ASUS ROG Swift PG278Q G-SYNC Monitor Review
by Chris Heinonen & Jarred Walton on February 13, 2015 10:00 AM ESTsRGB Data and Bench Tests
Before calibration, the ASUS ROG monitor displays a blue tint to the grayscale but it keeps the overall grayscale errors below the visible error level of 3.0 dE2000. The gamma tracks low, at closer to 2.0 than 2.2, which will give the image a bit more of a washed-out look than the proper gamma will. The larger errors exist in the color gamut, where there is an oversaturation to reds, yellows, oranges, and especially blues. Blue has both a tint and saturation issues, and the errors there grow steadily as the saturation ramps from 0% to 100%. Unfortunately, since the ASUS ROG has no internal LUT, like most displays, these color errors probably cannot be fixed.
For calibration, we use SpectraCal CalMAN 5.3.5 with our own custom workflow. We target 200 cd/m2 of light output with a gamma of 2.2 and the sRGB color gamut, which corresponds to a general real-world use case. The meters used are an i1Pro2 provided by X-Rite and a SpectraCal C6. All measurements use APL 50% patterns except for uniformity testing, which uses full field.
| Pre-Calibration | Post-Calibration, 200 cd/m2 |
Post-Calibration, 80 cd/m2 |
|
| White Level ( cd/m2) | 198.7 | 200.9 | 81.8 |
| Black Level ( cd/m2) | 0.2253 | 0.2246 | 0.0952 |
| Contrast Ratio | 882:1 | 895:1 | 859:1 |
| Gamma (Average) | 2.02 | 1.97 | 2.07 |
| Color Temperature | 6659K | 6515K | 6557K |
| Grayscale dE2000 | 2.48 | 2.47 | 0.76 |
| Color Checker dE2000 | 3.64 | 2.16 | 2.74 |
| Saturations dE2000 | 2.85 |
Post-calibration the gamma and RGB balance are almost perfect. The average grayscale dE2000 falls to below 0.6 which is invisible to the naked eye. The only issue is the contrast ratio, but I believe that is a bad reading at 0% since it is coming out much higher than our black reading at maximum backlight earlier. The contrast ratio should be closer to 850:1 based on the amount of fixing needed for the RGB balance. The 80 cd/m2 measurements will back this up, so this number is just a bad read.
Colors are better, because the luminance values have improved, but the overall errors are still high due to over-saturation of certain colors. Blue continues to be the worst, followed by yellow, with all skin tones on the color checker showing errors close to 3.0. On photos of people they look a bit sunburnt, as the saturation of reds and oranges is too high, compared to a proper display. It isn’t awful, but it isn’t a monitor I would use for photo editing either. Since ASUS positions the ROG for gamers I don’t think this is a big deal as the numbers are close enough. The pre-calibration numbers are really more important here, and those indicate a bit more of this red push than after calibration.
Changing our targets to 80 cd/m2 and the sRGB gamma curve, we see similar results on another calibration. The contrast ratio here is 859:1, indicating there was a bad read earlier on the 200 cd/m2 data. The RGB balance is again perfect though the gamma curve not as much. sRGB is harder to get right, and it is dimmer providing less room for adjustment, so this isn’t surprising.
Colors show the exact same issues as with 200 cd/m2 since adjusting the backlight level doesn’t affect the saturation of the colors. People look like they have gotten a bit too much sun compared to what they should look like. For gaming, where the colors are just imaginary to begin with, I don’t think this is a big problem but it just means it can’t serve double-duty as a display for editing photos or other things. Movies will also look a bit off on it, but no worse than a regular TV will before a calibration.
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OrphanageExplosion - Saturday, February 14, 2015 - link
You know what - I own this monitor and I see where you're coming from. Initially I was quite disappointed. Then I played Battlefield 4 with a decent gaming mouse and you quite literally *feel* the difference then.doggghouse - Tuesday, February 17, 2015 - link
I think if you saw the two side-by-side, you would recognize the difference. But some people really can't tell much of a difference between the two, regardless. One area that really is impacted by higher frame rates is motion blur; if you track the movement of an object on a 60Hz display, it gets blurry due to image persistence (see blurbusters site for more info), but on a 120Hz display the blur is reduced significantly due to the image changing faster to match where it should be relative to your eye movement.nos024 - Saturday, February 14, 2015 - link
Monitor is still on high demand, despite being high priced and QA issues.redmist77 - Sunday, February 15, 2015 - link
I got one of the first ones many months ago. No issues and worth every cent.OrphanageExplosion - Saturday, February 14, 2015 - link
"Even when falling down to 25-30fps, the G-SYNC displays manage to remain smooth when compared to a standard 60Hz display."G-Sync doesn't work under 30fps, or rather it doesn't do anything when frame render time is over 33ms, so not sure where this comment comes from.
I own this monitor and it's stunning for gaming. Sub-60fps though, there's a tight window where the G-Sync illusion (if you can call it that) works. Below 50fps and things start to look a bit wonky. I tried it with 980 SLI where frame-rate zooms up to 90-140fps, and it does a great job there.
Aikouka - Saturday, February 14, 2015 - link
I have a ROG Swift, and I must have been quite lucky to not have any issues... I think. The only weird thing that I ever see with the monitor is that there are times when I'll touch something on my desk or just my desk itself, and the monitor's picture goes black for a second. I've never really figured out exactly what's going on, but it seems like a harmless issue so far.The only complaint that I really have about the monitor is probably the lack of inputs, but I knew that going into it. I had been using my desktop setup with my work laptop where I'd just switch inputs on demand. Well, unless I feel like swapping cables, that's not an option anymore. Although, I did swap from 2x 1080p to 2x 2560x1440, so using a single monitor isn't too bad.
bebimbap - Tuesday, February 17, 2015 - link
I used to have that issue, it was from the DP plug not being in all the way on my vid card.sometimes the case where the vid card sits gets in the way of the DP plug because the housing for the DP cable is thick and needs to be plugged in all the way.
the plug on the monitor side or power plug might have fallen out since most people would plug up their monitor first, then move it back, which might cause unexpected tension on the cables.
yeah, i must have been lucky too, i can't find any dead, stuck pixels and it's been working great. same with my vg248qe, but i did "pray" that my monitor comes without issues for the pg278q
redmist77 - Sunday, February 15, 2015 - link
This is the best monitor I've ever used but only after color calibration. If you can borrow an I1 Display Pro, you'll be in heaven. If you're a full-time desktop publisher you'll probably still want an IPS until OLED monitors become a reality but for anyone else, this is the monitor to own....especially if you appreciate smooth motion, no blur and virtually zero input lag.Hlafordlaes - Sunday, February 15, 2015 - link
I have no issue with mine, except I also had wonderful EU VAT taxes to pay. Well, the USB ports on the back do seem buggy, so I've stopped using them, but otherwise, so glad I chose this monitor for gaming. Unless you really nitpick, movies look fine, too.entrecote - Sunday, February 15, 2015 - link
I am mainly gaming.Before reading further than the headline I scroll down to the stat table and read it is a TN panel. I read no more.
Unless it is a pure LAN machine on a budget I rather look elsewhere than TN.