ASUS ROG Swift PG278Q G-SYNC Monitor Review
by Chris Heinonen & Jarred Walton on February 13, 2015 10:00 AM ESTDisplay Uniformity
The ASUS ROG display is a bit dim at the top of the display. Overall light levels fall close to 20% compared to the center of the screen. The lower-right corner also has as issue here, as light output falls up to 16% compared to the center. The center of the display is very good overall for light output, just the top 20% and the lower-right corner are dim.
Thankfully the black uniformity shows the same issues here, with drops in black level in the same areas that white level falls. This will provide blacker-blacks here, but more importantly it keeps the contrast ratios similar across the screen. Blacker-blacks are always good, but it could lead to a bit of shadow crush if the backlight is too low for the gamma curve and black floor.
Contrast uniformity is very even across the display. The lowest contrast ratio is 777:1 and the maximum is 947:1 with a median value of 865:1. This is very close to the center measurement so while parts of the screen have an issue with the backlight not being bright enough, overall the uniformity between black and white is good.
The biggest issue is with color uniformity. Since the dE2000 reading takes into account the luminance level of the color, this light fall-off causes the error levels to rise around the screen. The center of the screen is very good, but the top and lower-right cause the median dE2000 error to rise up to 1.65 with an overall average error of 2.15. This certainly isn’t up to the levels of a professional display, but is in line with a gaming display right now. Again, fine for gaming but not for photos.
The ASUS ROG has some definite issues with backlight uniformity that manifest themselves through being too dim at the top and lower-right. This causes a rise in the dE2000 errors for colors as the luminance is too low. The center of the screen, where you’ll look most, is nice and uniform but overall the display is just fair here.
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Zak - Tuesday, March 17, 2015 - link
I paid the nVidia tax too and I love it too but haters will hate. I only spent one evening with it but I gotta say GSync is the best thing that happened to gaming since the SSD. You have to see it to believe it. No tearing, no lag, no sync issues. Perfectly smooth. I was sitting there looking at the Unigine Valley demo for minutes running buttery smooth at around 100fps with my jaw on the floor. Then I fired up Skyrim and OMFG!!! Gaming heaven!But... Yes, the color quality leaves something to be desired, though I'm picking up a used iMac for my photo editing and will strip this PC down to gaming only. You wouldn't want to use this display for photo editing. But for gaming this is huge. I want to play all my games all over again.
Calista - Friday, February 13, 2015 - link
I'm still stunned how hard it seems for the manufacturers to get the USB ports right, especially since Dell was spot on more than ten years ago. Two or more in the back for static equipment, be it a webcam or similar, two along one of the sides for easy access when using a USB memory stick, attaching a camera or what not. http://www.anandtech.com/show/1193/2 Its larger siblings like the 3007WFP made it even better by adding a sd- and cf-reader.Sivar - Friday, February 13, 2015 - link
I've wondered this as well.My Dell 2001FP, which is still in use today despite being 14 years old, was their first to get this right. It's as if other manufacturers don't recognize the value enough to even copy Dell's design, let alone design something as nice themselves.
tential - Friday, February 13, 2015 - link
My dad wanted a new monitor and this was the HARDEST requirement to fill for him. The amount of monitors with 4 USB ports, positioned correctly, is terribly low.Zak - Tuesday, March 17, 2015 - link
Buy a tiny USB hub and attach it under the edge of the monitor with dual-sided sticky tape. I've done on many monitors. Not perfectly pretty but works.bebimbap - Friday, February 13, 2015 - link
The issue with having those kinds of things on the side of the monitor, is you require a thick bezel or one with more depth or both. currently most monitors are going with a thin bezel design both on the edge and in depth. I own the dell 3007 3011 and 2005fpw and they are about 3x as thick around the edge and 2x the depth of the pg278q. The asus "feels" much smaller than other 27" that i have experienced just because of the bezel size. also the screen part of it is much shallower than any other monitor i have used. usually from the edge of the Bezel to the surface of the screen is about 2-7mm depending on the size of the screen but, on the asus i would say 1mm.you can always get a usb hub on your desk, or strapped to the back of the monitor.
as monitors get thinner you'll have a much harder time finding ports in the future.
sf101 - Wednesday, February 18, 2015 - link
This ^^^^^^^^^^Things manufactures are trying to get away from are.
-Side mounted USB's
-Side Mounted Buttons
why?
Thin /slim bezel's for Multi monitor use.
piroroadkill - Saturday, February 14, 2015 - link
The 24" have had an SD reader on the side for a while too. Got a U2410.Dell has always nailed inputs and layout for buttons and so on.
Wardrop - Saturday, February 14, 2015 - link
I wouldn't rave too much about dells button layouts, especially on the U2410. Having a button form the corner of the bezem (or any edge) can cause frustrations. At work I use three of these monitors, and anytime they got bumped, one of them gets switched off because the corner button is inadvertantly pressed in the process.Rolphus - Friday, February 13, 2015 - link
I've got one of these, as part of a big gaming machine update I've been doing. I'd say the assessment is spot on.Colour quality and especially consistency are clearly not in the same league as any halfway reasonable IPS display, but the smoothness you get from a high-refresh panel is lovely, and fast-paced games feel superbly solid. G-Sync is something I'm completely sold on, and having a ULMB 120Hz option for 3D Vision is also really handy for stable images. Sadly you can't mix the two - I'd love for "3D Vision 3" / "G-Sync 2" to be able to vary frame rates and store left and right eye frames on-display so lower frame rates can be doubled up properly, but that's probably wishful thinking, and a niche atop a niche. That's to say nothing of my theory that 3D Vision will probably die a death once there's a consumer desktop VR solution out there.
I also agree that it's a high-priced (perhaps overpriced), niche item - but it doesn't really have any competition at the moment.