Skip to main content

The latest Asus gaming monitor will be insanely expensive

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Asus Republic of Gamers-branded Swift PG27UQ desktop display for gamers will finally ship in late June. But hold on to your seat for the price — it’s $2,000. For that amount, you can buy a decent gaming desktop or laptop, or even a large, curved 4K HDR TV for your entire family can enjoy.  

Key specs

 

  • Screen size: 27 inches
  • Panel type: IPS
  • Resolution: 3,840 x 2,160
  • Typical brightness: 300 nits
  • Max brightness: 1,000 nits
  • Typical contrast ratio: 1,000:1
  • HDR contrast ratio: 20,000:1
  • Response time: 4ms
  • Display colors: 1.07 billion
  • Max refresh rate: 144Hz 

The ROG Swift PG27UQ is based on Nvidia’s G-Sync HDR reference design originally introduced in January 2017 to launch in products toward the end of the year. That never happened, given both Asus and Acer delayed their products. But Nvidia said in March that it was confident solutions would launch by the end of April. 

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

Nvidia’s design focuses on increasing four key areas: brightness, contrast, color gamut, and refresh rate. In the case of the new ROG Swift panel, it has a typical brightness of 300 nits but a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, qualifying it as a certified DisplayHDR 1000 product. It also has an HDR contrast ratio of 20,000:1 and a typical contrast ratio of 1,000:1, support for 1.07 billion colors, and a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz at a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution. 

The display relies on an in-plane switching quantum-dot panel, meaning you get rich colors and wide viewing angles. The quantum dot aspect means the panel relies on nano-sized crystals that absorb and emit specific shades of color, depending on the size of their core. Ultimately, quantum dots provide “precise” colors whereas a color generated by a single pixel in a typical LCD panel will bleed into the color of a neighboring pixel. 

“With local dimming, its LED backlight is dynamically controlled across 384 zones, providing very high contrast for richer, more natural-looking dark scenes,” the company says. “It can selectively turn LEDs on and off to create a wide range of dynamic luminance.” 

The new display includes a built-in ROG Light Signal in its stand to display the logo on a wall or backdrop. There is also a Light Signature projection kit to create and customize light effects to beam on your desktop surface, such as an illuminated custom logo. The panel supports the Aura Sync platform so you can synchronize the illuminated logo with the colors and effects assigned to your other supported devices. 

On the connectivity front, the new G-Sync HDR display includes one HDMI 2.0 port, a headphone jack, two USB-A ports, and one USB-B port that connects to your PC. It also provides a five-way OSD Navigation joystick to manage the settings and a built-in ambient light sensor that adjusts the brightness levels of the display based on your current lighting conditions. 

If you think the ROG Swift PG27UQ is crazy expensive, it’s no different than the other monitor in the G-Sync HDR duo: The $2,000 Acer Predator X27. It’s out of stock on Newegg and won’t return until the beginning of June. 

Editors' Recommendations

Kevin Parrish
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
MSI could be prepping next-gen OLED gaming monitors — and they look insane
Marvel's Spider-Man running on the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8.

MSI is getting serious in the gaming monitor space. Newly leaked information suggests that the company is preparing at least six new QD-OLED monitors that are set to arrive in the coming months. It is said that the new models will range from 27 inches to 49 inches in size, with refresh rates of up to 360Hz.

The alleged information comes from Twitter/X user @chi11eddog, who is known for consistent and reliable leaks, particularly regarding MSI and general hardware-related information. The upcoming monitors are expected to be part of MSI’s MPG and MAG series of product lines, with the first new model scheduled for November 2023.

Read more
Asus just embarrassed everyone with its new gaming keyboard
The Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 on a pink background.

I didn't expect much out of the Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96. The company impressed me earlier this year with the ROG Azoth, but the Strix Scope II 96 looked like a regression; a cheaper gaming keyboard designed for the mainstream, devoid of the enthusiast flair the company displayed with the Azoth. I'm happy I was wrong.

The Strix Scope II 96 can't rival building your own keyboard, nor the many premium options from brands like Keychron, but it raises the bar for what you should expect out of a mechanical gaming keyboard that costs $180. Not only does it come with modern features like hot-swappable switches and three connection modes, but it also sounds and feels great right out of the box. And that's coming from someone that winces at the sound of most mechanical gaming keyboards.
What makes it different?

Read more
Asus is releasing an RTX 4060 as big as the RTX 4090
Asus RTX 4090 ROG Strix plugged into a motherboard.

Asus is taking advantage of its ROG Strix cooler design for RTX 40-series graphics cards, all the way down to the measly RTX 4060. Asus is turning what should be a compact, two-slot GPU into a 3.1-slot behemoth, matching the size of its already massive RTX 4090 Strix model.

In fairness to Asus, the RTX 4060 model is slightly smaller: 3.1 slots compared to 3.5 slots on the RTX 4090 version. Regardless, that's a massive cooler for a relatively tame graphics card. This isn't the recently released RTX 4060 Ti -- though that one is getting the triple-slot treatment as well -- but the upcoming RTX 4060, which is slated to launch in July.

Read more