Asus PG27UQ review - the ultimate 27inch gaming monitor!

Asus PG27UQ review: HDR, 4K @ 144Hz and G-Sync make this the ultimate 27inch gaming monitor, for a price.

Buy now:

[SFnader]

This is such an amazing channel why are you not getting the recognition you deserve ??!?!?!

[TechyTalkUK]

A few things I didn't cover in the video:

IPS glow
Yes, this monitor suffers from it just like any other IPS display. However, with the variable backlight on it's far less noticeable than usual as any dark areas (where IPS glow is most noticeable) have a far darker backlight to start with. I'll post some pictures demonstrating this on my website.


Backlight bleed
There wasn't any really obvious backlight bleed, though there was a small patch in the top right. Certainly it wasn't significant enough to be a concern. Plus, again, the variable backlight means this is all but eliminated any time this feature is turned on.

Haloing
This is the effect of there being a bright area (the size of each backlight zone) around brighter areas. This is clearly noticeable at 03:00 and 04:25 and it is a bit distracting in these extreme examples. However, in day to day use the effect is far more subtle (i never once noticed a clear step in backlight brightness in an image where the border of a bright zone wasn't pure black [i.e. it's noticeable in the video clip of the astronaut but such examples are rare]). It's not perfect but the variable backlight still felt like a clear upgrade over a uniform backlight, even if it can't compare to something like OLED.

G-Sync
It works as well as ever. Technically there are several new aspects to the latest version of G-Sync but the take home is that it worked as expected in all the scenarios I tested.

4K at 144Hz
This is perhaps the most divise aspect of this monitor. For some, the sharpness of 4K is a holy grail but for others, myself included, it feels like a bit of a red herring. You need such powerful graphics hardware to consistently get 100Hz+ at 4K that gaming competitively at this resolution is unlikely. Meanwhile, turning up all the in-game detail settings and anti-aliasing makes for a better overall image than just more pixels. Similarly, 4K in Windows is very variable. Text can look a bit off, some apps don't scale properly and the benefit in terms of high resolution previews for editing image and video is modest. I'd take the extra desktop space of a 34in any day. If the extra resolution was essentialy a free upgrade then fine, but I wouldn't pay for it. I just straight up preferred using my Viewsonic VP2770 for desktop work and Asus PG278Q for competitive gaming.

Some other things might spring to mind so will add them here, plus I'll try and answer any questions here too.

[sawyermade]

I hate ultra-wide monitors, im glad they made it in 27 inch instead.

[ashenone]

This the best review online. Only one I've seen that also shows 4k movies. If I'm gonna spend all this money then I want to watch film as well.

[ion]

Great review, thanks! Quite the eye-watering price, but hopefully paves the path for more high refresh rate HDR 4K displays in future.

[destroy-erase-improve]

Great review thanks. I follow The Tech Chap and PC Centric but I thought your review was well put together. I agree that this display is too small for 4K content. I would have bought a 32" version no questions asked. 27" is too much of a drop from my 40" 4K Phillips.

[GiveMeYoSammich]

I got mine for 1300 new, yet the color feels lack luster on my ps4 compared to my samsung q70, but I'm excited to see how it runs on my pc when i have it built tomorrow 😁

[bakalemreda]

so we cant get more than 100hz refreche rate when on 4k hdr10 ?

[cappuccino]

1. I got mines at Micro Center for $1800. The price went back up to $2000 though.
2. Windows allows me to set 120hz, 12-bit, 4:2:2. I wonder if this monitor plus a 1080 ti can actually dither 12-bit color even if set to 98hz, 12-bit, RGB.

[jl]

What to do with noise from active cooling system?

[cjjones]

Are those dinosaurs new!? Lol! Awesome video buddy!

[leo]

Can you review the HP Pavilion HDR 32 display? It's pretty brand new model.

[Hts]

For this price I'd expect possibility for HW calibration. Without it, I'll probably pass. I don't want 2500USD LCD that will loose it's color accuracy after a year.

[antxiety]

ima still stay with my 1440p 144hz but this is a great step up

[francescon]

Please help me I have this monitor.when i turn on the varible backlight i see some vertical lines in games like rdr 2 or ac odyssey expecially in the sky when i move my look. Is it normal? When i turn it off this lines disappear. Please help me

[Psycrovv]

I got this monitor now but i cant enable hrd or get higher hz than 98..
im using 970 gtx sli.. is that why ..im gona upgrade soon to rtx

[aberkae]

Fyi microcenter is selling it for $300 cheaper at $1799.

[Psycrovv]

Hey..what about the backlight bleeding and this halo around white objects like white text on a black page ? Is it horrible to look at ? ect i notice the mouse pointer gets a bit halo around it so it vecome a huge white dot...??

[Masteringd]

I all so own this monitor be aware this is not a true 10Bit panel as said in this review .. ASUS support message me with this "Please be advised that the monitor achieves 10-bit colour by using 8-bits with FRC" I was disppointed at this time after reading the message .. think i was buying a monitor with true 10bit for 2 grand ..

[xufos]

In my country indonesia this asus pg27uq has price about 39 million rupiah, with that money I can buy 2 asus pg348q or processor intel core i9 7980xe plus with motherboard x299 too