ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG Review - Unique Glossy OLED

[@PCMonitors]

➡ Affiliate link: geni.us/byTB1B As an Amazon Associate and Newegg Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases made using the "Affiliate link" above. Introduction: 0:00 Refresh Rates & Scaling: 01:26 Features & Aesthetics: 07:12 Subpixels & Calibration: 11:42 Contrast & Brightness: 19:49 Colour Reproduction: 28:02 HDR (High Dynamic Range): 34:18 Responsiveness (General): 52:58 Responsiveness (VRR): 57:50 Conclusion: 01:07:17

[@PCMonitors]

Sorry about brief black frames or occasional misalignment at some points of the video. One of the video tracks got nudged along a few seconds without me realising. This BFI (Black Frame Insertion) was not intentional. 😉

[@despooked]

It's funny that the more detailed these reviews get the harder i find it to decide between this and a qd-oled.

[@PCMonitors]

Haha. Well, it's probably because they can both give a really nice experience - even if they have some slightly different strengths and weaknesses. It's ultimately so subjective, but I did enjoy reviewing (and using) this ASUS and found it pretty unique.

[@rylandmitchell]

The grey blacks on qd are just unbearable

[@verttisyrjala2897]

The qd-oled monitors are quite severely handicapped when it comes to brightness, so I'd recommend getting a woled monitor like this one. Though, in HDR WOLEDs will always have at least a little undersaturation in certain shades.

[@Snxgur]

@@verttisyrjala2897 yeah i returned my qd oled bcsu it has like half as bright as my asus woled LOL. also the txt fringing is SO BAD ON QD OLED

[@verttisyrjala2897]

@@Snxgur With the qd-oled monitors you should never use HDR 1000, that mode is garbage. With HDR 400 you get a proper HDR experience, highlights aren't nearly as bright in dim scenes, but the image is way better 95% of the time.

[@mkyeny9]

S tier review as always, thanks! New glossy WOLED monitor options is nice to see.

[@pullmeifinger]

Watched your settings video this morning (you helped me out with black levels and brightness) just happened across this one, i didnt know existed 😂 fantastically detailed review 😊

[@solidsnek]

Love this channel, it was the only good review of the Viewsonic Omni vx2728j-2k I could find some months ago, Now I'm upgrading to this!

[@rastapoile]

Just discovered you're channel ! Awesome work thanks !

[@ensiel4738]

Got this last week and I can say as objectively nice as this monitor is, I wasn't blown away TBH. This is probably because I came from an IPS 4k 144hz Philips monitor but the reason I "downgraded" to 1440p OLED was because I wanted to experience OLED. This particular model was relatively "cheap" for an OLED and the 1440p resolution would give my 3080 an easier time. Plus due to this model being glossy, I assumed things would still look clearer even with the reduced pixel density but man I was wrong. I can definitely notice the graininess mentioned in this video, particularly in grey backgrounds and even on the icons and text unfortunately. I guess I got spoiled by the pixel density on my 4k IPS monitor which despite having a traditional matte coating, just looked so much clearer side by side. The contrast on the OLED and the infinitely deep blacks are nice but again, it wasn't a "once you go OLED there's no going back" like most people are saying. I think if you have a fairly decent IPS panel that or just a good panel in general that is well calibrated, going to OLED isn't as mind-blowing as most people make it out to be. I have about a week to decide if I should keep it or return it and honestly I'm leaning towards the latter. Don't get me wrong, it's great hardware, just not as great as I thought it would be from what I previously had.

[@fourtii8707]

damn I hope its not like steam deck oled vs rog ally kind of bad where the steamdeck indeed has an oled screen but the resolution and the color tuning ultimately got beaten by my rog ally x's 1080p ips vrr screen... My 27aqdmg arrives soon today so I'll find out...

[@ensiel4738]

@@fourtii8707 Hey, cool on getting the same monitor! I don't have both of the handeld devices you mentioned so I"m not sure what to compare to. But like I said this monitor is a nice piece of tech. I guess my mistake was coming from a 32" 4k monitor. I was banking on some reviewer's feedback that the screen clarity would be close to a 4k one since it was glossy but it really isn't for me sadly.

[@ruiner3137]

I'm glad to see i'm not crazy feeling like ABL is way more aggressive on QD OLED. I had this monitor, but I returned it because of the black crush. Picked up the Samsung G60SD, Which i love, but the ABL on high peak brightness is so bad that it drives me nuts. I didn't notice it at all on the ASUS. Hoping future QD OLED models will be able to have less aggressive ABL.

[@kelvinlolo9612]

Underrated channel

[@marcel1463]

The stand reminds me of of the old PG279Q. Thank you for this very detailed review.

[@PCMonitors]

You're welcome!

[@Spy0nu]

or the PG278QR

[@xtayks4891]

I bought it and I love it, just won' t use their features like clear pixel edge. And text clarity is quite terrible but not a problem in game, you can always use clear type tuner, that can help

[@PCMonitors]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, glad you're really enjoying the monitor!

[@Dwarrelpoot]

I found that using brightness on 100 in HDR it crushes more blacks in HDR, while at 90 the lagom test is perfect.

[@PCMonitors]

Yes, there's definitely some masking of dark detail ('black crush') using '100' and better calibration at '90'.

[@Toga16]

​@@PCMonitorsWasn't this fixed with the latest firmware update?

[@krazyolie]

You can kind of see in the reflections there aren't as sharp so seems like there is still some haze. Still on a a 24" dell glossy you reviewed about 10 years ago!

[@PCMonitors]

There's no haze (anti-glare treatment), but there is a mild anti-reflective treatment (milder than on QD-OLEDs) which mutes reflections. 🙂

[@michaelvanniekerk2104]

Really great review! I just got this monitor for its price (Considering it's OLED) I would have preferred a 4k OLED but they are simply too expensive. This review will help me configure a lot, much appreciated.

[@moustiboy]

Good vidéo, thank you. Detailed work

[@thanos1000000fc]

Did you notice that graininess when not having a bright background? I'm afraid it's going to look like a matte display, which I hate.

[@PCMonitors]

"Graininess" is generally only observed on a matte screen for brighter (or at least medium-bright) shades as well. But you can be aware of the screen surface structure, 'layering' and light interaction on matte screen surfaces regardless of what is being displayed - you don't get those drawbacks on the XG27AQDMG. So I'd say it's worth giving it a shot.

[@thanos1000000fc]

@@PCMonitors You said in the video that you noticed the display wasn't as smooth as QD-OLED and that made me worry a bit.

[@Tuskabanana]

Very nice and detailed review, btw the Glossy coating wtf, that reflection would annoy me alot :=)

[@zevul7870]

what about subtitles in games? I use subtitles all the time. Have you used it this way? maybe you can let me know if you have? Is the text unreadable?

[@PCMonitors]

Like I said, I can use the monitor without scaling. Subtitle text is typically larger than size 10 font on Windows, which I can read without issue... But it's not about my preferences and what I can read - that doesn't apply to everyone. Games should have a UI/HUD scaling feature which would adjust subtitle font if you need it - if not that's just bad (non user friendly) game design.

[@zevul7870]

@@PCMonitors thanks mate. makes sense. Great review! Subbed

[@ImFlashPT]

Hello, man one advice, make videos on which monitors u think are the best for each budget, you seem to have a good experience on monitors, u do reviews on monitors not frequently reviewed and also on how to color correct them. For example, im looking for a 200-400€ IPS 1440p monitor good for gaming and good for design and stuff also. Maybe doing videos that cover things in general or niche down to a audience for ex like me ,which is looking for 1440 IPS in specific (hertz will always be higher than 144hz so im not concerned about that).

[@PCMonitors]

I appreciate the interest, but it's really not my style and not something I'm personally interested in producing. I don't collect or store the sort of footage that would be useful for such videos, either. But I do maintain clear recommendations in written format on the website - pcmonitors.info/recommendations/.

[@xPhantomxify]

Hey, thank you for this detailed video. I am thinking of buying this monitor for the glossy screen and very nice black levels or the QD-OLED and it's wider colour range. Which one do you prefer and why?

[@PCMonitors]

You'd have to weigh it up for yourself, I think either can work very nicely. The screen surface differences are quite significant, even if both are 'glossy'. QD-OLED provides superior colour volume for HDR, which is certainly nice - but brightness also dips a bit more than on the ASUS for brighter HDR scenes. I share some thoughts in the conclusion.

[@snakomania]

Which LG panel use? Gen 3 or Gen2? Similar like 27GS95QE or 27GR95QE?

[@snakomania]

@@razor2049 can u give me proof?

[@purfecto]

@@snakomania its a 3rd gen but not with the new subpixel format, the only one atm afaik at 27 inch and new subpixel RGWB is the AQDP +300euros more but 480hz + some other extras, is matte though

[@Alexo_]

Nice review! The HDMI ports are unfortunately version 2.0, not 2.1

[@PCMonitors]

They're technically limited bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, as covered in the review. 1:58. They have the HDMI 2.1 feature set (and that is reported in the EDID), but HDMI 2.0 bandwidth.

[@Alexo_]

@PCMonitors Ah alright, cool! Thanks for the clarification

[@RealNC]

I bought this monitor. Thanks for the review! I noticed that gamma (or black levels) seems different between refresh rates. The Lagom black level test shows that more squares in the first row become distinct the lower the refresh rate is. At 240Hz many squares just look black. At 60Hz, only the first 3 look complete black. Is this normal with OLEDs?

[@PCMonitors]

Yes, there do seem to be some gamma changes with refresh rate on some OLEDs (WOLED models at least), especially for darker shades. It also happens on the ASUS PG32UCDP I'm currently looking at.

[@RealNC]

@@PCMonitors This appears to be the source of VRR flicker. If I use RTSS to cap FPS to 60, and then toggle the FPS cap on and off with a key in a game in VRR mode, I can see dark colors bright up (and stay bright) when it goes to 60, and then become dark again when I toggle off the limiter and FPS goes back to 240. This is a rather unfortunate drawback with OLEDs. QD-OLED apparently behaves the exact same. This also impacts people who calibrate their displays. The calibration will be off in other refresh rates than the one they calibrated it at.

[@PCMonitors]

All OLEDs have gamma changes in a VRR environment related to their refresh rate, which causes VRR flicker. But not all OLEDs have changes when the static refresh rate is changed (or appropriate compensation or re-calibration is performed by the monitor). I've also observed changes in gamma according to brightness on quite a few OLEDs. So gamma stability in general should be improved.

[@AnnaEriksson1993]

How did you turn on rgb Light on the back?

[@PCMonitors]

'Lighting Effect' - 'Aura RGB' in the menu.

[@Superdazzu2]

regarding hdr experience, how much is this close to a aw3423dw/dwf? Expecially regarding color brightness, where qd oleds excel

[@PCMonitors]

The HDR experience is covered in detail in the review and I specifically note differences between the two technologies - I'd recommend watching that section!

[@theripper121]

How do you feel about this vs the alienware 2725df if have you played with that one??

[@PCMonitors]

Not specifically, but some points of comparison are made between this ASUS (WOLED) and QD-OLED alternatives (like the Alienware) in the review. Screen surface differences and HDR representation differences should be considered. QD-OLED is generally more vibrant (can show shades that are both bright and saturated at the same time under HDR, for example). The ASUS shows a generally brighter HDR representation in scenes where bright shades are dominant.

[@Spy0nu]

I have the PG27AQDM, should I change for this one?

[@PCMonitors]

If you like your monitor but wish it had a glossy screen, possibly.

[@bakakafka4428]

Any chance of a review in future of the TCL 34R83Q? It's supposed to be quite good and a good alternative to OLED when burn in is an issue.

[@PCMonitors]

Partly depends if TCL can provide a sample or if they start selling that model on Amazon or Newegg in the US. So it's a possibility, but don't hold your breath. 😉

[@TghGoldd808]

how to turn off the front light

[@PCMonitors]

'System Setup' - 'Power Indicator'.

[@TghGoldd808]

@@PCMonitors thank youuuu

[@b0uncyfr0]

So essentially, if im averaging around the 100-144 fps range - this montor is bad choice. I cant use the VRR feature right?

[@PCMonitors]

You can use VRR, but as with any OLED there's a degree of flickering which you may or may not notice.

[@laserxlars8056]

is there some non oled monitors out there which is glossy and min. 120hz ?

[@PCMonitors]

No - big gap in the market for anything glossy in LCD form.

[@laserxlars8056]

@@PCMonitors i ask me why?

[@oPrezxX]

i buy the monitor and i relaise something i don't if you notice it, the black borders top and left is bigger than right and bottom, and you can see it in desktop or games, is there any solution?

[@PCMonitors]

That's the 'active area' (overprovisioning of pixels). Refer to the 'Best Settings' video where this is covered. The image will move around periodically and sometimes the right and bottom borders will be larger.

[@oPrezxX]

@@PCMonitors yes yes exactly it's moving, i thougt my monitor is broken, and what about the update of the monitor ? it's FW101 version. is it ok?

[@PCMonitors]

My unit had updated firmware (pre-release), there weren't any particular issues with the firmware.

[@hebrewisraelites9117]

how can you overshoot this monitor

[@PCMonitors]

What do you mean?

[@hebrewisraelites9117]

Usually most monitors have a Ama settings 1,2,3 . or Trace free settings

[@hebrewisraelites9117]

@@PCMonitors overdrive

[@PCMonitors]

@@hebrewisraelites9117 It's an OLED monitor. They don't have or require overdrive controls.

[@hebrewisraelites9117]

@@PCMonitors so how do you enter the factory mode?

[@kostistsiutras4373]

Does it have the same bug on input delay from the previous OLED PG27AQDM where VRR has desent 2.2ms input lag but when u put VRR off it goes up to 8ms at 240hz and keeps goin up to a completely dissapointed 33ms input lag at 60hz? Making it mantadory to game with VRR which i hate

[@PCMonitors]

SMTT 2.0 used for latency testing does not actively use VRR, it's a static refresh rate and VSync off environment... With this bug you mentioned, couldn't you just keep Adaptive-Sync enabled in the OSD but not use VRR? Because this model seems to provide low latency (at 240Hz) by doing so.

[@kostistsiutras4373]

@@PCMonitors thx for the quick reply, that sounds like a solution yeah. Im about to literally order ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG and have it delivered by tomorrow having said that im EXTREMELY sensitive to input lag, i dont mind motion clarity/ overshoot / ghosting etc but with input lag i can feel it within the first minutes and im worried about not having extremely low.. using BenQ and Zowie monitors for more than a decade made me intolerant to anythin besides perfect input delay. Imagine the fastest monitor considerin input delay was based on an old review from you regarding the only 24'' 1440p Aoc 165hz monitor. Now THAT has insanely low input lag, if the AQDMG has same input delay i should be fine.

[@enjthesilence4390]

@@kostistsiutras4373 so what about this bug? only vrr? what about 60-120 fps input lag?

[@purfecto]

I found this "cheap" as an open box, alot of people are returning them to get AQDP or try something else, it costed me around 500e vat excluded, i was between this and the 1k€ AQDP and it just made alot more sense to me to pay half of that (480hz too but i think its an overkill for my usage), i am a little worried ill get annoyed by text clarity cause the newer one uses RGWB newer subpixel format and i would prefer to get or wait a few months since pretty much all WOLEDS going forward will use that probably, but i wasn't planning to use it as a main monitor since i am keeping my quite good IPS for the rest of the day not playing or watching smth, what does worry me mostly is the VRR flickering which is a thing with all oleds, i guess we will have to see next week when i get it.

[@bieliavyi]

so what's ur thoughts on monitor?

[@purfecto]

​ @bieliavyi well... firstly the subpixel format, I am glad I was wrong worrying about it, text clarity is very good and absolutely a non issue for me, in normal gaming / movies and browsing etc, that being said im not sure id take it as a primary productivity monitor, IPS might be more dull but its smoother and for long productivity sessions id stay there and considering there's still some burn in risk for oleds that works for me. Glossy finish is good, I cant say the difference with matte is so big that people make it to be but its there and ill gladly take it vs matte for content consumption. on the same subject people worrying about reflections on glossy, unless you have a direct light shinning to the panel there's no issue at all, I mainly game with full ceiling lights on and I have zero issues, compared to my IPS ultragear matte next to it. its plenty bright for me and much brighter than past gen oleds for sure, I haven't noticed any aggressive ABL and colors are rly good, (the presets are crap tho mostly oversaturated and only SRGB cal and racing works for me with some tweaking-manual settings), HDR is very good when the game has a good implementation, I enjoyed ORI, Forza horizon and couple others, depends heavily I guess on the source, also use windows or some other calibration for hdr it makes a difference. VRR flicker is there and on some games/shadows its very annoying depending on how sensitive you are with it, but afaik all oleds have it, so I am very happy playing with VRR / Gsync-vsync OFF, I have zero tearing at least at all the titles I have played so far. either cap the refresh rate under monitors max 240 if you dont care for input lag and wanna save some power / have less fps fluctuations, or let it free uncapped and get best input lag for competitive titles etc, either way it works without tearing for me and obviously VRR flicker free since its off. Personally I am very happy with it since it hits all the marks I wanted and I cant say id take any other (W)oled over it unless I would really want the 480hz for hardcore fps performance. In the end.. do you need it in general? id say oled experience is amazing in AAA games especially darker ones, like space horror, platform games (I was blown away by ori HDR and the game in general), some racing titles etc, in other brighter games or competitive fps, id say you aint missing THAT much if you already have a good ips panel given that the price tag of oleds is still high, I consider them to be a luxury item rather than a must have component.

[@kogo8745]

People always want a glossy Oled and now you get one, but hell this monitor is not selling wth. I don’t get it

[@orion9k]

WOLED GLOSSY is the only way to go.

[@gardenia1738]

Thanks. Is that taskbar on your desktop pitch black? How do you set it this way because Windows doesn't show black color taskbar.

[@PCMonitors]

It's not - just using Windows dark theme for that and it is dark grey but takes on other tints depending on the wallpaper.

[@lightest2385]

After watching so far I’m leaning towards the g6 colors look just look sharper and richer

[@PCMonitors]

It (as a QD-OLED) does have a wider colour gamut, so vibrancy is stronger.

[@lightest2385]

@@PCMonitors I’m not the best at understanding these new tech out there but I am trying to get a better understanding I’m shopping for a 2K OLED monitor this holiday I’m really just looking for something similar to my tv but smaller I have purchase an 65in S90C OLED and the tv makes everything look so godly I want my monitor to look similar I get confused with the matte and glossy talks! My steam deck oled is glossy and looks good I’m thinking my tv is as well the term “glossy refers more to better in a darker settings scenario?” And matte is more like a better in well lit areas?😅 I play in a dark settings preferably with dim rgb lit rooms does that mean I’m better off with a display like this even doe I like the other matte look better?

[@PCMonitors]

We always explore the screen surface and its subjective effect on the image in detail in our reviews and there's a detailed article comparing 'matte' vs. 'glossy' and the main points to consider more broadly on the website - pcmonitors.info/articles/matte-vs-glossy-monitors/. With this you're armed with the best idea of the screen surface and how it will affect the image, short of actually seeing the monitor yourself.

[@shippa10001]

Don't think that glossy coating is required for 1440p 27" displays, because with such low PPI image will be blurry anyway. For 4k on 27", glossy is questionable, but for everything that has PPI more than 200 (like 5K on 27" or 6K on 32" and up), glossy coating is the only way. BTW for those who think that 5K on 27 is overkill, I have 27" 5K iMac (glossy) and 27" 4k (matte) display side by side at work and in term of clarity iMaс is clearly superior... so pick your poison, it either 4K resolution for 27" is too low or glossy coating is vastly superior in terms of clarity.

[@PCMonitors]

Glossy screen surfaces provide benefits which exist regardless of pixel density. It prevents light diffusion across the screen ('floods' the image and affects perceived clarity on matte surfaces) and provides more direct light emission from the screen without a 'layering' effect in front of the image. These factors are highlighted in the review and summarised at a more general level in this article - pcmonitors.info/articles/matte-vs-glossy-monitors/.

[@shippa10001]

​@@PCMonitorsglossy has it's its own pros and cons, but my point is that for displays with low PPI (around 100), benefits of glossy coating is not so pronounce, and who know what worse, low res pixelated image (where you can clearly see pixels) or similar image, but with free anti aliasing on top (matte coating). But for displays with higher PPI (200+), where pixels are small enough that you can't see them at reasonable distance from display, matte finish just completely ruins image clarity.

[@moc5661]

​@@shippa10001 🧢

[@krazyolie]

@@shippa10001 my 1080p 24" old glossy dell (

[@Undersnow243]

@@shippa10001man stop deabating with yourself😂 glossy is better, period!

[@barakoas]

It feels like Asus just slapped a glass on top of the matte screen... 🤔

[@PCMonitors]

Though as covered in the review, that's not what they did.

[@barakoas]

@@PCMonitors Yeh i have noticed right after it... but i still dont fully trust to Asus tbh... 🤷‍♂