[PCM2]

Our review of the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDP is now live. This is a very interesting model, with native 3840 x 2160 (‘4K’ UHD) resolution at 240Hz plus ‘Dual Mode’ functionality (or what they call ‘Frame Rate Boost’) allowing 480Hz Full HD. In many respects it was an enjoyable monitor to use and game on and it was nice to see some improvements to subpixel structure compared to older WOLEDs I’ve tested, for example. There was a touch of masking of dark detail under both SDR and HDR, but nothing extreme. It delivered a generally bright HDR experience for an OLED but wasn’t as strong on the colour gamut or colour volume side as QD-OLEDs. That unfiltered white subpixel ‘dilutes’ the saturation as it brightens. I also found the screen surface a touch grainy for my taste, but it’s something I’m notoriously sensitive to. The responsiveness of the monitor was hard to fault – fantastic at both 240Hz ‘4K’ and 480Hz Full HD. I would’ve preferred more control over sharpness for the Full HD resolution, but that resolution stretched across a screen this large wouldn’t ever look amazing even natively.

Overall it’s an interesting model that comes at a bit of a premium over QD-OLED alternatives (which are stronger in some respects, weaker in others) and will satisfy the needs of some gamers very well. I ultimately enjoyed gaming on it, but personally prefer my AW3225QF QD-OLED. I find the screen surface, enhanced colour gamut and volume and subpixels more to my liking and I don’t really play highly competitive games at way over 240fps to take advantage of the ASUS. I can definitely see some preferring the more consistently bright HDR representation on the ASUS, with less aggressive ABL and indeed medium shade dimming as bright shades start to dominate.

[ac104]

Thanks for another great in-depth, hands-on review.

I got a 31.5″ 144hz IPS (BenQ EX3210U), will an image (ignoring text) from running full screen FHD on my IPS, likely look close to PG32UCDP on “native” (i.e. “Frame Rate Boost” disabled) full screen FHD?
Briefly tried full screen FHD on a few competitive titles on my 32″ IPS, opponents at a distance become harder to spot as compares to in 4k or 1440p on the same monitor. If enabling “Boost” mode on UCDP makes image even blurrier, I am doubting how useful this mode would actually be (to me) in practice.

Personally, I would only need and would only be running full screen (even when playing competitive titles) on OLEDs instead of any cropped aspect ratios in fear of potential “reverse burn-in” (or whatever this phenomenon should be called).

When “Frame Rate Boost” is enabled (FHD 480hz) – a key value proposition for selling at a premium – do pixels become (i.e. versus without “Boost”) incorrectly mapped during full screen same as on cropped aspect ratios and pixel by pixel modes (it looks really blurry)?
It’s quite unfortunate you find “Vivid Pixel” (the only built-in image sharpener at the moment) unhelpful.
Seen users complained the same/similar blurry issue on ROG forum (and elsewhere), judging by the customer service agent’s response, I am not sure whether Asus acknowledges it’s an issue, and if so, can and will fix on upcoming FW updates.

[PCM2]

No problem, ac104.

The image doesn’t become completely pixelated and weird with full screen FHD (using the “Frame Rate Boost” option) in the same way that the cropped aspect ratios and pixel mapped modes do, no. It appears similar to when the “Frame Rate Boost” option isn’t used. It’s a while since I used the EX3210U, but going from memory and based on what I said in the review of that model the PG32UCDP should be roughly in line with the EX3210U running the FHD resolution and sharpness set to the neutral position of ‘5’.

I’ve sometimes seen people claim integer scaling should be used on a ‘4K’ UHD display to “perfectly map” the pixels. But in practice that leads to horrendously blocky-looking pixelated edges that look terrible from close up. It’s only well-suited to certain content and you can achieve that with GPU scaling if you wish (though that’s not an option with “Frame Rate Boost” as the monitor can’t run ‘4K’ UHD 480Hz). The fact the monitor isn’t using that is expected and entirely normal behaviour, so if the complaint is based on that (which it seems to be) the ASUS rep is correct to brush it off. It would be nice if more monitors had that as an option, but it’s not a good default option at all – unlike a good interpolation process with good sharpness flexibility.

[ac104]

Appreciate your attention to detail! The post on integer scaling’s a good read.

Glad that full-screen FHD on the UCDP doesn’t look especially weird with “Boost” enabled, I’ll run FHD on my 32″ IPS from time to time see if I can get used to the lower res for competitive games.

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