OC3D at ROG Apex

A first look at ASUS’ ROG Swift OLED Gaming Monitors

ASUS’ ROG Swift OLED PG48UQ & ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ gaming monitors are the heart and soul of ASUS’ #ROGApex event. These screens were practically everywhere, being used with racing sim setups, gaming PCs and current-generation games consoles.

If ASUS wanted us to take anything away from #ROGApex, it is this. ASUS’ ROG OLED Gaming Monitors are coming to market and are ready to meet the needs of all gamers on all platforms.

ASUS’ ROG Swift OLED PG48UQ is already available in the UK. Here’s a link to the screen on Amazon UK (affiliate link)

– Update – ASUS’ ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ is now available in the UK – Here’s an Amazon Affiliate Link

Let’s Talk Specs – ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ

We have already said that ASUS has designed their ROG Swift OLED screens to meet the needs of all gamers on all platforms, and we weren’t lying. This monitor is a 4K OLED monitor that has higher levels of HDR support than LG’s competing 42-inch C2 series OLED TVs. Yes, ASUS is using an OLED panel from LG to create this display, but thanks to some custom add-ons, ASUS can deliver OLED black levels and peak brightness levels of 900 nits, which is higher than LG’s 42-inch C2 OLED TV.

ASUS’ higher brightness levels are possible thanks to ASUS’ custom heatsink solution for their ROG Swift OLED monitors, which keep their screen cooler than LG’s OLED TVs and lowers their risk of “burn-in”. A side benefit of this is that ASUS can also push the brightness levels of their screens to higher levels.

One neat aspect of ASUS’ ROG OLED displays is that they are designed to offer users better text/font presentation than other OLED panels. This is a big deal for those who want to use ROG’s OLED displays as a monitor, giving ROG’s offering an advantage over the OLED TVs that some gamers repurpose as gaming monitors.

The ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ is listed as supporting a 138Hz refresh rate, but this is only in the screen’s “overclocked mode”. By default, this monitor can be pushed to 120Hz at 4K with HDR and 10-bit colour over HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4. 138Hz can only be achieved using PCs over DisplayPort. This screen has been certified as G-Sync Compatible and also supports AMD’s FreeSync technology. 

Colour-wise, this monitor covers 98% of the DCI-P3 colour space and is factory calibrated to have a dE value of less than 2. The screen also boasts a 0.1ms G2G response times and support for HDR10 content. Sadly, this screen does not support HLG or Dolby Vision formats.  

ROG’s new OLED monitors support external mounts using a VESA 300 x 300mm mounting system. Below, we can see three of ASUS’ 48-inch monitors that are mounted to a Vesaro racing simulator. Unlike most TV panels of this size, ASUS has decided not to use a glossy panel coating with their OLED monitors. Instead, ASUS have used a anti-glare micro-texture coating to minimise glare. At ASUS’ #ROGApex event, this coating proved to be very effective, as we saw very little glare or reflections from these screens despite their bright surroundings. 

Like many recent ROG monitors, ASUS has kitted their OLED screens out with a 1/4 inch compatible camera/webcam mounting point. These mounting points are useful for users who want to mount cameras or lights about their monitors. 

Unlike some OLED TVs, ASUS’ ROG OLED gaming monitors support HDMI 2.1’s full 48 Gbps bandwidth, giving gamers access to high refresh rate 4K gaming without any compromises. These monitors also support variable refresh rates on PC and consoles, which is good news for gamers on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

These screens feature a single DisplayPort 1.4 connection (with DSC), two HDMI 2.1 connections, and two HDMI 2.0 connections. This makes this monitor ideal for modern gaming, allowing users to connect a gaming PC, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5 to ROG’s latest OLED TVs simultaneously, with all three supporting 4K HDR at 120Hz. 

ASUS’ new ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ should be available soon in the UK. ASUS’ ROG Swift OLED PG48UQ is already available in the UK. Here’s a link to the screen on Amazon UK (affiliate link).

– Update – ASUS’ ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ is now available in the UK – Here’s an Amazon Affiliate Link