ASUS PG32UCDP Review: 4K 240Hz OLED Gaming Monitor With 1080p 480Hz Dual Mode

The ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDP is a 31.5″ 4K 240Hz gaming monitor based on LG’s W-OLED panel with the improved RGWB subpixel layout, MLA+ (Micro Lens Array) technology and the 1080p 480Hz Dual Mode!

While it doesn’t have hardware calibration support and Pixel Sound integrated speakers like LG’s 32GS95UE model, it offers a USB-C port with 90W PD, integrated KVM, a heatsink for passive cooling instead of a fan, ELMB support up to 120Hz and better 3-year warranty!

Here’s everything else you need to know about it.

Image Quality

The 4K UHD resolution displayed on the 31.5″ viewable screen of the ASUS PG32UCDP provides you with a high pixel density of roughly 140 PPI (pixels per inch).

As a result, you get plenty of screen real estate with incredibly sharp details and text. Some users prefer to use scaling with this pixel density, but we find that 100% (no scaling) is usable as well since text won’t be too small.

Next, the monitor uses a panel with LG’s newer RGWB (instead of the old RWBG) subpixel layout, which in combination with the high pixel density completely eliminates the previous issues with noticeable fringing on small text and fine details.

By enabling the Frame Rate Boost in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu, the monitor switches to the 1080p 480Hz mode. The higher refresh rate provides you with a noticeable bump in motion clarity in comparison to 240Hz, which makes it ideal for undemanding competitive FPS games.

Now – when using the 1080p 480Hz mode, the image will be blurrier due to the lower pixel density of 70 PPI. However, this isn’t that noticeable in games and videos, so a lot of gamers won’t really mind it.

You can also use the 24.5″ and 27″ Simulation modes that emulate those screen sizes with black borders around the image.

Sadly, the image is even blurrier in these modes and you cannot use VRR, so we recommend sticking with the native mode and placing the screen a bit further away.

ASUS also has a Pixel by Pixel option, but it emulates the screen size as 16″, which is too small and ends up looking pixelated as well.

Moving on, the W-OLED panel of the monitor provides you with a wide 98.5% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage for vibrant colors, true 10-bit color depth support for smooth gradients without banding, 178° wide viewing angles and per-pixel dimming, resulting in true blacks and an infinite contrast ratio.

You also get professional-grade Delta E < 2 factory calibration and an sRGB emulation mode for proper SDR accuracy that avoids over-saturation.

The W-OLED panel uses MLA+ technology to improve brightness performance, capable of reaching up to 1300-nits for small < 3% APL (Average Picture Level, white window test size) and 800-nits for 10% APL for HDR – and 275-nits for 100% APL for HDR and SDR.

To avoid ABL (Automatic Brightness Limiter) or changes in brightness depending on how bright the content is, you should enable the Unfirm Brightness mode – this will limit the brightness to around 275-nits in the SDR mode.

With Uniform Brightness disabled, the screen can reach up to 450-nits, but the brightness will change according to APL – you might want to use this in games that don’t support HDR, but during regular desktop use, Uniform Brightness should be enabled.

There are fourHDR modes: Gaming, Cinema, Console and DisplayHDR 400 True Black. The True Black mode is the most accurate, but it limits the brightness to ~450-nits. We recommend using the Gaming mode and increasing ‘Adjustable HDR’ setting to 100 for the best HDR viewing experience.

This allows the monitor to get more than bright enough under normal lighting conditions – however, if you plan on using the screen in a particularly bright room with studio lighting or facing a big window without curtains, you should consider a brighter mini LED-backlight monitor.

Further, note that while Samsung’s QD-OLED panels have a lower specified brightness of 1000-nits < 3% APL, 450-nits 10% APL and 250-nits 100% APL, these measures refer to white luminance.

QD-OLED panels actually have a higher color luminance and a wider color gamut, resulting in more saturated and brighter colors – and therefore a higher perceived brightness.

Regardless, both W-OLED and QD-OLED panels offer an excellent HDR viewing experience with punchy highlights and vibrant colors.

Next, just like all OLED displays, there’s a risk of permanent image burn-in. Basically, if you leave an image with bright static elements on the screen for too long, there’s a chance those elements might become permanently visible as an afterimage. As long as you use the monitor sensibly and play varied content, it shouldn’t be an issue.

ASUS offers a 3-year warranty that covers burn-in, as well as plenty of OLED Care features that help prevent burn-in occurrence, such as Screen Saver, Auto Logo Brightness, Pixel Cleaning and Screen Move.

Performance

OLED displays have instantaneous pixel response time speed, resulting in blur-free fast-paced motion regardless of the refresh/frame rate. There are no ghosting or overshoot visual artifacts behind fast-moving objects.

Additionally, the ASUS PG32UCDP has low input latency of only ~2ms at 240Hz and ~1ms at 480Hz, so there’s no perceptible delay between your actions and the result on the screen.

The screen is also flicker-free and there’s a dedicated low-blue light filter mode available (as well as a hardware solution).

Variable refresh rate is supported via AMD FreeSync Premium, NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible and HDMI 2.1 VRR for tear-free gameplay up to 240FPS at 4K or 480FPS at 1080p.

Alternatively, you can use ELMB (Extreme Low Motion Blur), which inserts black frames (BFI) between real frames to reduce perceived motion blur. It cannot work at the same time as VRR and HDR, and it’s limited to 120Hz. Further, while active, brightness is reduced to around 130-nits.

120Hz BFI provides you with the same motion clarity as native 240Hz, so it can be very useful for console gaming and PC games where you cannot output more than 120FPS.

As is the case with all OLED displays, some VRR brightness flickering can be observed in dark scenes of some games with fluctuating frame rates, but it’s mostly negligible.

ASUS offers an OLED Anti-Flicker feature that’s supposed to prevent flickering, but it just narrows down the VRR range so that flickering is replaced with frame stuttering – this was already possible on PC with the CRU tool.

Features

Behind the bottom bezel of the screen, there’s a direction joystick for quick and easy navigation through the OSD menu, as well as a dedicated power button and a hotkey for certain shortcuts.

You can also use ASUS’ DisplayWidget desktop application to adjust monitor settings.

Besides the standard image adjustment tools (brightness, contrast, color temperature, etc.), the ASUS PG32UCDP also offers some advanced settings, including five gamma modes (from 1.8 to 2.6), sharpness (VividPixel), 6-axis hue and saturation, automatic input detection and PiP/PbP support.

Useful gaming features include Shadow Boost (improves visibility in dark scenes of games by altering the gamma curvature), crosshair overlays, sniper (zooms in the area around your crosshair), a refresh rate tracker and on-screen timers.

ASUS also boasts AI support in some of these features:

• AI Crosshair – the color of the crosshair dynamically changes depending on the background
• AI Sniper – zooms in the area around your crosshair when an enemy player is detected
• AI Shadow Boost – improves visibility in dark scenes without over-exposing bright scenes
• AI Visual – dynamically changes to a different picture preset depending on the game (Racing, FPS, etc.)
• MOBA Map Helper – mini-map flashes when a group battle is detected

Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor is sturdy and offers a good range of ergonomics, including up to 110mm height adjustment, -5°/20° tilt, +/- 15° swivel and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility. You cannot pivot/rotate the screen though.

There’s also a 1/4″ socket for webcam mounting, AuraSync RGB lighting on the rear, and the ROG logo projector at the bottom. The screen has a matte anti-glare coating, which is excellent at handling reflections, but adds some graininess to the image (only noticeable on solid colors).

The monitor uses passive cooling via a heatsink instead of a cooling fan, which can get loud and fail in time. The heatsink should also improve burn-in resistance.

Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, two HDMI 2.1 ports with full 48 Gbps, a USB-C port with DP Alt Mode and 90W PD, three downstream USB 3.0 type A ports, a headphone jack and SPDIF.

Note that when USB-C is using 90W Power Delivery, the monitor is limited to 40/100 brightness, which is around 140-nits. When using it at 65W, the brightness is not reduced.

Price & Similar Monitors

The ASUS PG32UCDP goes for $1,300.

LG’s model based on the same panel, the LG 32GS95UE goes for $1,200 – $1,400.

We find that ASUS’ model is worth the extra $100 given all of the extra features it provides, including a USB-C port with DP Alt Mode and 90W PD, integrated KVM, a better 3-year warranty instead of LG’s 2-year, passive cooling and ELMB.

The only advantage of LG’s model is the Pixel Sound integrated speakers, which sound fine for built-in audio, but aren’t as good as a pair of decent headphones or a dedicated sound system. It also supports hardware calibration, which allows you to store calibration corrections on the display itself instead of an ICC profile.

You should also consider the 32″ 4K 240Hz QD-OLED models. They can be a lot cheaper with the MSI MAG 321UPX model going for $900. These don’t have the 1080p 480Hz Dual Mode or ELMB, but their QD-OLED panel offers a wider color gamut and higher color brightness.

	Dell AW3225QF	ASUS PG32UCDM	Samsung G80SD	Gigabyte FO32U2	Gigabyte FO32U2P	MSI 321URX	MSI 321UPX	HP Omen Transcend 32
Screen	Glossy (Curved)	Glossy	Matte	Glossy	Glossy	Glossy	Glossy	Glossy
Video Ports	DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1	DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, USB-C 90W	DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1	DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, USB-C 18W	DP 2.1, mini-DP 2.1, 2x HDMI 2.1, USB-C 65W	DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, USB-C 90W	DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, USB-C 15W	DP 2.1, 2x HDMI 2.1, USB-C 140W
Other Ports	3x USB-A, USB-B, USB-C	3x USB-A USB-B, HP, SPDIF	2x USB-A, USB-B	2x USB-A, USB-B, HP, Mic, 2x5W	2x USB-A, USB-B, HP, Mic, 2x5W	2x USB-A, USB-B, HP	HP	3x USB-A, 2x USB-C, HP, 4x3W
Dolby Vision	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
KVM	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Cooling	Active	Passive	Passive	Passive	Passive	Passive	Passive	Active
Burn-in warranty	3 years	3 years	3 years	3 years	3 years	3 years	3 years	3 years
Price (MSRP)	$1200	$1300	$1300	$1100	$1200	$950	$900	$1,300

Note that MSI also offers the MSI MAG 321UP model with a 32″ 4K 165Hz QD-OLED panel for $800.

In case you’re interested in mini LED displays, be sure to check out our BenQ EX321UX review.

There are a lot more OLED and mini LED displays worth considering in this price range if you want an immersive HDR viewing experience, so check out our best HDR gaming monitor buyer’s guide for more options and information.

Conclusion

While there are a lot of OLED displays to consider, the ASUS PG32UCDP offers a unique set of specifications that might win over some users. So, if you can put its features to good use, it’s definitely worth the price.

Specifications

Screen Size	31.5-inch
Resolution	3840×2160 (Ultra HD)
Panel Type	OLED
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	4K 240Hz 1080p 480Hz
Response Time	0.03ms (GtG)
Motion Blur Reduction	ELMB
Adaptive-Sync	FreeSync Premium (48-240Hz)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, USB-C (DP Alt Mode, 90W PD)
Other Ports	Headphone Jack, 3x USB-A 3.0, SPDIF
Brightness (1 – 3% White Window)	1300 cd/m²
Brightness (10% White Window)	800 cd/m²
Brightness (100% White Window)	275 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	Infinite
Colors	1.07 billion (true 10-bit) 99% DCI-P3
HDR	VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)