ASUS Announces ROG SWIFT PG278Q Premium Gaming Monitor

Romir said:
100% and 25% brightness on my 2nd Swift. I'm glad this one actually works properly but this is a huge bummer.

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That is a bummer! Mine doesn't have the massive cloud but it does have the cloudy line that is toward the bottom of the screen. I'm thinking about sending it back for a replacement but would it be worth it? The cloudy line is visible during games during darker scenes and it can be distracting and annoying. However, I've noticed similar anomalies in other LCD screens so is the cloudy line a normal part of the Swift screen or should I go ahead and get it replaced while I still can?
 
Finally got mine (from NCIX) picked up last night after missing my delivery on Tuesday. I was super busy and didn't get to sit down to do any testing/gaming until late, so I didn't get much time with it, but here are my initial impressions, keeping in mind my previous monitor was a 1440p Dell U2711, and previous to that I was a CRT hold out until my last one died in 2009.

I did a quick look for screen uniformity and dead pixels. Decent uniformity (a little bit of bleed along the bottom and lower right edge). No immediately obvious dead or stuck pixels.

Turbo button seems to work sporadically, typically I have to press it once, and it displays the refresh rate, then pressing it again changes it about 50% of the time after a delay of 5 seconds or so. Hope that gets sorted out.

Turning GSync on is easy as pie, seemed to come on instantly. Tried ULMB for a moment on the desktop; very dim, and I was in a basically pitch black room. This may be too dim to be useful. Very disappointed there, ULMB was the big factor in my purchasing this monitor. In annoyance I switch it back to GSync and 144Hz and leave it there for the rest of the night.

Desktop; colors look pretty damn good, definitely not disappointed there, the image also appears slightly sharper compared to the U2711, probably due to the aggressive (though very effective) antiglare coating on the Dell. Viewing angles are awful; this is my first TN and damn am I disappointed with this aspect. Sitting at a normal distance I can't get my eyes/head in a position where I'm not getting gamma shift at either the top of the bottom of the screen. I hope there is a VA version of this monitor in the works!

This monitor is all about gaming though, so I went for my current favourite game, BF4. Battlelog just happened to be down! Hah, crap! What now? Dark Souls 2 is the other game I'm playing a lot of so I boot it up. Even though it's locked at 60 fps (wtf eh?) there is a noticeable improvement in the smoothness and crispness of the textures during movement and particularly camera rotation. Pleasant surprise there.

Battlelog comes back and even though I should be in bed I feel like I won't sleep unless I get a couple good rounds in. WOW! What a difference, BF4 is brand new. GSync is the real deal folks, I'm blown away by how smooth it is. Any and all sins this monitor has committed with it's crappy viewing angles, high price, and dim ass ULMB mode are forgiven instantly. Everything is smoother and textures are much less blurry during fast pans, motion blur is pretty much gone even without ULMB. The game is simply beautiful now, I can't get over how much better it looks and how much easier it is on the eyes than my smeary 60Hz IPS.

I'll get some more testing in and also give ULMB an honest chance over the next couple days and report back, but with just one play test I've arrived at a verdict. This thing is an absolute game changer, if you're on the fence and you're an FPS gamer, jump off it, you will not regret it.
 
GameLifter said:
That is a bummer! Mine doesn't have the massive cloud but it does have the cloudy line that is toward the bottom of the screen. I'm thinking about sending it back for a replacement but would it be worth it? The cloudy line is visible during games during darker scenes and it can be distracting and annoying. However, I've noticed similar anomalies in other LCD screens so is the cloudy line a normal part of the Swift screen or should I go ahead and get it replaced while I still can?
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I have a slight cloudy line at the bottom but it's not bad. I'll take a shot later for you. I think all swifts have this. Black uniformity is not its strongest point but I certainly would not accept one that's splotched like the one above.
 
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Probably gonna return this dud...strange how this is the second to have the exact same backlight bleed blob/cloud in the exact same screen location.

Sorry about the high iso noise in the pic, it was a quick shot from my phone
 
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Tych-0 said:
Turbo button seems to work sporadically, typically I have to press it once, and it displays the refresh rate, then pressing it again changes it about 50% of the time after a delay of 5 seconds or so. Hope that gets sorted out.
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Apparently there needs to be movement on the screen for the turbo button to function correctly. Try scrolling frantically on a webpage and pressing the turbo button. It's a bit weird.

Tried ULMB for a moment on the desktop; very dim, and I was in a basically pitch black room. This may be too dim to be useful. Very disappointed there, ULMB was the big factor in my purchasing this monitor.
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I have brightness normally set to 20 and ULMB w/ pulse width at 90 is about the same brightness. Is yours somehow much dimmer?
 
Any idea what I could do to get 120hz or 144hz working? The only options I show are 60/85/100

Also, my turbo button does nothing, no matter what. Only way to change display rates is by using windows control panel.

I am using a AMD Radeon 6990

Not sure if it matters, but I also run 2x Cinema 27's as well.
 
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kasakka said:
I have brightness normally set to 20 and ULMB w/ pulse width at 90 is about the same brightness. Is yours somehow much dimmer?
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That's quite the difference. Once almost as dim as it goes and one almost as bright as it goes. Don't blurbusters recommend setting the ULMB/Lightboost pulse width to a fairly low number for optimum blur reduction? Something like a high pulse width doesn't strobe the backlight off for enough of the refresh?
 
I just got it and was only able to mess with it a little bit, but this sold me on ULMB. The street names are too blurry to read at 144hz but I can see them super clear with ULMB @ 120hz! :O
 
Dcode said:
I have a slight cloudy line at the bottom but it's not bad. I'll take a shot later for you. I think all swifts have this. Black uniformity is not its strongest point but I certainly would not accept one that's splotched like the one above.
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I see, thanks for the input! If they all have the cloudy line then my best bet it to keep this one. Other than the cloudy line, I haven't had any other issues aside from driver/SLI issues(I'm running two 680s). Adjusting my contrast and brightness more might help mask the cloudy line as well.
 
bigdano said:
Any idea what I could do to get 120hz or 144hz working? The only options I show are 60/85/100

Also, my turbo button does nothing, no matter what. Only way to change display rates is by using windows control panel.

I am using a AMD Radeon 6990

Not sure if it matters, but I also run 2x Cinema 27's as well.
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Buy Nvidia.
 
bigdano said:
Any idea what I could do to get 120hz or 144hz working? The only options I show are 60/85/100

Also, my turbo button does nothing, no matter what. Only way to change display rates is by using windows control panel.

I am using a AMD Radeon 6990

Not sure if it matters, but I also run 2x Cinema 27's as well.
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I think all AMD users can't see or use 120/144Hz with this monitor. It could be a driver or firmware issue. New WHQL drivers from AMD should be released soon, so we'll see if they fix the issue.

The turbo button is also a known issue that is affecting everyone. kasakka above said it works for him when there is movement on the screen.
 
MQAB said:
I just got it and was only able to mess with it a little bit, but this sold me on ULMB. The street names are too blurry to read at 144hz but I can see them super clear with ULMB @ 120hz! :O
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Indeed, ULMB will be far superior than normal/G-Sync 144 Hz mode for motion clarity.
 
Does Amazon make you pay for return shipping? I just returned mine to TD and had to pay $60 for UPS ground. :(

I'm just wondering where I should buy my next one if I'm ever stupid enough to try this gamble again. So will returns to Amazon be free? If not, I guess I'll just wait for my local Microcenter to get them.
 
Amazon returns are free. Edit: I should add, if you're actually buying from Amazon. Not one of their sellers.
 
GameLifter said:
I see, thanks for the input! If they all have the cloudy line then my best bet it to keep this one. Other than the cloudy line, I haven't had any other issues aside from driver/SLI issues(I'm running two 680s). Adjusting my contrast and brightness more might help mask the cloudy line as well.
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100% Brightness

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20% Brightness (my default)

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The edges is just glow, there no perceivable backlight bleed on the edges when using proper eyes.

You can see the slight bar at the bottom.
 
Is anyone else experiencing the screen blacking out for a split second?
 
The screen going black for for a frame happens on the VG248QE + GsyncDIY, so it looks like it wasn't a prototype problem...
 
Dcode said:
100% Brightness

100.jpg


20% Brightness (my default)

image.jpg


The edges is just glow, there no perceivable backlight bleed on the edges when using proper eyes.

You can see the slight bar at the bottom.
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That's about what mine looks like. Thanks, again!
 
anyone know why my swift wont go above 85 hz? only thing i can think of is i had to buy an adapter to go from displayport to mini displayport on my gtx 690. any suggestions?
 
kregstrong said:
anyone know why my swift wont go above 85 hz? only thing i can think of is i had to buy an adapter to go from displayport to mini displayport on my gtx 690. any suggestions?
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I suspect the adaptor is your problem,or rather using mini display port is.

Though wait for someone else that knows more to chime in as i am not sure.
 
Armenius said:
I think all AMD users can't see or use 120/144Hz with this monitor. It could be a driver or firmware issue. New WHQL drivers from AMD should be released soon, so we'll see if they fix the issue.

The turbo button is also a known issue that is affecting everyone. kasakka above said it works for him when there is movement on the screen.
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Yes you can use 120Hz on AMD. It works fine on my 290X CF setup.
 
Bobalias_LeShay said:
My turbo button seems to work fine now, although it didn't when I had just got the monitor plugged in for the first time. I have noticed the turbo button consistently does not work when I have the NVIDIA control panel open. I think the turbo button and the control panel get into a fight over the setting and the button loses.
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Update. My turbo button is now inconsistent. As someone recommended earlier, moving your mouse/clicking on the screen seems to make it work somewhat better. Even so, it's sometimes laggy and sometimes doesn't work.

I also have encountered a series of annoying problems. For one, my computer takes FOREVER to boot with the PG278Q attached. Think 3+ minutes instead of <30 seconds. I think the BIOS/UEFI is freaking out for some reason, as it tends to hang on the splash screen several times, once it gets to the Windows loader it seems to be fine. I'm running a 2500k/MAXIMUS IV GENE-Z/GTX 680, for reference.

The other annoying problem I noticed last night was that 144Hz wasn't listed in the NVIDIA control panel. I fixed it by unplugging the DisplayPort cable and plugging back in. I can only assume that when the monitor initialized to the PC it didn't think there was sufficient bandwidth for 144Hz. Based on this and behavior in Windows, I have a suspicion as to why the monitor is able to turn on and off so fast. The power button doesn't actually turn the monitor off, it just powers off the panel. The driver board is still talking the the PC and acting like it's there. That would explain why I still boot slowly if the monitor is powered off but still connected, and why power cycling the monitor with the power button didn't get 144Hz to show up but physically unplugging it did.

My summary of the monitor is now this: I see why they delayed it, because many things are quite buggy. Thankfully all of the bugs have fairly simple, albeit annoying, fixes. When it works, it's a fantastic gaming experience.
 
My backlight's not that great on this either. It's okay at normal brightness, but it does have its noticeable cloud.

http://imgur.com/47MvBkw,Z4C8NOi,BmxqEy0#2

The second and third pictures are the monitor at max brightness. The first one is the monitor at about 20-35% brightness, where I usually keep it. Unfortunately in complete darkness when the light isn't shining in through my sunroom, that cloud area is still a bit noticeable. But I don't care about that part much. What bugs me is that this thing has a clearly visible crease-style area. Like where it looks like the panel got bent. It's easy to see on straight colors like grey. You can kind of see it on the very right hand side of that cloud.

On one hand, at least nothing has gone wrong with this panel. I don't have any dead pixels, just one stuck subpixel. I don't have any green halo's around my white objects that some of you have mentioned. The backlight has not been flickering at all even though I've left Payday 2 running for about 3x or so hours straight at 144Hz. So I'm kind of mixed about my opinion. On one hand at least it works and it's not developing huge issues. My turbo button also works just fine and has been working fine.

On the other, other hand, that crease bugs me and an 800$ monitor really should have some better quality control than this.

And on the third hand after playing at 144Hz with G-Sync it's very hard to go back to a normal monitor. At the very least it will take some adjustment.



... God I have horrible luck with panels. Seriously, whatever LCD deity I pissed off, it's pissed.

Bobalias_LeShay said:
Thankfully all of the bugs have fairly simple, albeit annoying, fixes.
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No, no they don't. Just look at my posts a few pages back where things just went haywire. Not to mention the Signal problem is far from easy to fix. Yes, it's just unplugging it, but unplugging it during gaming will literally lock your computer up.
 
I just picked up the PG278Q at Fry's last night. Have had a little time to play around with the monitor and so far, so good. No dead or stuck pixels, and G-Sync on my GTX680 is awesome. Probably will need to get a GTX 900 series to really push the FPS on this monitor.

And the color is great, too. After a quick calibration with the Spyder Elite, the colors look just like my Dell IPS monitor. I'm just a gamer/casual user so my eyes aren't amazing but I could most definitely tell a difference with the PG278Q out of the box vs calibrated, whereas the Dell IPS was most likely calibrated at the factory.

http://i.imgur.com/iGOSEj8.png

The only drawbacks for me, when compared to an IPS, this monitor does have a worse viewing angle, that's for sure. As long as you are head on and not moving your head around a lot (which, why would you be?) it looks great.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
My backlight's not that great on this either. It's okay at normal brightness, but it does have its noticeable cloud.

http://imgur.com/47MvBkw,Z4C8NOi,BmxqEy0#2

The second and third pictures are the monitor at max brightness. The first one is the monitor at about 20-35% brightness, where I usually keep it. Unfortunately in complete darkness when the light isn't shining in through my sunroom, that cloud area is still a bit noticeable. But I don't care about that part much. What bugs me is that this thing has a clearly visible crease-style area. Like where it looks like the panel got bent. It's easy to see on straight colors like grey. You can kind of see it on the very right hand side of that cloud.

On one hand, at least nothing has gone wrong with this panel. I don't have any dead pixels, just one stuck subpixel. I don't have any green halo's around my white objects that some of you have mentioned. The backlight has not been flickering at all even though I've left Payday 2 running for about 3x or so hours straight at 144Hz. So I'm kind of mixed about my opinion. On one hand at least it works and it's not developing huge issues. My turbo button also works just fine and has been working fine.

On the other, other hand, that crease bugs me and an 800$ monitor really should have some better quality control than this.

And on the third hand after playing at 144Hz with G-Sync it's very hard to go back to a normal monitor. At the very least it will take some adjustment.



... God I have horrible luck with panels. Seriously, whatever LCD deity I pissed off, it's pissed.



No, no they don't. Just look at my posts a few pages back where things just went haywire. Not to mention the Signal problem is far from easy to fix. Yes, it's just unplugging it, but unplugging it during gaming will literally lock your computer up.
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Mine has similar creasing and looks similar to yours. It seems a lot of them have these issues so you aren't alone. I almost sent mine back but decided to keep it after finding out these issues are common with this screen. Luckily these flaws aren't terrible noticeable but it would be nice if they weren't there. Like you said, going back to a normal monitor would be difficult so keeping it is your best bet unless it starts to malfunction.

Mine flickers occasionally during loading screens in games like Half-Life 2 but it doesn't flicker once I get in the game. My turbo button doesn't seem to work right just like others have been saying. Other than that the only issues I've encountered with G-Sync are SLI/ game engine issues. Overall, I'm very satisfied with this monitor and I hope it keeps working.
 
NukeDukem said:
Can you use 144Hz?
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No, that is a known problem. I reached out to AMD's Community Manager and opened a ticket with them about the issue, and he told me that I should have an update on the status of 144hz by next week.
 
Any word on availability?

I have one on back order through NCIX, but they wont give me an update.

Are there new shipments showing up at the egg/amazon?

Thanks
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
No, no they don't. Just look at my posts a few pages back where things just went haywire. Not to mention the Signal problem is far from easy to fix. Yes, it's just unplugging it, but unplugging it during gaming will literally lock your computer up.
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Perhaps I should clarify. All the bugs I've encountered have annoying, but simple, fixes. I can't comment on dead pixels or out of range issues because I haven't seen them (yet). I've only had the monitor for two days at this point and played maybe 4 hours of GO and as many hours of desktop use. Like I said I discovered several more problems yesterday that I didn't encounter the day before. Doubtless I'll find some other issues this weekend. It doesn't really make sense to return the monitor at this point barring a physical defect (e.g. stuck pixel). Firmware and driver tweaks over the next few weeks (while still within the return period) may fix a lot of this. If it's still buggy and glitchy when my return window starts to close I'll make a decision.
 
The matte does suck, it would be nice to offer a choice. I love the color and clarity of my Korean 27" but nothing I can do about it unfortunately. I will always prefer glossy over matte but until they offer a 144hz Gsync enabled one then I guess I am stuck with matte.
 
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