Taiwanese electronics brand Asus this week debuted two pioneering OLED monitors, including the world’s first 32-inch 4K QD-OLED monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate, and a 34-inch White OLED monitor equipped with a traditional display panel from LG Display.
The company said the 32-inch Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDM (pictured, above), with its 4K resolution and superior refresh rate, is geared towards console and PC gamers. It comes with both HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC options, and supporta variable refresh rates and auto low-latency mode.
The superior refresh rate is made possible by Samsung Display’s QD-OLED technology. It uses the second-generation QD-OLED display, which has an altered sub-pixel structure that helps to improve the clarity of text on-screen. Unlike first-edition QD-OLED monitors, which were curved, Asus’s new model features a flat panel.
Other specifications show a peak brightness of 1,000 nits in a 3% window or 250 nits full-screen, which is aided by the integrated heatsink and a custom graphene film that’s layered behind the QD-OLED panel. According to Asus, because each pixel in the QD-OLED display has its own light source, the monitor will replicate “true, inky blacks”.
As for the other, 34-inch model, this will use one of LG Display’s newly announced 34-inch WOLED panels. The company confirmed earlier this week that it will soon start mass producing new 32-, 34- and 39-inch WOLED panels aimed at the monitor market, and Asus is one of the first brands to reveal it will build a monitor using that new size, together with Dough, which unveiled its new Spectrum Black 4K 240Hz OLED monitor earlier this month.
Asus’s particular model is known as the ROG Swift PG34WCDM (above), and it offers 4K resolution with a 21:9 widescreen aspect ratio and a 240Hz refresh rate with VRR. Unlike the 32-inch QD-OLED model, this one will have a curved display. Once again, it’s primarily aimed at gamers.
Asus claims that the curved display and wide aspect ratio can help to “expand your field of view” in first-person video games, while offering a “broader perspective” for RPG titles such as Diablo IV. The curvature is said to be rated at 800R, Asus added.
The Asus ROG Swift PG34WCDM is also said to be brighter than the ROG Swift PG32UCDM, reaching up to 1,300 nits at the maximum in a 3% window, or 650 nits in a 10% window. Once again, this is aided by Asus’s custom heatsink. It also benefits from LG Display’s next-gen Micron Lens Array technology, which makes the OLED pixels more efficient. Connectivity options include HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4, the company added. It features an AG coating (matte), compared to the semi-glossy coating of the 32-inch QD-OLED model.
LG’s decision to launch a 34-inch panel brings it into closer competition with Samsung Display, which has offered 34-inch curved QD-OLED panels since last year. So gamers will now be able to choose between the two different OLED technologies when they become available.
The only downside is that gamers may have to wait a while, as Asus confirmed it will not be launching the new displays this year. Rather, it said the 32-inch QD-OLED will launch in “early 2024”, with the WOLED display to be announced later.
