, it’s quite consistent especially when gaming. The Corsair sounds like it’s using far more aggressive ABL and is dimming significantly where brighter shades even start to dominate – have you tried using the ‘Brightness Stabilizer’ setting of the Corsair? As for whether ~250 nits with minimal fluctuation would be sufficient – very subjective. As is whether the QD-OLED ultrawides would ‘wow’ you a lot more than the 27″ WOLED models. I do prefer the experience of them myself, especially for immersive single player gaming (and for that matter just on the desktop), and I share some thoughts on that in the conclusions of the ASUS and LG reviews. For competitive gaming and where the 240Hz refresh rate and smaller form factor of the 27″ models can be enjoyed, they definitely have their place as well.

With respect to the AW3423DW, I wouldn’t really refer to this as the “older version” as the release was only ~4 months apart, it uses the same panel and has some differences to focus on that are more interesting than the slight age gap such as the G-SYNC module. The main differences are explored in this thread and I feel too many other reviewers brush over the difference the G-SYNC module can actually make (for some people). And per this thread, most people I’ve engaged with don’t have an issue with the input lag of the ‘DW’ model so that’s something that’s often blown out of proportion as well – and is certainly a non-issue for non-competitive gaming in my book. Nonetheless, you’ve tested a sufficient number of models without a G-SYNC module under VRR including some which will exhibit VRR flickering and don’t seem to be sensitive to any weaknesses from the lack of G-SYNC module. This applies to most people (though not everyone) in which case if the AW3423DWF is significantly cheaper in your market it is the better buy – either model is likely to provide an experience you’ll really enjoy if you like 34″ ultrawides and don’t mind the brightness limitations.

[PCM2]

Would just like to share this feedback regarding the LG in comparison to the ASUS for HDR, using MCM104 firmware and an RTX 4090 where the user much preferred colour output on the LG under HDR. This makes me increasingly convinced there are RTX 40-specific issues on the ASUS. I certainly preferred the LG to ASUS on my RTX 3090 in terms of HDR colour output, but MCM104 should improve this on the ASUS and feedback from RTX 30 series users (and reviewers) seems to remain more positive than for RTX 40 series users. I just wish somebody who upgraded from an RTX 30 to RTX 40 series and has access to the monitor could verify if there are differences here:

“Used LG 27″ returned it and Got Asus today. compared to LG, ASUS {colors are kinda less contrasty and washed} is no way near LG in HDR. Using RTX 4090 in DP – by default brightness was showing as 446 nit in Windows 11 display settings. Using windows HDR calibration app from windows store I set the brightness to 900nit. But image still looked miles better in HDR on LG. HDR was tested in forza horizon 5 and Elden Ring. Regretting with ASUS purchase now. Firmware MCM104”.

See replies to one of my comments starting “Could anybody with clearly “washed out colours” under HDR…“ on this video for more.

[cxmae]

Is there any risks on disabling CPC except having more power consumption? Is it more likely to burn in? Also thank you for confirming for me that you can access the service menu by enabling AGING.

[PCM2]

As I said: “there’s no tangible real-world benefit to this setting aside from a slight reduction in power consumption. Other models sharing the panel (such as the PG27AQDM) don’t have such a feature.” That’s my take anyway, I’m not aware of any specific risks and it’s something I choose to disable (now I know how to) when using the LG myself. 🙂

[cxmae]

Cool! I’ve disabled it as well as I just received my remote. Hoping no issues occure while having it off👍

[PCM2]

Tim from Monitors Unboxed has now posted a video review of the Corsair Xeneon 27QHD240. Some observations:

– Tim liked the design and well-labelled OSD with ‘proximity detection’ working well. This is designed to put up OSD labels when you’re fingers are near the controller. Praise also goes towards comprehensive 3-year warranty including burn-in cover.

– The usual low input lag and exceptionally rapid pixel responses.

– 131 nits maximum (100% white window) brightness under SDR with ABL minimised (‘Brightness Stabilizer’ enabled). As a reminder, the LG is closer to 200 nits and ASUS 250 nits there. So the Corsair is definitely limited in that respect, even if some will be fine with it. I wouldn’t be able to set that monitor to my preferred ‘Test Settings’ brightness of 160 nits.

– ‘Brightness Stabilizer’ is controlled universally – generally you’d want this enabled for SDR for maximum consistency but disabled for HDR for maximum brightness. So it should be something you can set individually for SDR and HDR. This reminds me of recent discussions about local dimming settings being set in a similar way on some Mini LED models.

– SDR gamma is a bit wonky but decent white point on unit tested.

– sRGB mode is nice and flexible (can adjust brightness and colour channels) and, gamma aside, tuned pretty well.

– HDR calibration is a bit wonky both in terms of PQ curve (some shades darker and some brighter than intended) and colour accuracy. Brightness performance largely in-line with LG model there, falling short of the ASUS alternative.

– HDMI 2.1 offered, bandwidth limited to 24 Gbps rather than the full 48 Gbps.

[Author]

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