Bottom Line
The ASUS XG27UCDMG offers an amazing HDR gaming experience thanks to its 4K 240Hz QD-OLED panel. It also has plenty of useful features (USB-C, KVM, advanced OLED care, BFI, etc.) and a reasonable price.
The ASUS XG27UCDMG is yet another gaming monitor based on Samsung’s 27″ 4K 240Hz QD-OLED panel. It offers plenty of features at an appealing price, which makes it one of the most popular options. Here’s what you need to know about it!
Image Quality
The 27″ 4K 240Hz QD-OLED panel delivers the best image quality when it comes to OLED gaming monitors thanks to its high pixel density of 166 PPI (pixels per inch), which results in incredibly sharp details and text, as well as plenty of screen space.
Such high pixel density in combination with QD-OLED’s improved square-shaped triangular RGB subpixel layout also completely eliminates any issues with fringing on small text and fine details that were associated with previous-gen models.
Just like every gaming monitor with a QD-OLED panel so far, the ASUS ROG Strix XG27UCDMG delivers the same image quality with an infinite contrast ratio for true blacks, native 10-bit color depth for smooth gradients, 178° wide viewing angles and 99.3% DCI-P3 gamut coverage for vibrant colors.
The monitor has two sRGB modes – ‘sRGB Cal’ picture mode with locked settings, and an adjustable mode by setting the ‘Display Color Space’ option to ‘sRGB’. It’s factory calibrated to Delta E < 2 for excellent accuracy out of the box, fit for professional color-critical work.
Peak brightness performance is the same as with other QD-OLED panels, with a maximum of 250-nits for 100% APL, 450-nits for 10% APL and 1000-nits for 3% APL (Average Picture Level, white window test sized) in HDR.
Overall, most users find 250-nits to be more than bright enough under normal lighting conditions, but if you plan on using the screen in a particularly bright room (with studio lighting or facing a big window without blinds), you should look into mini LED displays instead.
In SDR, the brightness can reach up to 450-nits if Uniform Brightness is disabled, but since the brightness will change depending on the APL, we recommend enabling Uniform Brightness, which caps the brightness to 250-nits to avoid fluctuations.
There are two main HDR modes worth considering: True Black 400 and Console with Dynamic Brightness Boost enabled.
Again, we get the typical behaviour of all QD-OLED panels.
‘True Black 400’ is more accurate, but limits the brightness to around 450-nits, whereas ‘Console’ allows the display to reach 1000-nits for punchier highlights, but it’s not as accurate, causing scenes with large bright APLs to be a bit dimmer.
Now, while W-OLED panels have a higher specified brightness of 275-nits for 100% APL and 1300-nits for 1.5% APL, keep in mind that these measures refer to white luminance.
When it comes to color luminance, QD-OLED panels are notably superior, which in addition to their wider color gamut results in an overall higher perceived brightness.
Performance
The ASUS XG27UCDMG monitor has a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz, which provides you with a big boost in motion clarity as opposed to the standard 60 – 75Hz displays, and a small but noticeable improvement over ~144Hz.
The 240Hz refresh rate also ensures low input lag – at around 2ms, there’s no perceptible delay between your actions and the result on the screen.
When it comes to gaming, the main advantage of OLED displays is the instantaneous pixel response time speed of 0.03ms! There’s no ghosting behind fast-moving objects regardless of your frame rate, making it perfect for fast-paced games.
The monitor also supports VRR (variable refresh rate) for tear-free gameplay up to 240FPS with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible certifications, as well as HDMI 2.1 VRR support.
As expected from an OLED display, there’s VRR brightness flickering in some games, mainly in darker scenes with fluctuating frame rates or loading screens and in-game menus. Not all games are affected, and you can simply disable VRR in the affected titles.
ASUS offers a feature called OLED Anti-Flicker that decreases the dynamic range to Middle (80 – 240Hz) or High (140 – 240Hz, no LFC), which might help in some scenes. Of course, you can also do this manually via CRU.
The ASUS XG27UCDMG also supports ELMB (Extreme Low Motion Blur), which uses BFI (Black Frame Insertion) to reduce perceived motion blur at the cost of image brightness. It can only work at 120Hz, so it’s only usable in fast-paced titles where you’re limited to around 120FPS, which makes it a great feature for consoles.
120Hz with BFI provides you with motion clarity similar to native 240Hz.
Features
Below the bottom bezel of the screen, there’s a chin with a power button, two additional control buttons and a directional joystick for quick and easy navigation through the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu.
Besides the standard image adjustment tools (brightness, contrast, color temperature, etc.), the ASUS XG27UCDMG also has several advanced settings, such as gamma from 1.8 to 2.6, sharpness (VividPixel), 6-axis hue/saturation, automatic input detection, aspect ratio control and DSC toggle.
Useful gaming features include Dynamic Crosshair (crosshair overlays that change color depending on the background), AI Shadow Boost (improves visibility in dark scenes without over-exposing the bright areas), Sniper (zooms in the area around your crosshair), refresh rate tracker and on-screen timers.
You can download the DisplayWidget desktop application for OSD-related adjustments too. The monitor also supports Picture in Picture and Picture by Picture, and has a low-blue light mode.
The main downside of OLED panels is the risk of burn-in. When viewing an image with bright static elements for too long, those elements have a chance to become permanently visible as an afterimage. However, as long as you play varied content and use ASUS’ OLED care features, it shouldn’t be an issue.
ASUS offers a 3-year warranty that covers burn-in, while their OLED care features include Pixel Cleaning, Screen Saver, Screen Move and Auto Logo Brightness. The XG27UCDMG also has a Neo Proximity sensor that can shut down the monitor when it detects that no one is in front of the screen.
Design & Connectivity
The stand of the monitor is robust with a fully ergonomic stand, including up to 120mm height adjustment, +/- 45° swivel, +/- 90° pivot, -5°/20° tilt and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.
There’s also RGB lighting on the rear of the monitor, a passive heatsink and a phone groove/holder on the stand.
The screen has a semi-glossy finish, which makes the image more vivid as there’s no graininess associated with matte anti-glare coatings.
However, the screen is also more reflective and since there’s no polarizer, blacks are raised when hit by direct lighting. As long as there’s no light directly pointed at the screen though, this won’t be an issue.
Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, two HDMI 2.1 ports, USB-C with DP Alt Mode and 90W Power Delivery, three downstream USB-A 3.0 ports, USB-B and a headphone jack. There’s also an integrated KVM functionality.
Price & Similar Monitors
The ASUS XG27UCDMG price amounts to $980.
The ASUS PG27UCDM is the more premium model with DisplayPort 2.1, Dolby Vision and a bit different design that goes for $1,200.
We find that the XG27UCDMG offers a lot better value for the money. DisplayPort 2.1 is not necessary here since DP 1.4 with DSC has enough bandwidth for 4K 240Hz 10-bit color with visually lossless compression.
Further, there are only a few Dolby Vision games available.
The MSI MPG 272URX has a bit higher 98W PD and DP 2.1 for $1,100, but no Dolby Vision.
If you don’t need USB-C and KVM, the Dell AW2725Q can be found on sale for around $800 – $850.
| Dell AW2725Q | ASUS XG27UCDMG | ASUS PG27UCDM | MSI MPG 272URX | Samsung G81SF | |
| Screen | Glossy | Glossy | Glossy | Glossy | Matte |
| Dolby Vision | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| USB-C (PD) | N/A | 90W | 90W | 98W | N/A |
| KVM | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A |
| DisplayPort | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 1.4 |
| Cooling | Active | Passive | Passive | Passive | Passive |
| BFI | N/A | Yes | Yes | N/A | N/A |
| Advanced OLED Care | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Price (MSRP) | $900 | $1100 | $1300 | $1200 | $1300 |
Check out our best HDR monitors buyer’s guide for more OLED and mini LED options and information.
Conclusion
All in all, the ASUS XG27UCDMG offers the best value when it comes to 4K 240Hz QD-OLED gaming monitors.
It has all the premium features you might need (USB-C, KVM, advanced OLED care) yet it goes for a considerably lower price than the competing models with arguably unnecessary additions, such as DP 2.1 and Dolby Vision.
Of course, if you don’t even need those features, you can get the Dell AW2725Q and save an additional ~$150.
Specifications
| Screen Size | 26.5-inch |
| Resolution | 3840×2160 (Ultra HD) |
| Panel Type | QD-OLED |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 (Widescreen) |
| Refresh Rate | 240Hz |
| Response Time | 0.03ms (GtG) |
| Motion Blur Reduction | ELMB |
| Adaptive-Sync | FreeSync Premium Pro, G-SYNC Compatible, HDMI 2.1 VRR (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, USB-B |
| Brightness (1 – 3% White Window) | 1000 cd/m² |
| Brightness (10% White Window) | 450 cd/m² |
| Brightness (100% White Window) | 250 cd/m² |
| Contrast Ratio | Infinite |
| Colors | 1.07 billion (true 10-bit) 99.3% DCI-P3 |
| HDR | VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black |
| VESA | Yes (100x100mm) |
The Pros:
- Infinite contrast ratio, decent peak brightness, wide color gamut
- Instant response time
- Plenty of features, including VRR up to 240Hz, BFI up to 120Hz
- Fully ergonomic design and rich connectivity options, including KVM and USB-C 90W PD
The Cons:
- Risk of burn-in (though covered by 3-year warranty)
