The perfect 4K 43” monitor! Soon! Asus XG438Q ROG

Interesting. I also have this monitor but have been thinking of getting another Oled like waiting for the CX.

But I do alot of competative gaming, like PUBG. The inlut delay of this Asus is very good for that, extremly low, will I feel the longer input delay of an Oled TV like the C9 or CX which I assume will be either as good as or better than the C9 in that regard?

LG has stated that they don't have much interest in chasing even lower input lag because it is already very low. I really doubt you will be able to feel the input lag on a C9. You have to remember that pixel response time plays a factor for this as well and since it's consistently sub 1ms on OLEDs, you can basically say that input lag is pretty much all you get. On LG C9 at 120 Hz the input lag is 6.6-6.8ms for 1080p and 1440p. That's less than 1 frame. 4K @ 120 Hz we will know when HDMI 2.1 GPUs become available.
 
Ah thats rite, I forgot that we can only do 1440p 120Hz on C9 because of lack of HDMI 2.1 GPUs.

Do you rekon CX would have DP so we can do 4K 120?

Or we still gona have to rely on future HDMI 2.1 GPUs for that?
 
Ah thats rite, I forgot that we can only do 1440p 120Hz on C9 because of lack of HDMI 2.1 GPUs.

Do you rekon CX would have DP so we can do 4K 120?

Or we still gona have to rely on future HDMI 2.1 GPUs for that?

CX can do 4K @ 120 Hz, 8-bit 4:2:0 over HDMI 2.0. But for desktop use you are going to want a HDMI 2.1 GPU if you want 120 Hz.
 
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Ah thats rite, I forgot that we can only do 1440p 120Hz on C9 because of lack of HDMI 2.1 GPUs.

Do you rekon CX would have DP so we can do 4K 120?

Or we still gona have to rely on future HDMI 2.1 GPUs for that?
CX can do 4K @ 120 Hz, 8-bit 4:2:0 over HDMI 2.0. But for desktop use you are going to want a HDMI 2.1 GPU if you want 120 Hz.

I'd consider one if it came in a smaller size.

55" is just too damned large for "on your desk" use, and I don't do livingroom or any other type of use.
 
I agree, something a lil smaller would be more desireable.

But anyways, a 48" Oled that has somewhat of a focus on gamers is still promising yet!
 
I can tell you: going from 40" to 43" I can honestly not tell the difference in size
 
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I agree, something a lil smaller would be more desireable.

But anyways, a 48" Oled that has somewhat of a focus on gamers is still promising yet!

No bleed, glow or any of the issues that the 43" monitors suffer from. Infinitely better in every conceivable way... IF you can deal with the size and the fear of burn-in doesn't drive you nuts. It IS a risk, but I think one that's worth it given how inferior the LCD alternative is... more so given its price, which the LG 48" will be in the same ballpark as. It may even be cheaper, but I suspect launch price might be high.
 
No bleed, glow or any of the issues that the 43" monitors suffer from. Infinitely better in every conceivable way... IF you can deal with the size and the fear of burn-in doesn't drive you nuts. It IS a risk, but I think one that's worth it given how inferior the LCD alternative is... more so given its price, which the LG 48" will be in the same ballpark as. It may even be cheaper, but I suspect launch price might be high.

100%

But i really do need the snappiness of a fully pledged gaming monitor because I play alot of PUBG lol.

So I need to wait for CX reviews on that front.
 
100%

But i really do need the snappiness of a fully pledged gaming monitor because I play alot of PUBG lol.

So I need to wait for CX reviews on that front.


For SERIOUS gaming of the PUBG nature, a dedicated 1080p/1440p 240Hz monitor is most likely going to be better... in terms of your game performance and ability to get kills etc. OLED isn't really in the running when it comes to that kind of requirement. The size alone would be a disadvantage given the head/eye movements required... it would slow you down. Of course, if it's just casual gaming, OLED is great, but when it comes to anything competitive, LCD has superior options give PQ isn't the priority there.
 
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For SERIOUS gaming of the PUBG nature, a dedicated 1080p/1440p 240Hz monitor is most likely going to be better... in terms of your game performance and ability to get kills etc. OLED isn't really in the running when it comes to that kind of requirement. The size alone would be a disadvantage given the head/eye movements required... it would slow you down. Of course, if it's just casual gaming, OLED is great, but when it comes to anything competitive, LCD has superior options give PQ isn't the priority there.


I can't speak to the other aspects of OLED that may make it better or worse for games, but I'm not sure I totally buy the size disadvantage.

I game close to a large screen and I don't turn my head much or at all. You use it for peripheral vision.

You can also just sit further away from it to get the same field of view coverage as a smaller screen.
 
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I can't speak to the other aspects of OLED that may make it better or worse for games, but I'm not sure I totally buy the size disadvantage.

I gmae close to a large screen and I don't turn my head much or at all. You use it for peripheral vision.

You can also just sit further away from it to get the same field of view coverage as a smaller screen.


It will depend HOW competitive you want to be. There's a good reason pro-gaming monitors are 24-25", and pro-gamers actually use them... despite many being able to afford something far more costly. That's not to say you can't play well on something much bigger, but smaller is optimal.
 
PG43UQ are starting to get listed on local reatail AU websites. But ofcourse none in-stock atm!

On the good note it's actually priced pretty well, $2399 AU. That's only $700 AU more than the XG438Q. I was actually expecting to see it closer to the $3000 AU mark.
 
PG43UQ are starting to get listed on local reatail AU websites. But ofcourse none in-stock atm!

On the good note it's actually priced pretty well, $2399 AU. That's only $700 AU more than the XG438Q. I was actually expecting to see it closer to the $3000 AU mark.


It shouldn't be much more costly given it's using the same panel as the Asus CG437K. Only DSC separates it really. I don't see the fuss over this... it's going to have the same issues as the other two. DSC doesn't solve a damn thing, as running this monitor at 144Hz does not magically make all the other problems disappear. It might even create more for all we know at this point.
 
At this point I might as well wait for the 48” LG OLED. 6mos ago I would have been all over the UQ.

Lol yeah they really F'ed up with the timing on this, anyone with half a brain capable of doing research before buying is going to be picking up 120hz OLED's. The only current issue we face is the lack of HDMI 2.1 support. Nvidia could release turds this year that barely beat 2080TI performance and many of us (myself included) would be all over it just for HDMI 2.1. Hell, I'm getting a Shield TV and I'm going to start playing Steam games through that in the mean time so I can use my living room C9 along with my 5.1 surround. I can't stand to look at non OLED now, it makes my eyes sad.
 
...anyone with half a brain capable of doing research before buying is going to be picking up 120hz OLED's.


Fear of burn-in is literally the ONLY reason I think... but that's a very big fear for many, so I think you'll still find a lot of people looking to these vastly inferior LCD monitors. Sad but true.
 
Fear of burn-in is literally the ONLY reason I think... but that's a very big fear for many, so I think you'll still find a lot of people looking to these vastly inferior LCD monitors. Sad but true.

For me, the inferior text rendering has been a much bigger issue than concern over burn-in. ClearType doesn't work right on these OLED TVs, and that made me replace my 55" OLED with a 55" LCD.
 
For me, the inferior text rendering has been a much bigger issue than concern over burn-in. ClearType doesn't work right on these OLED TVs, and that made me replace my 55" OLED with a 55" LCD.


Compared to what though? A good quality 32" 4K IPS panel is going to be optimal for text. The 43" monitors are the worst offenders I've ever seen for text rendering though. The Acer CG437K was marginally better, and the Asus XG438Q was awful, in comparison to my 32" 4K IPS panel. My 55" B9 was also way better.
 
Compared to what though? A good quality 32" 4K IPS panel is going to be optimal for text. The 43" monitors are the worst offenders I've ever seen for text rendering though. The Acer CG437K was marginally better, and the Asus XG438Q was awful, in comparison to my 32" 4K IPS panel. My 55" B9 was also way better.

What is the text rendering problem with the XG438Q and CG437K? They are just VA LCD panels with a BGR pixel structure which is supported by ClearType. I don't have those models, so I don't know. I do have a 43" IPS panel (also BGR), it's an HP Z43, and the text rendering on that is quite good. Not as good as on some panels that I have with an RGB structure, but still good, and definitely better than my 55" OLED TV.
 
It shouldn't be much more costly given it's using the same panel as the Asus CG437K. Only DSC separates it really. I don't see the fuss over this... it's going to have the same issues as the other two.

Funny because this Asus PG43UQ is actually cheaper than the CG437K.

The latter sells for $2499 AU, that's $100 more than the Asus variant which has DSC.
 
What is the text rendering problem with the XG438Q and CG437K? They are just VA LCD panels with a BGR pixel structure which is supported by ClearType. I don't have those models, so I don't know. I do have a 43" IPS panel (also BGR), it's an HP Z43, and the text rendering on that is quite good. Not as good as on some panels that I have with an RGB structure, but still good, and definitely better than my 55" OLED TV.


I don't know WHY it's bad, but it is... I've tried both. The CG437K is slightly better, but not by much. Compared to my 55" B9, it's the clear winner, although I prefer my 32" 4K IPS for text overall.
 
I don't know WHY it's bad, but it is... I've tried both. The CG437K is slightly better, but not by much. Compared to my 55" B9, it's the clear winner, although I prefer my 32" 4K IPS for text overall.

Ok, but in what sense is it bad? Can you describe what you see?
 
It's just not clear, well defined, harder to read, some letters are incomplete... just all round sub-par.

Would love to see photos of the B9. Have a C9 but haven’t used it in a desktop application. 65 is just too big for that, at that size I’d expect it.
 
I’m hoping since they’re marketing the LG 48” OLED as a gaming display they’ll take into account people will be using it with their PCs.

The text couldn’t be any worse than my current 2015 Samsung 48” 6700 which is BGR and has mediocre text display anyways with simulated HDR.
 
I’m hoping since they’re marketing the LG 48” OLED as a gaming display they’ll take into account people will be using it with their PCs.

The text couldn’t be any worse than my current 2015 Samsung 48” 6700 which is BGR and has mediocre text display anyways with simulated HDR.

ClearType supports BGR. It doesn't support the LG OLED pixel structure, so it lights the wrong sub-pixels for font smoothing, causing fringing which noticeably harms the look of text.
 
ClearType supports BGR. It doesn't support the LG OLED pixel structure, so it lights the wrong sub-pixels for font smoothing, causing fringing which noticeably harms the look of text.


Only I can emphatically state based on real world experience that text looks worse on the Acer/Asus BGR panels than it does on my 55" B9 OLED. Obviously there's an issue with PPI and seating distance to be considered here, but like for like, text is better on the OLED vs these BGR monitors in question.
 
Only I can emphatically state based on real world experience that text looks worse on the Acer/Asus BGR panels than it does on my 55" B9 OLED. Obviously there's an issue with PPI and seating distance to be considered here, but like for like, text is better on the OLED vs these BGR monitors in question.

Then there must be some problem with the panels that Acer/Asus are using in these monitors. It's not the BGR pixel structure because other monitors with this structure (like the HP Z43) render text fine with ClearType when set to its BGR font smoothing mode. LG OLED TVs render ClearType text poorly, unfortunately, so that's not a viable alternative if you care about text quality. An LG IPS TV would make more sense in that case.
 
Then there must be some problem with the panels that Acer/Asus are using in these monitors. It's not the BGR pixel structure because other monitors with this structure (like the HP Z43) render text fine with ClearType when set to its BGR font smoothing mode. LG OLED TVs render ClearType text poorly, unfortunately, so that's not a viable alternative if you care about text quality. An LG IPS TV would make more sense in that case.

I'd still like some pointers on what exactly is wrong with LG OLED text rendering? Maybe it's because mine is a C9 65" model but at 100% or 125% I just don't see anything off compared to the VA and TN panels I have.
 
I'd still like some pointers on what exactly is wrong with LG OLED text rendering? Maybe it's because mine is a C9 65" model but at 100% or 125% I just don't see anything off compared to the VA and TN panels I have.

A picture was posted by someone on another thread showing the word "perfect" rendered on an LG OLED - you can look it up. What is wrong is that text doesn't look very well-defined - it has some "echo" or "shadow". If you look closely, you see what is causing this, which is fringing. For example, if you look at black on white text, in the circle part of the letter "p" you will see a vertical red line which shouldn't be there. If you look at the letter "T" you will see vertical green and red lines by the vertical part of the letter. These are all subpixels which are being lit by ClearType in the wrong places.
 
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A picture was posted by someone on another thread showing the word "perfect" rendered on an LG OLED - you can look it up. What is wrong is that text doesn't look very well-defined - it has some "echo" or "shadow". If you look closely, you see what is causing this, which is fringing. For example, if you look at black on white text, in the circle part of the letter "p" you will see a vertical red line which shouldn't be there. If you look at the letter "T" you will see vertical green and red lines by the vertical part of the letter. These are all subpixels which are being lit by ClearType in the wrong places.


I would question what their settings were, and GPU... this came up on Reddit a while ago. A lot of people are happy with text on OLED.

 
I would question what their settings were, and GPU... this came up on Reddit a while ago. A lot of people are happy with text on OLED.


I used all the right settings. The fix for me ended up being to replace the 55" LG OLED with a 55" LG IPS. Same settings. Text rendering is good now - sharp and without fringing. It's too late to return the OLED, so I keep it for games/videos on another PC.
 
Holy moly, the PG43UQ is actually instock for you US guys.

Newegg shows 'instock'
Australia still has a few weeks waiting time for this model, which is funny because we got the XG438Q and LG 38GL950G released here much earlier then the US market.
 
OK so I got the LG 38GL950G to replace this Asus.

Initial impression was, the LG image is better, colors pop more and more vibrant.

Response is night and day difference on the LG, it's so smooth and fast compared to the Asus. I see 0 ghosting at all times on faster setting! Amazing!

Quality of the image looks alot sharper, thanks to the higher PPI. No blurry mess ever!

Only downside is coming to what feels like a much smaller screen, I feel boxed in from the lower vertical space. Only a minor negative.

Asus served me well, but I will keep the LG. Still I do not think it should be priced almost 2x the XG438Q, it's absurd!
 
OK so I got the LG 38GL950G to replace this Asus.

Initial impression was, the LG image is better, colors pop more and more vibrant.

Response is night and day difference on the LG, it's so smooth and fast compared to the Asus. I see 0 ghosting at all times on faster setting! Amazing!

Quality of the image looks alot sharper, thanks to the higher PPI. No blurry mess ever!

Only downside is coming to what feels like a much smaller screen, I feel boxed in from the lower vertical space. Only a minor negative.

Asus served me well, but I will keep the LG. Still I do not think it should be priced almost 2x the XG438Q, it's absurd!

Strange that you found the LG more vibrant, the XG438Q should have very high contrast ratio in comparison.

How do you find the LG vs Asus if the Asus is pushed back a bit? Should compensate for the difference in PPI but not the BGR subpixels I guess. Do you have a preference for desktop use?
 
Strange that you found the LG more vibrant, the XG438Q should have very high contrast ratio in comparison.

How do you find the LG vs Asus if the Asus is pushed back a bit? Should compensate for the difference in PPI but not the BGR subpixels I guess. Do you have a preference for desktop use?

I was actually sitting very far from the Asus already, and much closer to the LG, but the LG just has much better clarity overall! I almost feel like it has higher resolution than the Asus even though it is a lower pixel count.

Reason why I say the LG is more vibrant is because alot of the colors really pop! I like that alot, yeah the Asus has better contrast ratio, and I did think the image looked good on that Asus too but the LG nano-IPS vibrancy of the colors really won me over on the image quality front too. Colors look more solid, and not so soft as it did on the Asus.

I am finding it easier to spot very distant targets in PUBG much better with the LG. Is it because of the better clarity, higher ppi or something? On the Asus, any distant targets were very hard to spot because it appeared blurry, almost like a little blurry dot. On the LG, I can definitely tell an enemy in the distance if i spot it, much clearer to see. Would the BGR pixel layout have anything to do with that, or does that only effect text?
 
I was actually sitting very far from the Asus already, and much closer to the LG, but the LG just has much better clarity overall! I almost feel like it has higher resolution than the Asus even though it is a lower pixel count.

Reason why I say the LG is more vibrant is because alot of the colors really pop! I like that alot, yeah the Asus has better contrast ratio, and I did think the image looked good on that Asus too but the LG nano-IPS vibrancy of the colors really won me over on the image quality front too. Colors look more solid, and not so soft as it did on the Asus.

I am finding it easier to spot very distant targets in PUBG much better with the LG. Is it because of the better clarity, higher ppi or something? On the Asus, any distant targets were very hard to spot because it appeared blurry, almost like a little blurry dot. On the LG, I can definitely tell an enemy in the distance if i spot it, much clearer to see. Would the BGR pixel layout have anything to do with that, or does that only effect text?

It should only matter for text. It might be different settings or sitting closer to the screen or the better motion clarity.
 
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