ASUS ROG Swift PG278Q G-SYNC Monitor Review
by Chris Heinonen & Jarred Walton on February 13, 2015 10:00 AM ESTConclusions
The ASUS ROG Swift PG278Q is a monitor that is good when it comes to the usability features, but falls short on many of the objective measures. With a well designed stand, a pair of USB 3.0 ports, and a nice OSD, it is a display that is easy to use and adjust. It has a TN panel, but it is easy to make sure it is in line with your eyes and won't suffer as much color shifting and other issues that TN often can.
However, it doesn't have any side USB ports, only a single DisplayPort 1.2 input, and the uniformity of the display leaves a lot to be desired. The pre-calibrations numbers are decent though not exceptional, but the uniformity data isn't good. There are issues at the top and lower-right of the display that cause the backlight uniformity to be bad and the color uniformity to suffer as a result.
Of course most people are buying a G-SYNC display for gaming, not image editing, and here the ROG does well. Compared to the previously reviewed Acer 4K G-SYNC, the ASUS is superior for gaming. The extra resolution of the Acer may work better for movies or daily work, but for gaming the ASUS does a better job today. The main drawback of the ASUS is the use of a TN panel over IPS, though Acer has shown a 144Hz IPS G-SYNC display they plan to release. Since IPS has more image retention than TN we aren't sure how this will perform in real life, but it might be an answer for gaming and daily use.
For the gamers ASUS is targeting with this display, the ROG Swift PG278Q is a very good choice. The resolution is more appropriate for gaming than a 4K display, and the objective measurements are better as well. ASUS could add some additional USB 3.0 ports but that isn't a major loss. Overall the ROG is a very good monitor for the target audience.
If there's one major concern, it's pricing. There are plenty of 27" 2560x1440 IPS displays available with prices starting well under $500, and with many of those you can even overclock the signal to varying degrees (so 80-90 Hz is often achievable). You don't get G-SYNC or any other form of adaptive V-SYNC, but you do often get better image quality. With a current price of $790 online, the PG278Q is roughly twice the cost, making it very much a premium gaming accessory for NVIDIA GPU owners. It's expensive, yes, but then unlike a high-end GPU there's a good chance you'll still be able to happily use this display five years down the road.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
101 Comments
View All Comments
Antronman - Sunday, February 15, 2015 - link
There's really no reason to use IPS for gaming as the colors are still heavily saturated so you just get even richer, more saturated colors that are gross.Death666Angel - Sunday, February 15, 2015 - link
Color satuartion has no direct link with the panel tech. I've had oversaturated TN panels (HP w2408h) and I've had undersaturated IPS panels (Qnix 2710LED). The difference between IPS and TN that makes IPS more desireable for me personally are the viewing angles. With TN, I need my head to be pretty much in the right spot (like the old Nintendo 3DS) in order to have a good picture. If I move around the colors get inverted or washed out and if I want to show someone something on the monitor, they have a shitty picture or they need to be in my spot. With IPS, colors are the same from almost any angle.doggghouse - Wednesday, February 18, 2015 - link
The saturated colors have more to do with the type of backlight used. A lot of the earlier monitors with IPS panels were designed for professionals (photographers etc) so they used a special bulb in the backlight to give an extended gamut to better match the color spectrum available for print. But you can find IPS displays that cover the standard RGB gamut.oobga - Sunday, February 15, 2015 - link
I was looking at the PG278Q, but as soon as I was thinking of getting one the prices jumped another $50+ everywhere in Canada which totally turned me off. Then started to read about the Acer XB270HU which might end up being a superior monitor. At the least that should make ASUS compete a bit with their ridiculous pricing.gostarkgo - Monday, February 16, 2015 - link
Honestly BenQ has been making monitors like this for a while now and they cost much less. I've got one that has almost identical spec's and it is three years old now. Didn't even come close to costing that much. Hilarious article.oobga - Monday, February 16, 2015 - link
I think you're missing how this monitor has g-sync, but still, that should only be a ~$200 premium. ASUS is very obviously taking advantage of having the only monitor with these resolution/refresh rate specs with g-sync. That should change later this year though. If you can wait for g-sync, you really should. This monitor is very close to being a low end 1440p/144hz +g-sync monitor.nos024 - Monday, February 16, 2015 - link
I owned the ASUS VG248qe for a year before selling it off to a friend. It was the best monitor for gaming I've ever used...for gaming. The so called not-so-accurate colors, and not-so-great viewing angle of a TN panel is irrelevant for gaming IMO. What bothered me was when using it as an everyday panel for productivity because the panel uses PWM lighting. On white backgrounds, it was just too much for my eyes to handle. So when working in Excel, Word, and web browsing...When gaming, it was plain awesome. But I felt 24inch/1080 was too small for my taste. When I heard the Swift ROG was coming out at 27inch/1440 i almost pulled the trigger on getting one. With all the QA issues, I was hesitant. I will wait awhile until the dust settles to get one. I saw one on display at the local Microcenter and I was quite impressed with it. I think if they had one in stock at the time I would've bought it and hope I win the lottery on getting a non-defective one.
bebimbap - Tuesday, February 17, 2015 - link
If you get the gsync board for the vg248qe it gets rid of the pwm lightingmilkod2001 - Monday, February 16, 2015 - link
If not in rush it might be better to wait for IPS/PLS monitors with Gsync/Free Sync enabled. Q2/q3/15$790 for TN + Gsync is a bad ,very bad joke
oobga - Tuesday, February 17, 2015 - link
I've been watching inventory of online stores in Canada. Very little if any movement in their stock for this monitor in the last few weeks. Looks like people have caught on better things are coming out soon for high res/high refresh rate monitors with g-sync. Unfortunately, those stores are stubbornly holding their prices ($950+ CAD). They should have no choice soon to cut those down though.