Why I've settled on the PG32UQX in 2024

[KyHauck196]

I've been enjoying the AW2721D for several years, but it was time to dip my toes into the HDR environment on PC. I've already been enjoying HDR on my LG C1 and 85" X95K. I went down a rabbit hole of trying all the new 1440p OLED monitors but none gripped my attention very much. It's fantastic having glossy options in the monitor space and I appreciate the motion clarity, but they were all lacking the HDR punch that the TV space had me accustomed too. The OLED monitors were just too dim and didn't impress, especially with the horrible text clarity. I ended up seeing the PG32UQX go on sale for $2400 CAD and decided I may as well give it a try; even though all the reviews were quite critical of the display. Wow.. the PG32UQX was next level as far as HDR impact is concerned and the pixel response times were good on the vast majority of games I was trying. I also found the blooming to be nearly non existent, which was in contradiction to early reviews making me wonder if the panel had gone through some kind of revision. I reluctantly returned the monitor though as it was hard justifying the price at the time and the 4k OLEDs were around the corner. This brings us to 2024 and I've tried the Asus PG32UCDM and AW3225QF, both were complete let downs as far as HDR is concerned. The 4k resolution is great and the motion clarity at 240hz is top notch, but the text clarity was still a minor issue and the VRR flickering was horrifying. Yes, there are work arounds to try and help but it was still an issue and I don't want to have to gimp a display in order to make it more appealing. I didn't give a pass to the Neo G8 and it's scan line issues at 240hz and I'm certainly not going to give a pass to OLED VRR flickering issues. It really made me appreciate how good of a display the PG32UQX is overall. I would say the OLED monitors are the best SDR monitors on the market, but they just don't have the kick the OLED TV's do in HDR. It's a real shame.

I eventually found another PG32UQX for $2400 CAD (refurbished). This model was manufactured in April of 2021 and indeed suffers from more blooming than what I experienced on the new PG32UQX. It's still a great display though and gives me all of that wonderful kick that I've come to expect out of HDR. I'm interested to see the TCL monitors hit the North American market as they're supposed to be HDR1400 certified as well.

Just wanted to share my experience in the current monitor landscape and answer any questions that potential buyers may have of either display tech.

Thanks for your time and have a great one.

 

[SoCali]

The latest revision of PG32UQX has the best local dimming of any FALD monitor available IMO.

 

[KyHauck196]

The latest revision of PG32UQX has the best local dimming of any FALD monitor available IMO.

So I'm not going crazy right?? lol. I definitely thought the same and couldn't understand what all the blooming fuss was all about. Whatever they did, it was excellent. It actually had me guessing whether the local dimming was enabled. On this refurbished, I can definitely tell.

 

[MistaSparkul]

I'm just amazed that no better miniLED option has come out after the PG32UQX. At this rate it's going to be the year 2040 and people will still be using the PG32UQX.

 

[KyHauck196]

I'm just amazed that no better miniLED option has come out after the PG32UQX. At this rate it's going to be the year 2040 and people will still be using the PG32UQX.

It would be great to see more adoption by larger brands. KTC and Innocn are ok, but you're definitely taking a chance. TCL will hopefully open the door for more competition in the monitor space. MiniLED makes more sense in the monitor space than OLED imo.

 

[MistaSparkul]

It would be great to see more adoption by larger brands. KTC and Innocn are ok, but you're definitely taking a chance. TCL will hopefully open the door for more competition in the monitor space. MiniLED makes more sense in the monitor space than OLED imo.

I have the InnoCN, it's FAR from perfect and a great deal behind the PG32UQX, but since it was also much much cheaper I couldn't really complain too much. I think these days you can get one brand new for as little as $450 so that's a good entry point for anyone looking to dab into miniLED without breaking the bank. The TCL will probably not come to NA so the future of miniLED monitors is looking pretty dreary IMO.

 

[KyHauck196]

I have the InnoCN, it's FAR from perfect and a great deal behind the PG32UQX, but since it was also much much cheaper I couldn't really complain too much. I think these days you can get one brand new for as little as $450 so that's a good entry point for anyone looking to dab into miniLED without breaking the bank. The TCL will probably not come to NA so the future of miniLED monitors is looking pretty dreary IMO.

The TCL are listed on the US website so there's hope. XD

I hear you about the Innocn, it was a good entry level and is on amazing discount right now.

 

[Hypez]

So weird that it's that significant of an improvement yet they never released a firmware update.

Do you have both the refurb and new still to do a visual comparison to show the improvement or can you check to see if the new is running a different firmware version that maybe they just never released for older models?

 

[MistaSparkul]

So weird that it's that significant of an improvement yet they never released a firmware update.

Do you have both the refurb and new still to do a visual comparison to show the improvement or can you check to see if the new is running a different firmware version that maybe they just never released for older models?

I don't think that GSync module has the ability to be firmware updated so that's why there was never one. They made all the changes from the factory with newer batches.

 

[KyHauck196]

So weird that it's that significant of an improvement yet they never released a firmware update.

Do you have both the refurb and new still to do a visual comparison to show the improvement or can you check to see if the new is running a different firmware version that maybe they just never released for older models?

Unfortunately there is no firmware version to check as the Gsync module doesn't allow firmware updates user side. I don't have the new one to compare, but I'm keeping my eye open for a sale so I can do a comparison.

 

[Hypez]

While it's possibly something unique to that monitor that's not an accurate statement for Gsync module monitors. My aw3423dw and pg35vq are gsync ultimate displays with the module and had firmware updates to them.

I'm curious now what's the firmware version on your new one? I'll look back at my old Asus support ticket for that monitor I'm sure they asked for it so hopefully it's in there.

 

[KyHauck196]

While it's possibly something unique to that monitor that's not an accurate statement for Gsync module monitors. My aw3423dw and pg35vq are gsync ultimate displays with the module and had firmware updates to them.

I'm curious now what's the firmware version on your new one? I'll look back at my old Asus support ticket for that monitor I'm sure they asked for it so hopefully it's in there.

The AW3423DW yes, but I don't believe other Gsync Ultimate monitors have been updated with client side firmware. Even then the AW took a good while before one was made available. I know my AW2721D has not had a firmware update either.

 

[Hypez]

The AW3423DW yes, but I don't believe other Gsync Ultimate monitors have been updated with client side firmware. Even then the AW took a good while before one was made available. I know my AW2721D has not had a firmware update either.

I gave you 2 examples that I just knew of off the top of my head. The PG35VQ also had a firmware update. https://www.asus.com/us/support/faq/1041768/

A pre dated release and post release of the pg32uqx so doubt it's a chip version issue. Why they never updated the firmware on this monitor who the hell knows but I very much doubt it is because of the gsync ultimate piece.

 

[SoCali]

So I'm not going crazy right?? lol. I definitely thought the same and couldn't understand what all the blooming fuss was all about. Whatever they did, it was excellent. It actually had me guessing whether the local dimming was enabled. On this refurbished, I can definitely tell.

No I came to the same conclusion having owned it at launch where it was a bloomfest and just recently bought one that barely blooms and is far better controlled. I do think it comes at the cost of a bit of highlight brightness though but its worth it.

 

[JohnnyFlash]

Is the fan improved at all in the newer revisions?

 

[djc5166]

What are the revisions? Can you tell what revision you have?

 

[Captain Newmackwa]

I've been enjoying the AW2721D for several years, but it was time to dip my toes into the HDR environment on PC. I've already been enjoying HDR on my LG C1 and 85" X95K. I went down a rabbit hole of trying all the new 1440p OLED monitors but none gripped my attention very much. It's fantastic having glossy options in the monitor space and I appreciate the motion clarity, but they were all lacking the HDR punch that the TV space had me accustomed too. The OLED monitors were just too dim and didn't impress, especially with the horrible text clarity. I ended up seeing the PG32UQX go on sale for $2400 CAD and decided I may as well give it a try; even though all the reviews were quite critical of the display. Wow.. the PG32UQX was next level as far as HDR impact is concerned and the pixel response times were good on the vast majority of games I was trying. I also found the blooming to be nearly non existent, which was in contradiction to early reviews making me wonder if the panel had gone through some kind of revision. I reluctantly returned the monitor though as it was hard justifying the price at the time and the 4k OLEDs were around the corner. This brings us to 2024 and I've tried the Asus PG32UCDM and AW3225QF, both were complete let downs as far as HDR is concerned. The 4k resolution is great and the motion clarity at 240hz is top notch, but the text clarity was still a minor issue and the VRR flickering was horrifying. Yes, there are work arounds to try and help but it was still an issue and I don't want to have to gimp a display in order to make it more appealing. I didn't give a pass to the Neo G8 and it's scan line issues at 240hz and I'm certainly not going to give a pass to OLED VRR flickering issues. It really made me appreciate how good of a display the PG32UQX is overall. I would say the OLED monitors are the best SDR monitors on the market, but they just don't have the kick the OLED TV's do in HDR. It's a real shame.

I eventually found another PG32UQX for $2400 CAD (refurbished). This model was manufactured in April of 2021 and indeed suffers from more blooming than what I experienced on the new PG32UQX. It's still a great display though and gives me all of that wonderful kick that I've come to expect out of HDR. I'm interested to see the TCL monitors hit the North American market as they're supposed to be HDR1400 certified as well.

Just wanted to share my experience in the current monitor landscape and answer any questions that potential buyers may have of either display tech.

Thanks for your time and have a great one.

I just got a PG32UCDM recently and the amount of VRR flicker is quite bad since it's not even what I would consider as flickering but more like flashing plus it's also now more noticeable in game play compared to my previous OLEDs where VRR flicker is only really noticeable in menu and loading screens. It's very distracting because now as I can't unsee VRR flicker in darker areas of the screen image since my eyes are drawn to check for VRR flicker in those areas whereas before, I didn't pay attention to them at all. I have to resort to disabling G-Sync just to get rid of it.

 

[Bigmonitorguy]

Is the fan improved at all in the newer revisions?

The ViewSonic XG321UG is the one to get if you want to avoid the fan noise of the PG32UQX. I have both, and never use the PG32UQX because of the fan noise. I don't know if later production is better, but I'm skeptical about that.

 

[SoCali]

Is the fan improved at all in the newer revisions?

Seems like it to me. I can't hear it anymore unless I place my head to the back side of the monitor so it looks like they reduced its speed. The early ones were like a constantly running laptop fan.

 

[johnny555]

I bought a PG32UQX back in February when Microcenter had it on sale. It had a September 2023 manufacture date. That was my first real experience with HDR and 4k. I also have an AW3423DW and running them side by side the HDR experience was much better on the PG32UQX. I tried out Deadspace remake and Resident Evil 7 and both looked great. There was some blooming in RE7 when an object of interest was highlighted but it didn't bother me. I ended up returning the PG32QX as I wasn't sure about spending that much on a monitor. I had no fan noise issue.

Last month I ended up buying the PG32UQX again when Amazon had it on sale and Microcenter price matched. I missed the HDR performance and with the PG32UQX I don't get eye strain unlike the AW3423DW. I use my PC 80% work/20% gaming. This monitor has a January 2024 build date and also has no fan noise. RTX HDR also helped with justifying to rebuy it. Microcenter has it on sale now for $1800.

 

[JohnnyFlash]

I bought a PG32UQX back in February when Microcenter had it on sale. It had a September 2023 manufacture date. That was my first real experience with HDR and 4k. I also have an AW3423DW and running them side by side the HDR experience was much better on the PG32UQX. I tried out Deadspace remake and Resident Evil 7 and both looked great. There was some blooming in RE7 when an object of interest was highlighted but it didn't bother me. I ended up returning the PG32QX as I wasn't sure about spending that much on a monitor. I had no fan noise issue.

Last month I ended up buying the PG32UQX again when Amazon had it on sale and Microcenter price matched. I missed the HDR performance and with the PG32UQX I don't get eye strain unlike the AW3423DW. I use my PC 80% work/20% gaming. This monitor has a January 2024 build date and also has no fan noise. RTX HDR also helped with justifying to rebuy it. Microcenter has it on sale now for $1800.

Any chance you could upload a Smoothfrog or UFO shot? Very curious if the smearing is any better.

 

[KyHauck196]

Is the fan improved at all in the newer revisions?

Didn't notice the fan at all on the newer manufacturing dated one.

What are the revisions? Can you tell what revision you have?

Unfortunately, from what I can tell, there is no way to know outside of manufacturing date. 2021 is definitely going to be worse than 2023 and newer. I have another used - like new on the way so I'll be checking the manufacturing date on that one next weekend and see if I can do a comparison.

I just got a PG32UCDM recently and the amount of VRR flicker is quite bad since it's not even what I would consider as flickering but more like flashing plus it's also now more noticeable in game play compared to my previous OLEDs where VRR flicker is only really noticeable in menu and loading screens. It's very distracting because now as I can't unsee VRR flicker in darker areas of the screen image since my eyes are drawn to check for VRR flicker in those areas whereas before, I didn't pay attention to them at all. I have to resort to disabling G-Sync just to get rid of it.

I hear ya! The PG32UCDM VRR flicker is actually better than other models, but it's still bad. The AW3225QF looked like a rave was going on during darker scenes in Cyberpunk 2077. I was able to capture it on video it was so bad.

 

[criccio]

I have to squint at my C2 its so bright when bright HDR elements on on screen, i'll never understand the brightness concern with OLED. In a dark room i'm already blowing out my eyeballs.

 

[KyHauck196]

I have to squint at my C2 its so bright when bright HDR elements on on screen, i'll never understand the brightness concern with OLED. In a dark room i'm already blowing out my eyeballs.

I wouldn't put the C2 in the same class as these monitors. I have a 48" C1 and I tested the 42" C3 during my rabbit hole expedition. The perceived brightness is much higher due to screen size and overall consistently brighter range across the HDR window sizes. I concluded that the 42" C series was a much better experience than the OLED monitors, but it's difficult to accommodate on a desk.

 

[criccio]

I wouldn't put the C2 in the same class as these monitors. I have a 48" C1 and I tested the 42" C3 during my rabbit hole expedition. The perceived brightness is much higher due to screen size and overall consistently brighter range across the HDR window sizes. I concluded that the 42" C series was a much better experience than the OLED monitors, but it's difficult to accommodate on a desk.

Fair enough. I have a fairly deep desk and love it.

Back when I got it what I wanted was a 32” OLED but that didn’t exist yet. Now that it does, I’ve found I’m loving the 42” size and don’t want to go smaller.

 

[KyHauck196]

Fair enough. I have a fairly deep desk and love it.

Back when I got it what I wanted was a 32” OLED but that didn’t exist yet. Now that it does, I’ve found I’m loving the 42” size and don’t want to go smaller.

IF LG would take a hint, I think they could nail the 32" size. People would be happy with C series performance at that size for sure. It blows my mind that the coating on the C series hasn't carried over to the monitors. It's best in class. There's really no reason why they can't make the brightness more consistent on the monitors when they're using "MLA" technology and the C series is not. I thought about testing the LG 32" OLED as there's a bunch of open boxed ones on Best Buy Canada, but I can't imagine it being better than the PG32UCDM.

 

[djc5166]

Unfortunately, from what I can tell, there is no way to know outside of manufacturing date. 2021 is definitely going to be worse than 2023 and newer. I have another used - like new on the way so I'll be checking the manufacturing date on that one next weekend and see if I can do a comparison.

I checked and mine is Aug 2022. I don't think I've ever heard the fan. But I wouldn't call the local dimming amazing. Guess I would have to see a comparison video.

 

[MistaSparkul]

I checked and mine is Aug 2022. I don't think I've ever heard the fan. But I wouldn't call the local dimming amazing. Guess I would have to see a comparison video.

I could be wrong but I think sometime in 2023 is when they started shipping with the revised dimming algorithm.

 

[johnny555]

Any chance you could upload a Smoothfrog or UFO shot? Very curious if the smearing is any better.

What's the best way to capture it? I have a Pixel 7 Pro. I can try it after work.

 

[LukeTbk]

I just got the InnoCN M272V,was not only available in Canada but with some rebate.

And now I wonder if HDR work for my eyes, if my setups is ok or if it has been quite overrated in comments section (the type that say, Cyberpunk is a different game with HDR on....., maybe by people that went from an very old TV to an LG C2 and attribute all of the new experience to the HDR being ON)

I have a cheap HDR 400 (M27Q) (they type that accept the signal but do not really do much with it according to reviews) and a bright but regular SDR IPS (Dell U2724DE), used the HDR calibration tools in windows.

Downloaded a bunch of HDR video here:
https://4kmedia.org/

Played them on the 3 monitors side by side, with MPC black edition using MpcVideoRenderer, am I supposed to blown away by the difference, 4k HDR 1000 nits versus 1440p SDR, with perfect case exaggerated the best case made for HDR demos it is really subtitle, ocean water splash keep more details a little bit, there absolutely outside full peak full screen test hurting the eyes when you look directly at the sun in Horizon Zero Dawn or appear in a movie.

Streamed some from youtubes and games with HDR on.

Black are much blacker on the M272V, but that I imagine is not an HDR or not, but just the better monitor.

Am I missing something (the OSD setting of the M272V is not great, on grayscale test I see it has more than than 400 nits but it is not extraordinary), it there anyway to test if everything is working fine and that the color difference I can see are better and not just different ? That the peak brightness is as high as it should for that monitor ?

 

[KyHauck196]

I just got the InnoCN M272V,was not only available in Canada but with some rebate.

And now I wonder if HDR work for my eyes, if my setups is ok or if it has been quite overrated in comments section (the type that say, Cyberpunk is a different game with HDR on....., maybe by people that went from an very old TV to an LG C2 and attribute all of the new experience to the HDR being ON)

I have a cheap HDR 400 (M27Q) (they type that accept the signal but do not really do much with it according to reviews) and a bright but regular SDR IPS (Dell U2724DE), used the HDR calibration tools in windows.

Downloaded a bunch of HDR video here:
https://4kmedia.org/

Played them on the 3 monitors side by side, with MPC black edition using MpcVideoRenderer, am I supposed to blown away by the difference, 4k HDR 1000 nits versus 1440p SDR, with perfect case exaggerated the best case made for HDR demos it is really subtitle, ocean water splash keep more details a little bit, there absolutely outside full peak full screen test hurting the eyes when you look directly at the sun in Horizon Zero Dawn or appear in a movie.

Streamed some from youtubes and games with HDR on.

Black are much blacker on the M272V, but that I imagine is not an HDR or not, but just the better monitor.

Am I missing something (the OSD setting of the M272V is not great, on grayscale test I see it has more than than 400 nits but it is not extraordinary), it there anyway to test if everything is working fine and that the color difference I can see are better and not just different ? That the peak brightness is as high as it should for that monitor ?

Are you on Win11? I typically use the windows HDR calibration app and auto HDR to make older games pop more.

 

[LukeTbk]

Are you on Win11? I typically use the windows HDR calibration app and auto HDR to make older games pop more.

Windows 11 and the shortcut seem to work one I put HRD on in the OSD menu, game do pop more (Clank for example if bright light source take most of the screen it is easy to see that it is different), but it is far from being a game changer or obviously much better.

A bit like RT, sometime it is easy to see it is different but hard to tell one better than the other, lot of the time it is hard to tell, sometime it is both different and obviously better but nothing that blow the mind and worth a lot of trouble and money it seem like. Maybe if a close all other light source in the room (but they are background lights and soft, already)

What would the best content (game or video) to see the benefit of an 1xxx nits HDR over the cheap 400 affair or bright SDR monitor ?

 

[MistaSparkul]

Windows 11 and the shortcut seem to work one I put HRD on in the OSD menu, game do pop more (Clank for example if bright light source take most of the screen it is easy to see that it is different), but it is far from being a game changer or obviously much better.

A bit like RT, sometime it is easy to see it is different but hard to tell one better than the other, lot of the time it is hard to tell, sometime it is both different and obviously better but nothing that blow the mind and worth a lot of trouble and money it seem like. Maybe if a close all other light source in the room (but they are background lights and soft, already)

What would the best content (game or video) to see the benefit of an 1xxx nits HDR over the cheap 400 affair or bright SDR monitor ?

The InnoCN is a stupid monitor that requires toggling settings in the correct order to get HDR working (at least on my 32M2V). First start with everything disabled, then you have to toggle on Local Dimming first, then you toggle on HDR on within the monitor's OSD, THEN finally you enable HDR inside Windows OS itself. Doing it out of order and it gets broken.

 

[LukeTbk]

HDR is available on youtube quality, games menu, when doing it that way, but the actual result versus regular monitor seem to be "timid" to me and not reflect the hype around it. It is brighter than the 400 nits, but does not feel 2.5 time brighter at all, And the games-video, quite subtitle difference wise.

 

[KyHauck196]

Windows 11 and the shortcut seem to work one I put HRD on in the OSD menu, game do pop more (Clank for example if bright light source take most of the screen it is easy to see that it is different), but it is far from being a game changer or obviously much better.

A bit like RT, sometime it is easy to see it is different but hard to tell one better than the other, lot of the time it is hard to tell, sometime it is both different and obviously better but nothing that blow the mind and worth a lot of trouble and money it seem like. Maybe if a close all other light source in the room (but they are background lights and soft, already)

What would the best content (game or video) to see the benefit of an 1xxx nits HDR over the cheap 400 affair or bright SDR monitor ?

Cyberpunk 2077 is a good HDR game.

 

[JohnnyFlash]

What's the best way to capture it? I have a Pixel 7 Pro. I can try it after work.

That works. Smoothfrog is best, but anything gives us some idea.

 

[criccio]

Prior to my C2 I had never seen proper HDR in person and assumed it was just a gimmick I could live without.

Oooh boy was I wrong. With now multiple ways to get HDR in new and modern games, RTX HDR for video and just native HDR video, everything I do/watch now is in HDR and its just phenomenal. I haven't had Windows in SDR mode in over a year and a half, there is just no point anymore.

 

[LukeTbk]

Oooh boy was I wrong. With now multiple ways to get HDR in new and modern games,... everything I do/watch now is in HDR and its just phenomenal.

See now in my mind, mini-leds 1,100 cd/m²-1152 dimming zone HDR is not the good one (it is just meh ok, can see there and there a bit better than otherwise), I need an OLED TV, now HDR will be phenomenal.

 

[LukeTbk]

The InnoCN is a stupid monitor that requires toggling settings in the correct order to get HDR working (at least on my 32M2V). First start with everything disabled, then you have to toggle on Local Dimming first, then you toggle on HDR on within the monitor's OSD, THEN finally you enable HDR inside Windows OS itself. Doing it out of order and it gets broken.

It look like Local Dimming is always on when you enable HDR regardless if you set it on or off (which is a good thing if you work with that monitor has it has a big issue of light mouse cursor moving on dark grey bacground and no way to put localdimming on the OSD shortcut key it seem), which make sense (maybe monitor are not able to get bright enough without it), but it could be different from which version of that monitor you got.

 

[kasakka]

What would the best content (game or video) to see the benefit of an 1xxx nits HDR over the cheap 400 affair or bright SDR monitor ?

For games, something like Horizon Forbidden West should do. Lots of bright scenery. No idea how good its HDR implementation is tho, but I thought it looked gorgeous on my OLED TV playing on a PS5.

For video, look for e.g 4K HDR nature videos on YouTube. You will find that in bright content a mini-LED or OLED display capable of high brightness is able to represent more fine detail. A very simple comparison is something like clouds or sun. With a good HDR display you will see a lot more details in clouds whereas with an edge-lit HDR 400 they will look mostly like a blob.

OLED tends to do best in content with mixed dark and bright, like nighttime scenes. You can find some cool videos of people walking around cities in Asia for example, where all those neon lights etc really show off OLEDs well. Or just play Cyberpunk 2077!