ASUS MX299Q Monitor Review

All our monitor testing and calibration data is obtained using SpectraCal’s CalMAN 5.1.2 software. Meters used are a SpectraCal C6 colorimeter and an XRite i1Pro spectrometer.

There are many different preset modes on the MX299Q and for once, sRGB didn’t turn out to be the best option. sRGB is accurate but also cuts off access to brightness and all other adjustments. The Standard mode using the default User color setting (100, 100, 100) provided a more accurate mode out-of-box and more adjustments. Because of that it was utilized for all the pre- and post-calibration measurements.

As of this review, I’m no longer including the standard Gamut chart. All of the data that gamut provides is available in the saturations chart, making the Gamut chart redundant. The Gamut error calculation also includes the white-point error in the data, making an accurate grayscale account for 25% of the gamut error. This is included in the Saturations data as well, but accounts for a far smaller amount (1%) of the overall total. I’m also testing a new Saturations error chart that includes far more readings and utilizes a line chart to show the error. The X-axis is missing, but left is 0% saturation and right is 100%.

The pre-calibration numbers are really quite good. The main issue on the ASUS MX299Q is that the gamma isn’t totally linear and there is a red-push that results in poor skin tones. The overall grayscale is good but has too little blue. None of the colors are truly egregious in their error levels but greens and yellows fare the worst overall.

Calibrate it to 200 cd/m^2 and these issues are gone. The gamma is perfectly linear now and the grayscale errors are missing. Skin tones are good and colors are better but green and yellow are a bit over-saturated. The contrast ratios remain incredibly high, and the overall image on-screen looks remarkable.

The sRGB gamma and 80 cd/m^2 calibration provides similar excellent results. There is a bit of a bump at 95% in the gamma but otherwise it is quite good. Green and Yellow maintain a bit of over-saturation but most colors are very accurate.

Looking at these before and after results the MX299Q starts out well but ends up even better. The 21:9 panels are being designed to be capable of incredibly strong overall performance.