Gaming at 540Hz: Asus ROG Swift Pro PG248QP Review

[Scorpus]

The Asus ROG Swift Pro PG248QP is an extremely fast gaming monitor designed for professional esports gamers. Boasting a massive 540Hz refresh rate, it's a glimpse into the future of gaming displays.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/review/2763-asus-rog-swift-pro-pg248qp/

 

[MarkHughes]

Who will be first to 1kHz ?

 

[Beerfloat]

For that kind of money they could at least include an intravenous caffeine drip and maybe a few bags of cocaine.

 

[Vulcanproject]

OLEDs look like they're probably winning this battle in the long run too.

Motion clarity or not when a 1440p 165Hz OLED still comes out with a combined response time faster than a 1080p 540Hz TN panel (let alone the 240Hz OLED) then the game seems up for these extreme monitors, especially when they have so many other major caveats.

 

[amghwk]

Gaming at 540Hz, huh? What are they playing? 320x200 with a 4090???

 

[ZackL04]

Marketing something nobody wants

 

[toooooot]

OLEDs look like they're probably winning this battle in the long run too.

Depends. Are they going to solve burn in problem?
It is one weakness that is too big to not doubt
a purchase of oled.

 

[liljom]

Very thorough article. Big thanks!
But
1, I can't imagine that the percivable difference would be big for 99% of the people, compared to 240Hz.
2, You can't even get 540 Hz if you use HDMI?!? Plain stupid.
3, Even on the best hardware (which is ridiculously expensive), how many games would run 500 fps?
It's a nice achievement from Asus, but I think it's not a good consumer product

 

[loki1944]

Anything above about 165Hz gives me headache; so definitely staying away

 

[erickmendes]

1440p@ >144Hz it's enough for me... 540Hz waste of money.

 

[Puiu]

1080p 24" TN panel

It can be infinite refresh rate, no thank you. The only market I can see for this is FPS pros.

 

[Dimitrios]

Is this targeted for
1.) Superman?
2.) Referee's?

 

[maestro0428]

Super thorough review. Well done. I recently side graded my gaming LCD from 34" 3440x1440p 144ghz display to a 25"1080p IPS 240hz and I love it. Way better for competitive gameplay. 900 bucks for a 1080p screen, Ill pass.

 

[godrilla]

Depends. Are they going to solve burn in problem?
It is one weakness that is too big to not doubt
a purchase of oled.

Rting yt channel just dropped a 10 month long burnin testing, I suggest anyone interested in Burnin check it out. They also have current qd oled and woled monitors tested.

Great review. These high refresh rate monitors while they do have their niche case use case come with a high price tag, hardware requirements and power usage. You still have to compromise on image quality to achieve those high frame rates, ( compromise on hdr, rt, lower quality settings, lower resolution) just to see these lower quality image better in motion.
On the bright side in 2025 display port 2.1 monitors might flood the market ( in time for balckwell) with 4k 240hz displays. Which should get us to 1/4 on the way to a no compromise ideal 1000 hz display without sacrifices .
One thing that a super fast TN panel will be at a disadvantage compared to the 1440p 240hz oled ( currently selling for $779 by lg) during dark scenes and lots of shadow details. The player with the oled will be at and advantage with more details during those dark maps as well.

 

[ddferrari]

Depends. Are they going to solve burn in problem?
It is one weakness that is too big to not doubt
a purchase of oled.

Burn in is highly overhyped on OLED monitors. I have the Dell Alienware AW3423DW QD-OLED and it has several technologies to prevent burn-in, like pixel shift (which is imperceptible), pixel refresh when it goes to sleep, and a full panel refresh after every 120 hours of use. Dell warranties against burn-in for the full 3-year warranty (as well as even a single dead pixel). I'm not worried in the least.

Also, one just has to be SMART about how they use an OLED monitor. Auto hide the taskbar. Use full-screen when possible. Use Windows screensaver. And, of course, don't leave a bright, static image sitting there for 24 hours.

I don't play e-sports, but at 175Hz and with incredible response times, it feels buttery smooth. And the picture quality is unmatched by any other panel technology. Infinite contrast. True HDR. Almost unlimited viewing angles. It's the biggest single upgrade to my rig, ever, and I will never go back to any other panel. Especially TN. YUCK

 

[toooooot]

Also, one just has to be SMART about how they use an OLED monitor. Auto hide the taskbar. Use full-screen when possible. Use Windows screensaver. And (duh) don't leave a bright, static image sitting there for 24 hours.

I do not wanna be smart to use it. To me, it is annoying enough to skip it.

 

[ddferrari]

I do not wanna be smart to use it. To me, it is annoying enough to skip it.

Well, I guess it all depends on how high of a priority picture quality is for you. It may not be at all, or you may have different priorities. Each to their own!

When I wrote "smart", I meant being smart by further avoiding burn-in possibilities with just a few simple tweaks. Since MFRs can only assume the average user may not know how to, or just won't bother with these little tricks, they have several built-in features to prevent burn-in. Their profits depend on its success, after all!

My point is simply that it doesn't take much (other than a big chunk of money) to safely use an OLED for many, many years. I'm not suggesting everyone should get one, but rather that burn-in worry should not be a deciding factor. I was one of the first adopters 18 months ago, and was a Guinee pig for all! So far, so good.

 

[ZedRM]

Marketing something nobody wants

Or can use. 540hz is well beyond the human vision range. This is snake oil in tech form.

 

[HoTlaiM]

Good review.
But a Big lack : why the 500hz Alienware aw2524H (and also aw2524HF) is not present on charts?

 

[Disiw]

Even with 500 Hz LCD has smearing. OLED has much better motion clarity at much lower refresh rate. 240-360 Hz OLED will demolish 500 Hz LCD in terms of clarity, however the pro players are sponsored and typically plays ast 1080p or lower which is not a focus for any OLED monitor, since its 1440p and up.

The Dual Hz OLEDs that can do 1080p at 480 Hz are too big for serious play, 32 inch is way too big for fast paced shooters. The pro players typically use 24 inch and sit very close to the screen. You can't sit close to a 32 inh unless you want to move your eyes and head all the time which is exactly what you should not be doing in fast paced games. HUD and everything has to be in plain sight, without much eye movement.

The is a huge difference between monitors good for esports and monitors good for immersion. OLEDs mostly targets the latter, high-end monitor market.

However the 1440p 360 Hz (with 480 Hz incoming) OLEDs have insane motion clarity and could easily be used for competitive gaming at 27 inch but still slightly too big for many "pros"

I will get an OLED monitor next for sure. Im done with LCD and my monitor is my last LCD panel. TVs and phones has been OLED for years at this point. Many years.

OLED is just next level in terms of image quality, HDR and motion clarity is insane. Burn in is not a problem. This is 2024 not 2014. Had tons of OLED panels and not seen burn in yet.