Bottom Line
The ASUS PG34WCDM is an excellent ultrawide gaming monitor with true HDR support, buttery-smooth performance and plenty of useful features, including PiP/PbP, USB-C / KVM, BFI and more.
The ASUS PG34WCDM is a 34″ 3440×1440 240Hz ultrawide curved gaming monitor based on LG’s W-OLED panel.
Let’s see how it compares to similar monitors using Samsung’s QD-OLED panel.
Image Quality
The ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM is based on LG Display’s new W-OLED panel with an improved brightness performance.
It can reach up to 1300-nits for small < 3% HDR highlights, up to 800-nits for a 10% white window and up to 275-nits for a full-screen 100% white window.
This is a notable boost in peak brightness in comparison to previous-gen W-OLED panels. The ASUS PG27AQDM, which is one of the brightest 1440p 240Hz panels, reaches up to 900-nits for < 10% white windows and 250-nits for 100% (160-nits in HDR mode).
In comparison, Samsung’s 34″ 3440×1440 ultrawide QD-OLED panels reach 250-nits for 100%, up to 550-nits for 10% and 1000-nits only for < 3% white windows.
However, note that these test measures only refer to the brightness of white. While the ASUS PG34WCDM has brighter whites, Samsung’s QD-OLED panels have brighter colors, which results in a higher color volume.
So, in real scenes, QD-OLED monitors, such as the Dell Alienware AW3423DWF will still look brighter. On top of that, they have a wider color gamut with 99.3% DCI-P3 coverage (in comparison to 98% DCI-P3 of W-OLED) for more saturated and rich colors (more saturated colors also contribute to the image looking overall brighter).
Moving on, the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM monitor has excellent factory calibration at Delta E < 2 as well as a dedicated sRGB emulation mode with fully unlocked image settings in case you want to clamp the native ~135% sRGB gamut volume down to 100% sRGB for SDR accuracy.
In SDR mode, peak brightness amounts to 270-nits with Uniform Brightness enabled. If Uniform Brightness is disabled, the monitor can reach up to 450-nits but it will use ABL (Automatic Brightness Limiter) when displaying larger white window sizes.
Note that the Uniform Brightness option applies to both SDR and HDR. So, for optimal viewing experience, you will need to enable it for SDR, and disable it for HDR every time you switch between the two.
To achieve the highest brightness in the HDR mode, you will need to increase the Brightness Adjustable mode to 100 from the default 90.
Next, just like the other OLED displays, the ASUS PG34WCDM has an infinite contrast ratio, true 10-bit color depth support for smooth gradients and 178° wide viewing angles, which ensure that the image remains flawless regardless of the angle you’re looking at the screen.
The W-OLED panel of the ASUS PG34WCDM has an RWBG subpixel layout. Due to the reversed subpixel order and the extra white subpixel, some red and green fringing will be noticeable on small text and fine details. The fringing is more noticeable than it is on Samsung’s QD-OLED panels with a triangular RGB layout (especially in comparison to the third-gen QD-OLED panels with even less fringing).
However, note that this fringing is not noticeable in games and videos. Plus, you can use ClearType to alleviate the issue in some applications (for even better results you can try Better ClearType Tuner and Mac/FreeType).
ASUS also has the Clear Pixel Edge Algorithm feature that’s supposed to help improve text clarity, but it just makes it more blurry, so we don’t recommend using it.
Further, the monitor has a screen resolution of 3440×1440, which on its 34″ sized screen provides you with a decent pixel density of 110 PPI (pixels per inch). As a result, you get plenty of screen space with reasonably sharp details and no scaling necessary.
The 21:9 ultrawide format further improves the viewing experience by providing you with an extended field of view in compatible games and displaying movies shot at ~21:9 aspect ratios without black bars at the top/bottom of the screen.
Moreover, the extra horizontal screen space is especially useful for productivity work and audio/video editing.
Lastly, the main downside of all OLED panels is the risk of permanent image burn-in when displaying an image with bright static elements for too long. However, as long as you’re using the monitor sensibly (avoid leaving static images for too long and play varying content), it shouldn’t be an issue.
You will also find plenty of burn-in prevention features, such as Screen Saver, Pixel Cleaning, Screen Move and Adjust Logo Brightness.
ASUS even offers a 2-year warranty that covers burn-in, though some other OLED monitor manufacturers have a longer 3-year warranty.
Performance
Thanks to its OLED panel, the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM has an instantaneous pixel response time speed for zero ghosting behind fast-moving objects.
It also supports variable refresh rate (VRR) with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible certifications (40-240Hz with LFC support) for tear-free gameplay up to 240FPS.
Input lag is imperceptible at ~3ms, which means you won’t be able to notice or feel any delay between your actions and the result on the screen.
The ASUS PG34WCDM also supports BFI (Black Frame Insertion) via ELMB (Extreme Low Motion Blur). However, it only works at a fixed 120Hz refresh rate.
This technology inserts black frames between the regular frames in order to eliminate perceived motion blur caused by the sample-and-hold display.
In fact, using ELMB at 120Hz provides you with similar motion clarity to running 240Hz natively, though at the cost of image brightness, which is decreased to around 130-nits with Uniform Brightness enabled.
The monitor is flicker-free and there’s an integrated low-blue light filter (hardware solution).
Features
Behind the chin on the screen’s bottom bezel is a directional joystick for quick and easy navigation through the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu.
Alternatively, you can download the Display Widget application and make OSD adjustments using your keyboard/mouse.
Apart from the basic image adjustments (brightness, contrast, color temperature), you’ll also find a few advanced settings, such as 6-axis hue/saturation, gamma and automatic input detection.
The monitor also has a proximity sensor (can automatically switch to a power-saving mode when the sensor detects that nobody is in front of the screen).
Picture in Picture and Picture by Picture modes are supported and there’s an integrated KVM functionality, which allows you to control two PCs connected to the monitor via one set of keyboard and mouse.
You’ll also find plenty of gaming features, including Dynamic Shadow Boost (improves visibility in dark scenes), crosshair overlays, various picture presets, Sniper with or without Night Vision (zooms in the center area of the screen and increases visibility), on-screen timers and a refresh rate tracker.
The ASUS PG34WCDM also has customizable RGB lighting at the rear of the monitor that’s compatible with AuraSync. There’s also the ROG logo projector on the stand.
Design & Connectivity
The monitor has a robust and ergonomic stand with up to 110mm height adjustment, +/- 15° swivel, -5°/20° tilt and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility via the provided adapter.
It features an integrated heatsink for cooling, so there’s no audible fan inside.
The screen has a steep 800R curvature for added immersion (some users might find the curvature to be too aggressive) and a heavy matte anti-glare coating that’s very efficient at eliminating glare but adds noticeable graininess to the image (though it’s mainly noticeable when displaying solid colors).
Connectivity options include a USB-C port with DP 1.4 Alt Mode and 90W Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, two HDMI 2.1* ports, three USB-A ports, a USB-B port, a headphone jack and SPDIF-out.
The HDMI 2.1 ports support 3440×1440 240Hz, but there is a bug with RTX 30-series GPUs that limits them to 180Hz. Sadly, HDMI 2.1 VRR is not supported, which is mainly the issue for the PS5.
Console support is also poor since the ASUS PG34WCDM doesn’t support 1440p/4K 120Hz, only 1080p 120Hz. Moreover, when using the 16:9 aspect ratio mode, ELMB doesn’t work.
Price & Similar Monitors
The ASUS PG34WCDM price amounts to $800 – $900.
The MSI MPG 341CQPX can be found for as low as $750. It has a higher color volume, a 3-year burn-in warranty, clearer text, and not as steep screen curvature.
MSI’s model also has a semi-glossy screen surface, though whether you prefer glossy or matte screen coating is up to personal preference.
In 2025, we’re expected more OLED monitors, including a 45″ 5120×2160 165Hz W-OLED model with the improved subpixel layout.
For more options and information, check out our best HDR monitors buyer’s guide.
Conclusion
Overall, the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM is an excellent gaming monitor. While it has some advantages over Samsung’s QD-OLED variant, it’s not an upgrade in every way, so you have to choose based on your preferences given that the price is the same.
Specifications
| Screen Size | 34-inch |
| Screen Curvature | 800R |
| Resolution | 3440×1440 (UWQHD) |
| Panel Type | OLED |
| Aspect Ratio | 21:9 (UltraWide) |
| Refresh Rate | 240Hz |
| Response Time | 0.03ms (GtG) |
| Motion Blur Reduction | ELMB (Extreme Low Motion Blur) |
| Adaptive-Sync | FreeSync Premium Pro (40-240Hz) G-SYNC Compatible |
| Ports | DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, USB-C (DP Alt Mode, 90W PD) |
| Other Ports | Headphone Jack, 3x USB-A 3.0, USB-B, SPDIF |
| Brightness (1 – 3% White Window) | 1300 cd/m² |
| Brightness (10% White Window) | 750 cd/m² |
| Brightness (100% White Window) | 275 cd/m² |
| Contrast Ratio | Infinite |
| Colors | 1.07 billion (true 10-bit) 98% DCI-P3 |
| HDR | VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black |
| VESA | Yes (100x100mm) |
The Pros:
- Instantaneous response time, low input lag, VRR up to 240Hz
- Infinite contrast ratio, wide color gamut, high peak brightness
- Plenty of useful features, including VRR up to 240Hz / BFI up to 120Hz
- Fully ergonomic design and rich connectivity options, including KVM and USB-C with 90W PD
- 2-year burn-in warranty
The Cons:
- Risk of burn-in
- Text clarity issues due to the uncommon subpixel layout
