ASUS Announces ROG SWIFT PG278Q Premium Gaming Monitor

Am I correct in assuming that Gsync provides little noticeable benefit, when frame rates match refresh (w/ vsync on)? Is it largely the same experience in that case? I'm trying to get a correct expectation. When frame dates dip, does it still feel like vsync is on? Looking for honest and discerning opinions.

Kind of looking for an excuse not to buy one as soon as Frys gets stock. :)
 
dopple said:
noo idea about that but motion is absolutely gorgeous to see! i dont think you have any idea about oleds
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Which TV are you experienced with then? Enlighten me. All the reviews of existing oled tv's I've read say motion blur is still there due to sample and hold. Not sure how you could have no idea about it...
 
deasnutz said:
Am I correct in assuming that Gsync provides little noticeable benefit, when frame rates match refresh (w/ vsync on)? Is it largely the same experience in that case? I'm trying to get a correct expectation. When frame dates dip, does it still feel like vsync is on? Looking for honest and discerning opinions.

Kind of looking for an excuse not to buy one as soon as Frys gets stock. :)
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The whole point of G-Sync is to literally as you've said match the refresh rate of the monitor with however many fps the gpu can output. This is not the same as v-sync (and you don't use Vsync in combination with G-sync) as V-sync delays the frame rate on screen until the next one is ready to be shown which can cause lag.
 
deasnutz said:
Which TV are you experienced with then? Enlighten me. All the reviews of existing oled tv's I've read say motion blur is still there due to sample and hold. Not sure how you could have no idea about it...
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you are just reading reviews im actually seeing them. try LG 55" model ends with 9800.
 
dopple said:
you are just reading reviews im actually seeing them. try LG 55" model ends with 9800.
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Wow, you actually saw one? Like in a best buy? I thought I was the only one. I guess you're right, the sample and hold concept can be disregarded.
 
88records said:
The whole point of G-Sync is to literally as you've said match the refresh rate of the monitor with however many fps the gpu can output. This is not the same as v-sync (and you don't use Vsync in combination with G-sync) as V-sync delays the frame rate on screen until the next one is ready to be shown which can cause lag.
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Wasn't the question, but thanks.
 
From my fame rates in Call of Duty Ghosts I can tell I don't need Gsync anymore any breaking I had in frames rates diapered with my 970 Graphics card it might still be there but it's less noticeable.
 

Haven't spotted any dead/stuck pixels yet. Also on full white background I don't see any of the 'dark spots' that people are complaining about, Seems flawless to me! Also, that 144FPS... All the smoothness... :O
 
Zoson said:
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r193/zoson/S1366/th_IMG_2714_zps12a5494e.jpg
Haven't spotted any dead/stuck pixels yet. Also on full white background I don't see any of the 'dark spots' that people are complaining about, Seems flawless to me! Also, that 144FPS... All the smoothness... :O
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Looking good. How do the ppi match up between them? 100.57 ppi vs 108.8 ppi. I guess it's not that big of a deal the way you have them configured since the heights aren't going to match regardless. I have a 19" 1440x900 in portrait mode on each side of my 27" monitors for extra scratch space for downloads, progress meters, lists, texts, chat, music queues, etc... so they match the 1440 height of my 27" 2560x1440. My side panels are TN so the shift is bad, but not so bad angled to me on monitor arms for mostly text based usage. Those dell SP2309W's aren't ips either though I don't think. Your setup looks appealing though I'd definitely use something like that depending on shift (I'd probably have to use ips for larger use portrait mode monitors). Instead I use two 27" monitors in landscape with a few narrow 19" mixed in.
 
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elvn said:
Looking good. How do the ppi match up between them? 100.57 ppi vs 108.8 ppi. I guess it's not that big of a deal the way you have them configured since the heights aren't going to match regardless. I have a 19" 1440x900 in portrait mode on each side of my 27" monitors for extra scratch space for downloads, progress meters, lists, texts, chat, music queues, etc... so they match the 1440 height of my 27" 2560x1440. My side panels are TN so the shift is bad, but not so bad angled to me on monitor arms for mostly text based usage. Those dell SP2309W's aren't ips either though I don't think. Your setup looks appealing though I'd definitely use something like that depending on shift (I'd probably have to use ips for larger use portrait mode monitors). Instead I use two 27" monitors in landscape with a few narrow 19" mixed in.
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The PPI is close enough that it doesn't bother me. I aligned the tops of windows, and then the window is slightly longer on the flanks.
This is my first triple/flank setup and first portrait setup. I didn't realize how bad the viewing angles were from below a TN panel, and when I initially arranged the portraits, I did them with the bottom edges of the screens on the inside. Big mistake, the shift made it basically impossible to read them. Rotating both panels 180 degrees solved that problem since the viewing angles from above are much, much better. There is still a noticeable shift on both screens near the outer edges though... It sucks and I seriously considered just ditching one of the SP2309W's and going with two panels side-by-side in landscape.

So yeah, PPI not a big deal... Shift... I'm still on the fence and depending on how much it infuriates me... might end up being a deal breaker.

Another option I have been considering is getting a less expensive 27" 1440p screen to simply replace both SP2309W's. Especially since the resell value of the SP2309W is still so good.

Edit: Actually if anyone has suggestions on an inexpensive 27" 1440p monitor with thin bezels that I could pair off with my Swift, I'm all ears. Doesn't have to be IPS, doesn't have to have a low response time, and doesn't have to have more than 60Hz refresh rate.
 
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yeah I'd just get one of the flavors of korean 2560x1440's if I were going that route, for under $350 - $400. They didn't' hit the scene until at least a year after I got my apple cinema display or I would have got one instead and saved some cost.

I'm planning on running my same setup if the swift is ever reasonably stock-able and I manage to get one, just replacing my 120hz samsung 1080p gaming "facet" of my desk with the 2560x swift. I do like the setups with landscape "ears" though too. I can however fit two firefox browsers side by side on my cinema display, otherwise full-screen apps. I like the idea of the LG 21:9 + the swift all the same 1440 height but I really can't justify that price for +880 (non-gaming) width on top of the swift + likely another 780ti sc - so I'll prob be running 27" 2560x 60hz ACD + 27" 2560x 120hz-144hz swift with a 1440high-in-portrait 19" monitor "to the right" of each one (one being sandwiched between the two main monitors).

However, I'll probably end up with a mismatch all over again with a 4k ips for desktop/apps next to the swift in the next few years... and perhaps 4k ips desktop/apps + oculus rift taking over most of the gaming duty in the years ahead who knows... and hopefully desktop oleds someyear as well.
 
deasnutz said:
Wasn't the question, but thanks.
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he answered your question. you basically asked: is gsync at 60 fps the same as 60hz plus 60 fps? the answer is NO. gsync displays a frame every time it is created and as long as the monitor is physically able to do it. vsync displays whatever frame is available every 0.0167th of a second. the difference is nuanced but real. no video card is actually rendering one frame exactly every 0.0167th of a second, so with gsync you get a more accurate representation of what is actually going on. you can say: gsync means less latency. is it noticeable? that's the $1000 question
 
The problem is, Frame rate can never 100% match the refresh. Its impossible for a Videocard to know exactly how long it will take to create the image. That's why you get studder even at 60fps vsync, Things don't move perfectly smoothly across the screen and get much worse as fps drops. With Gsync, from my experience, it makes a very noticeable difference and is much more fluid. Plus things STAY super smooth even when the fps dips.
 
I wonder if it's worth buying this monitor knowing that you might get a panel that has all of the issues mentioned on the web.

I do alot of gaming though. It's basically 90% of my time spent with the computer.
 
If they ever work out the issues with this thing and it becomes at least reasonably more available I'd still love to get one.

But quite frankly reading this thread has made me wary.
 
deasnutz said:
Am I correct in assuming that Gsync provides little noticeable benefit, when frame rates match refresh (w/ vsync on)? Is it largely the same experience in that case? I'm trying to get a correct expectation. When frame dates dip, does it still feel like vsync is on? Looking for honest and discerning opinions.

Kind of looking for an excuse not to buy one as soon as Frys gets stock. :)
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Gsync is a GAME CHANGER plain an simple. Talk yourself out of it all you want its real and its amazing. that said if your playing at 30fps nothing will change the fact that your at shit frame rate there.

Gsync eliminates ALL stutter and ALL tearing from 40-144FPS. Im never looking back
 
You are always going to hear more from people that have issues. I have had mine for a month and it is working perfectly.
 
ThinJ said:
But quite frankly reading this thread has made me wary.
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The thread on nearly every product is filled with the vocal minority of dissatisfied or outright whiny buyers. I suspect that the vast majority of us are tickled pink with our SWIFTs. It's truly excellent for gaming.
 
Guys I leave the moniter at 144Hz and Gsync enabled and gaming has been awesome, 1 question thou. If im playing BF4 and im steady at 100FPS should I lower the refresh rate to try to match my FPS or just leave it at 144Hz at all times?
 
Marcdaddy said:
Guys I leave the moniter at 144Hz and Gsync enabled and gaming has been awesome, 1 question thou. If im playing BF4 and im steady at 100FPS should I lower the refresh rate to try to match my FPS or just leave it at 144Hz at all times?
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you went off the rails a bit here. I'll try to bring you back. the "refresh rate" you're talking about isn't actually the refresh rate anymore once gsync is going. it's just the max possible refresh rate.

with gsync on, there is no fixed refresh rate anymore. the monitor refreshes whenever the GPU has a new frame for it. this works down to a limit of 30fps, and up to a limit of whatever the hardware supports.
 
Thanks!! All I know is the games play so good I can't believe there is never any tearing or mouse lag. I honestly didn't think it was going to be so smooth, so that was easy then. I'll leave Gsync on / 144hz !
 
I was actually able to place an order for one last night on the Micro Center website. We'll see if it ships.
 
Why would anyone want one of these pieces of crap? A Overlord or Korean monitor costs half the price yet has better color and is free of a grainy panel coat.
 
rabidz7 said:
Why would anyone want one of these pieces of crap? A Overlord or Korean monitor costs half the price yet has better color and is free of a grainy panel coat.
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Troll post? not sure... but if you don't know what G-Sync is... better yet, if you haven't SEEN G-Sync first hand... you really can't be a true judge of how amazing this monitor is...

There are countless posts to back that up! :)
 
Rohaus said:
Troll post? not sure... but if you don't know what G-Sync is... better yet, if you haven't SEEN G-Sync first hand... you really can't be a true judge of how amazing this monitor is...

There are countless posts to back that up! :)
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In his defense, you might be able to acquire three 1080p IPS screens that is overclockable to 120Hz for the price of one 10bit 1440p ROG Swift. Going EYEfinity with good enough rates certainly has its advantages. Not to mention, you can also use it for productivity.

To me, if the G-Sync is an "almost free" feature that adds little to no cost over a panel, the 1440p high-quality TN panel at $650, well, I would totally get it immediately. How about we meet midway at $725, ASUS or NVidia? But then again, it's sold out almost everywhere, so they don't need to listen.

Personally, I'm waiting to see about that AUO 1440 IPS 144Hz panel and see if ASUS/BenQ would add G-Sync to it too.
 
Dcode said:
beowulf7 said:
Good to know. I'm looking forward to my OC'able 1440p IPS for $500 instead. Asus is raping just b/c it has G-Sync.
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And 2560x1440.

You see any other monitor out there with those specs?
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2560x 27" g-sync/ulmb mode... intentionally mfg'd to be 120hz-144hz.

And repeatedly overlooked by the ips comment people ... 1ms response time.

For me 120hz+ with low response time is about aesthetics - of motion definition, motion articulation, and motion clarity.
web-cyb.org:120hz-fps-compared

elvn said:
These displays are 1ms response time with g-sync and ulmb options, and are 120hz-144hz intentionally from factory.

The korean's response time is too slow so they blur/smear more twd the 60hz (worst/baseline) end of the FoV movement blur end of the spectrum. This blur is the worst in 1st/3rd person games where you have continual movement-keying and mouse-look flow pathing of the entire game world viewport, panning all around smearing "outside of the lines". A 120hz 1ms or so TN at high fps blurs 50% less (more within the "shadow mask" of the scene and scene elements, but still bluring out all texture detail and depth via bump mapping), a 144hz 1ms or so TN at high fps blurs 60% less.

The korean ones also lack g-sync (dynamic hz) to eliminate judder and tearing on games you can't maintain a very high fps on (sub 100+ or sub 120+ fps), w/o using v-sync with it's frame limit "ceiling" and in some cases input lag.

The korean 2560x 's also don't have an ulmb backlight strobing option for games where you can maintain 100fps+ -> 120fps+, a backlight strobing that results in essentially zero blur of the viewport.

Finally, these monitors are designed intentionally to be 2560x at 120hz-144hz, not "overclocked" with a poor response time that can't keep up. You also could end up paying a premium for a "guaranteed" 120hz "oc" korean since otherwise you could be taking your chances on how high the "oc" goes (96hz or less in some cases). You could also get some frame skipping.

In short, korean "96hz-120hz" ips and 4k (at 60hz and less) look pretty in screen shots - but you don't play a screen shot.

...<snip>..
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Tych-0 said:
...
not even close when it comes to motion clarity on the ROG Swift, and if you're talking ULMB mode then there really is no comparison.
..

as soon as things start moving (especially quickly) the image on the Swift looks almost as good as it did when still, meanwhile the Korean is displaying a smeary mess.
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Vega said:
Incorrect. Overclocking such a panel does nothing to increase pixel transition speed. It's still sample and hold with really slow IPS pixels. I've owned 7+ "overclock" 1440p monitors, and my fastest 2B would do ~136 Hz.

It still could never do under 10ms in the MPRT test. The pixels operate at the same transition speed they do at 60 Hz. Just as a comparison, Lightboost at 10% gives a MPRT of 1.4ms. That is over seven times clearer motion than an overclock 120+ HZ IPS monitor. The difference is massive. The increased "smoothness" of the increased refresh rate only makes the image feel smoother, it does virtually nothing for motion clarity which is completely different.
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Well, I'm done with this friggin hunk of crap. My third (THIRD) dice roll came in... this time from Amazon and the thing has like 6-7 bad pixels. They were some kind of weird white-ish green or some crap. I also don't know what the hell is up with this panel because the bad pixels on these are most easily visible on black backgrounds. I had nothing show up on any of the other backgrounds, white red blue or green. I can only see them on black. I've read on Wikipedia that TN's are supposed to show their dead pixels as stuck white but I don't see them stuck white on any other color, just black. Technically I probably wouldn't notice these during normal use but the sheer number of them has me just disgusted.

Anyway, I'm really pissed now. I think I'm totally done with this monitor. If "most" of these are supposed to be just fine according to some unfounded belief that only people with problems are vocal (as opposed to the people repeatedly posting that their panels are perfect), then I guess I won the friggin lottery by rolling three terrible panels in a row. I'm probably just gonna go throw a 1-2 star review on Amazon. 1-2 for features, -3 for NOT BEING ABLE TO GIVE ME A SINGLE ACCEPTABLE MONITOR OUT OF THREE FLIPPING TRIES. What a great birthday present. Screw ASUS, for lack of a stronger derogatory word that I should be putting here.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
Well, I'm done with this friggin hunk of crap. My third (THIRD) dice roll came in... this time from Amazon and the thing has like 6-7 bad pixels. They were some kind of weird white-ish green or some crap. I also don't know what the hell is up with this panel because the bad pixels on these are most easily visible on black backgrounds. I had nothing show up on any of the other backgrounds, white red blue or green. I can only see them on black. I've read on Wikipedia that TN's are supposed to show their dead pixels as stuck white but I don't see them stuck white on any other color, just black. Technically I probably wouldn't notice these during normal use but the sheer number of them has me just disgusted.

Anyway, I'm really pissed now. I think I'm totally done with this monitor. If "most" of these are supposed to be just fine according to some unfounded belief that only people with problems are vocal (as opposed to the people repeatedly posting that their panels are perfect), then I guess I won the friggin lottery by rolling three terrible panels in a row. I'm probably just gonna go throw a 1-2 star review on Amazon. 1-2 for features, -3 for NOT BEING ABLE TO GIVE ME A SINGLE ACCEPTABLE MONITOR OUT OF THREE FLIPPING TRIES. What a great birthday present. Screw ASUS, for lack of a stronger derogatory word that I should be putting here.
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How the HELL are you blaming Amazon? You think they open each one and then try to screw you? please man. My guess is that you are one of these overly picky, search for any little issue types that make these displays cost extra $$ anyway becasue you return them. Maybe i got lucky, maybe you didnt. but i find it hard to believe that 3 displays are all shit. Im not trying to be a dick man but Im as picky as they come and I cant find a thing to complain about with mine other than limitations of TN panel tech and I signed up for that.

To all the people bitch that this costs $$ ... find me another 27" 1440p 144hz Gsync/UMLB display on the market now... Zero=premium. Whether you think Gsync is worth the extra $200 bucks or not is irrelevant UNTIL YOU TRY IT and you sound foolish to the crowd that has tried it and sees the light. It's an effing game changer. Im never going back and when the time comes that a 27-34" IPS type tech with hi res and gsync shows up, this is my display and I love it. My guess is 3-5 years until we see anything like this
 
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Zepharus said:
How the HELL are you blaming Amazon? You think they open each one and then try to screw you? please man.
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How in the hell did you read that as me blaming Amazon? Hell can you even read at all? Do you see that "Screw ASUS" line?

My guess is that you are one of these overly picky, search for any little issue types that make these displays cost extra $$ anyway becasue you return them. Maybe i got lucky, maybe you didnt. but i find it hard to believe that 3 displays are all shit.
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Yeah, my first panel going fuzzy text and constant in game flickering on me is totally a little problem.... not even counting its multiple bad pixels and bad backlight.

Yeah my second panel totally didn't have the same stuck pixels, and then a large "scar" down the right side of the screen.

Yeah, this third one didn't totally have 5-6 bad pixels that I just counted.

You obviously haven't been following this thread very long because I posted screenshots of my first panel after thing just crapped out on me, even after I said that I was going to deal with its multiple defects.

Finally, these displays cost 800$, and that's in no part due to us returning it. It's just a monopoly price and one that would have been higher if they actually employed BETTER QC so that I would return it less.

Seriously, nothing you said makes any sense, and you obviously didn't read anything I posted. I'm likely just going to block you at this rate.

all the people bitch that this costs $$ ... find me another 27" 1440p 144hz Gsync/UMLB display on the market now... Zero=premium. Whether you think Gsync is worth the extra $200 bucks or not is irrelevant UNTIL YOU TRY IT and you sound foolish to the crowd that has tried it and sees the light. It's an effing game changer. Im never going back and when the time comes that a 27-34" IPS type tech with hi res and gsync shows up, this is my display and I love it. My guess is 3-5 years until we see anything like this
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I'd be fine with a much higher premium if they actually bothered to QC their panels. I don't care about price, I'm just tired of the frustration.
 
Sad to hear all that. On top of that they can't seem to make enough of them quick enough. Whether that has anything to do with it or not, idk. It doesn't seem like a good scenario for returns or lotteries. I'll still give it a shot if they become stockable by xmas. I'd feel a lot better about it if they could actually keep them in stock. If I returned two idk if I'd bother trying for a third personally. I guess I'll have to see how the whole thing goes. There are a few new 1080p 27" g-sync monitors that might be out in the meantime (before the swifts are in a more stockable state), so I'll investigate those as well in threads and reveiws, even at the lesser rez.
 
I'm with StoleMyOwnCar. I've only had two Swifts, but both of them had multiple pixel defects. His experience, my experience, and others have me to believe that getting a pixel perfect (and splotch free) swift is nearly impossible.
 
My first and only SWIFT is pixel perfect, as far as I can tell. The backlight doesn't exhibit any terrible unevenness at usable brightness settings (30). It certainly doesn't exhibit the horrific backlight bleed in the corners that my U3014 (and any large IPS monitor) does. I still think it's a vocal minority looking for something to be wrong with the monitor.

Yes the anti-glare is a bit heavy/grainy, and the colors won't ever match an IPS panel, and the stand is really deep/the panel sticks way out from the back of the desk, but overall it's a pretty excellent product.

I should also mention that I haven't had the issue where it only detects 120Hz as the maximum in a while. Whether that was due to a driver update or my upgrading to a 980 or some combination of both I'm not sure.

It may be placebo effect or I'm just getting better over time, but my skills in CS:GO appear to have improved a bit since getting the monitor as well.
 
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Maybe you are getting returned stock, given the rarity of them. I'd be pissed too after paying 800 for a TN and having defects.
 
Bobalias_LeShay said:
It may be placebo effect or I'm just getting better over time, but my skills in CS:GO appear to have improved a bit since getting the monitor as well.
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Not placebo at all - my KDR has gone up by 30% since I got the monitor (been keeping record). Also got much better at AWPing since I feel I can track better. All of my buddies/"teammates" have commented that it is a noticeable difference in the types and speed of kills that I'm getting.

I'm running uncapped FPS, with ULMB on, in windows mode.

What settings are you using?
 
Shockwave818 said:
Not placebo at all - my KDR has gone up by 30% since I got the monitor (been keeping record). Also got much better at AWPing since I feel I can track better. All of my buddies/"teammates" have commented that it is a noticeable difference in the types and speed of kills that I'm getting.

I'm running uncapped FPS, with ULMB on, in windows mode.

What settings are you using?
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I've been playing with my settings a bit. I was running everything on low with ULMB for a while, then low with G-Sync, now I'm running maximum with G-Sync.

Personally I prefer G-Sync to ULMB, even though in theory ULMB should be better for an FPS unconstrained game like GO. The motion seems smoother with G-Sync. My usual CS partner has commented on my improvement as well. I actually need to experiment with ULMB more, because I didn't use it for very long.

I especially agree with your comments regarding improved AWPing. I destroy people at mid in Dust 2 now, like it's not even fair. Whereas before if I missed it often felt like lag or reg, now when I miss I almost always know it's my fault due to poor reaction time or aim. Plus I'm missing a lot less.

I'm generally around an MG2 level in matchmaking, for reference. I'm not great, but I'm not terrible either.
 
Maybe you are getting returned stock, given the rarity of them. I'd be pissed too after paying 800 for a TN and having defects.
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Nope, none of them were returned stock. The ones from Fry's still had all of their accessories sealed and were factory sealed. The one from Amazon was the same. These were all brand new.

Bobalias_LeShay said:
I still think it's a vocal minority looking for something to be wrong with the monitor.
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Okay, now this is really crazy. What do you mean by "looking for something to be wrong"? I mean yes, we thoroughly check it for defects, but you're acting like we WANT something to be wrong with it. Do you know how absurd that sounds? I mean I outright said I was willing to deal with the defects in my first panel simply because I WANTED to keep using it... at least until it just suddenly crapped out on me. Yes, those screenshots I posted back there were just me "looking for there to be something wrong with the monitor". It wasn't "something that I couldn't even friggin ignore if I tried".

The second one had something that I simply couldn't even ignore (aside from its dead/stuck pixels). This one has like 6 bad pixels, and that's just where I stopped counting. I tried plugging it in again and saw more and more as I looked. I don't even know what kind of grade this panel should get. Like F-? If I counted there would probably be at least 15 bad pixels on this, scattered at all sectors.

The only interesting thing going on here is all of you people who happened to luck out going "oh yeah these guys are just whining about nothing, since I didn't have any issues that must mean there aren't any in general and everyone else is pretending they exist."

What a novel mindset. Very typical.
 
I feel for you, StoleMyOwnCar. That must suck. I recently had to ask for an exchange for my ASUS Maximus VII Impact due to a non-functioning sound daughterboard, not even detected. I hope the second time's the charm. ASUS told me to RMA and send it to them. But I'm letting Amazon take care of the problem, because I don't want to pay for shipping.
 
Speaking of ASUS RMA, I could try it before just rage returning it to Amazon. Supposedly their monitor policy isn't as bad as... everything else. The people in Europe (or at least one person in Europe that's tried thus far) have had good luck with it... but I don't know how it is in the US, though. Has anyone tried it?

My issue is that if I go that route, I can't return it to Amazon anymore. So I'm stuck with the monitor and whatever ASUS thinks is acceptable.
 
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