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The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCWM games with an addictive quality that carries over to its incredibly sharp and colorful image. It is a flagship among flagships.
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With prices generally higher than their LCD counterparts, the best OLED gaming monitors remain a premium category. And within that, there are flagships even though you’ll rarely see the words “bad” and “OLED” in the same sentence.
Asus ROG Swift displays represent an entire series of flagships, with every model featuring plenty of bells and whistles along with benchmark performance. I’ve looked at many of these in the past, and here, I have the latest one, the PG32UCWM. It’s a 32-inch Tandem RGB Stripe OLED with 4K resolution at 240 Hz, FHD at 480 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR10, DisplayHDR 400, Dolby Vision, and wide-gamut color. Let’s take a look.
First, we’ll tackle the alphabet soup in the room: Tandem RGB Stripe OLED. Let’s call it TRS-OLED, consisting of two light-emitting layers with red, green, and blue diodes. This approach addresses several issues. With two layers comes lower power consumption at a given light level. Tandem white OLEDs do the same thing. RGB Stripe takes care of the fringing issue where white diodes behind color filters can spread their light and cause a loss of sharpness. In practice, you will be hard-pressed to see any softness from any OLED, but an RGB Stripe panel like the PG32UCWM is a tad sharper, and you’ll see it in a side-by-side comparison. To this, Asus adds its True Black Glossy screen coating, which earns its name by reducing the effect of ambient light on the screen. Visually, it deepens black areas and improves perceived contrast.
Another advantage of RGB Stripe is increased color volume. Most wide gamut screens employ Quantum Dots to increase volume up to 110% of DCI-P3 or more. RGB Stripe achieves most of that without the light-reducing effect of a QD layer. The PG32UCWM delivers an honest 100% of P3, which is a little less than the competition, but it’s more than the 93-95% coverage of non-QD monitors. Asus promises and delivers accuracy out of the box as well with a calibration report stored in the panel’s firmware.
It wouldn’t be ROG without serious gaming performance, and on that, the PG32UCWM delivers in spades. 240 Hz at 4K is available for those with enough video card power to achieve it. If you want maximum fps, there’s a 480 Hz mode with FHD 1920x1080 resolution. You can also employ ELMB at lower frame rates to reduce motion blur. Asus includes its exclusive OLED Anti-Flicker feature, which mitigates stutter during rapid frame rate transitions. Does this translate into a fast and smooth experience? Check out my test results on page two to find out.
The PG32UCWM supports HDR10 with multiple picture modes and an adjustable option. And it accepts Dolby Vision content, which is still a rarity among computer monitors. Its dynamic tone mapping creates a major improvement in picture depth, regardless of the level to which content is mastered. It will show you every nuance and render every detail present in the original material.
Like all ROG Swift screens, the PG32UCWM includes multiple LED arrays on the back and in the stand where a logo can be projected onto the desktop. There is a full list of GamePlus enhancements like aim points and sniper modes. And some of these can be automated with AI to better adapt to the gaming environment. You also get USBs and a full set of the latest video I/O ports: HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1 and USB-C.
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Swift displays usually come with a price premium over their competition, but the PG32UCWM comes out of the gate at $1,299, which isn’t a huge number when you consider its build quality and performance. It is a true flagship.
A colorfully adorned box houses the PG32UCWM in molded pulp, which is completely recyclable. The stand, base, and panel assemble without tools. The ROG logo projector lens fits under the base with magnets and includes extra lenses. A zippered pouch disgorges a cable bundle consisting of IEC cords, two USBs, HDMI, and DisplayPort . You also get sheets of ROG decals and a microfiber cleaning cloth for that beautiful shiny screen. Speaking of shiny, there is a lot of bling on this monitor, all protected by bits of clear film. It almost becomes a game to find it all, but at least you can be sure your PG32UCWM won’t arrive with scratches.
The latest crop of Swift displays, like the PG32UCWM, set themselves apart with LEDs in the stand, a logo projector and clear plastic on the back that reveals the internal componentry. It’s a great complement to a transparent PC case, which Asus can also sell you. The right half includes the Lite-Brite LED feature, which can play a vast array of colors and effects. You also get lighting in the stand where it says “Swift”, in the base, in the ROG logo up front, and in the projector under the stand.
The stand is super solid and includes a 3.1-inch height adjustment plus 5/20 degrees tilt and 15 degrees swivel. There is no portrait mode. If you want one, you’ll need an aftermarket arm that interfaces with the included adapter bracket, which provides a 100mm VESA mount. It comes with beefy fasteners.
The styling is a two-piece configuration with the screen and its metal backing attached to a component bulge. This improves cooling along with a graphene layer and internal heat sinks. Several OLED care features enhance panel life, and Asus backs the PG32UCWM with a three-year warranty that includes burn-in. No internal fans are needed to keep running temps low.
The I/O panel includes one DisplayPort 2.1 (configurable to 1.4), two HDMI 2.1, and a USB-C (DP Alt). USB 3.2 is supported by one upstream and three downstream ports. Audio comes only through a 3.5mm headphone jack; there are no internal speakers.