720Hz OLED is here, and today we are looking at the brand new Asus ROG Swift PG27AQWP-W. This is the first monitor to hit this insane milestone, using the fastest of LG Display's new 1440p Primary RGB Tandem WOLED panels, pushing a native 540Hz at 2560 x 1440, or an even wilder 720Hz when switched to its dual-mode 1280 x 720 setting.
Sure, that 720Hz mode runs at just 720p, but this is still the fastest desktop OLED we have tested to date, and we will show you how it performs in terms of motion clarity later in the review.
At its core, this is a higher end, more premium take on the Primary RGB Tandem panels we reviewed a few months back. That first wave landed at 1440p, 280Hz and around the $600 price point. This new variant is built for enthusiasts with deeper pockets. At $1,000, it replaces last generation's 480Hz models and goes head to head with the latest 500Hz QD-OLED monitors.
Beyond the headline refresh rate, this fourth-gen WOLED panel is largely the same as the 280Hz versions. It still carries DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification, keeping the boosted brightness those panels introduced. Asus is also pairing it with their TrueBlack Glossy coating, and all the expected features are here, including adaptive sync support.
Design wise, we would not call the PG27AQWP entirely new, but it is clearly refreshed. The W in the name signals this is the white model – though it is more of a metallic silver. Surfaces that were previously grey plastic on older ROG Swift monitors are now silver, including the stand pillar, rear casing and the newly molded metal legs with cutout details that give it a more industrial look.
Around the back, Asus went a bit bold. The familiar ROG logo grid and RGB lighting are still here, but the rest of the housing is now transparent, showing glimpses of the internal structure. There is a layered design, with a secondary inner shell that carries various printed labels for visual flair, and a small cutout where you can actually see the PCB.
We really like this design and it's good to see something a bit unique and interesting in the monitor space, as opposed to the standard black plastic housings we usually see. It may not be for everyone, and we suspect with the W suffix Asus are keeping the door open for a more traditional variant.
One thing to note: the transparent shell is not quite as rigid as standard ROG builds. Along the top edge especially, there is a bit of flex. It is not a problem in daily use, just something to avoid pressing when moving the display.
Functionally, things are familiar. You still get height, tilt, swivel and pivot adjustments, and plenty of range. The projected logo lighting at the bottom of the stand returns – still a bit gimmicky, though this time it glows light blue instead of red.
Connectivity is solid but not perfect. You get one DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20, two HDMI 2.1 48Gbps ports and a three port USB hub. But there is no USB C input and no KVM switch. Even with the highest bandwidth ports available, you still need DSC to hit 540Hz over both HDMI and DisplayPort. UHBR20 alone does not carry enough bandwidth for 540Hz at 1440p. That said, as we have said before, DSC is effectively lossless and has no impact on gaming.
| Interface | 10-bit 1440p with DSC |
10-bit 1440p without DSC |
8-bit 4K without DSC |
4K Downscaling | Variable RR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HDMI 2.1 | 540Hz | 270Hz | 270Hz | Yes, 120Hz | Yes |
| DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20 mode |
540Hz | 120Hz | 240Hz | No | Yes |
| DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR13.5 mode |
540Hz | 270Hz | 270Hz | No | Yes |
| DisplayPort 2.1 DP 1.4 mode |
540Hz | 120Hz | 240Hz | No | Yes |
Higher bandwidth DisplayPort does let you run a higher refresh rate without DSC, but there are quirks. On an RTX 50 series GPU using UHBR20, DSC is still forced at over 10 bit 120Hz or 8 bit 240Hz. Drop the DP mode to UHBR13.5 in the OSD and you can run up to 270Hz without DSC. But since there are no display modes between 270Hz and 540Hz, that is as high as it goes. Console players also get 4K 120Hz downscaling support, but only through HDMI.
The OSD is controlled with a directional joystick behind the front Asus logo. The interface is the same one found on Asus' latest OLEDs, which means you get one of the most feature rich setups around. We will dig into those in a moment, but it includes everything from gaming tools to color controls to OLED care settings.
Text Quality and Subpixel Layout
Fourth generation WOLED shifts all 1440p panels to the new RGWB subpixel layout. The first time we saw this layout was on the predecessor to this panel, the 1440p 480Hz WOLED, so compared to that panel there is no change. But relative to older and lower refresh rate 1440p WOLEDs using an RWBG layout, text quality is noticeably improved and closer to RGB stripe LCDs.
There is still some shadowing and artefacts due to the white subpixel, especially at smaller font sizes, so this panel is not quite at LCD level. However, we would say it is reasonably good for web browsing or document editing.
The use of RGWB makes these fourth gen WOLED panels very competitive with the latest high refresh QD OLEDs. Whether it reaches parity with triangle RGB QD OLED is subjective and depends on things like font and text size. QD OLED has its own issues with pink and green fringing above and below text, so neither panel is free of artefacts. We do not have strong thoughts on which is better. We might slightly prefer QD OLED, but really neither is as crisp as an IPS LCD. Overall, it is usable for desktop tasks and a non issue while gaming.
Screen Coating: TrueBlack Glossy
The PG27AQWP uses Asus' TrueBlack Glossy coating, which we first saw on the XG27AQWMG and XG32UCWMG. This coating uses 0 percent haze, with clarity similar to a WOLED TV and reduced ambient reflections compared to older glossy methods.
Most other 1440p WOLED panels have used a matte finish, including Asus' previous flagship 1440p 480Hz model. Going from matte to glossy has both benefits and trade offs. The big benefit is clarity. There is no coating grain, the screen looks crystal clear, and colors pop more, which is a typical advantage when comparing glossy to matte. Light does not diffuse across the surface either, which in the right conditions can make contrast look higher with deeper blacks.
The trade off is direct reflections. The screen does not diffuse reflected light anymore, so the surface behaves more like a mirror. The coating and layer stack do a good job minimizing most reflections, but anything bright tends to cut through as a clear reflected object. This can be distracting if you have lights or objects in front of the monitor at reflective angles, so you would not want this screen facing a window.
We really like the glossy finish and prefer it to matte, but the best choice depends on your setup. This TrueBlack finish is excellent in darker rooms and quite good in moderately lit rooms, though you may need to optimize your layout to reduce reflections. Matte works better in brighter rooms or where you cannot control lighting as much and have to place the monitor in a fixed spot. In a way, matte is the safer choice, while glossy offers a better result but with more risk.
Another comparison is to QD OLED glossy. Both have pros and cons, but the biggest and most obvious difference is how each handles ambient light. QD OLED has well known issues with ambient light in bright rooms, which makes blacks look grey and hurts OLED's natural black depth advantage. TrueBlack glossy WOLED does not suffer from this, so in moderate to bright environments the WOLED panel delivers deeper blacks and higher perceived contrast.
On the other hand, glossy QD OLED handles direct reflections better. Both are mirror like, but QD OLED reduces the brightness of reflections more effectively, so they do not cut through as much as on TrueBlack WOLED. In worst cases you will see reflections on both, but side by side, QD OLED reflections are usually less visible. In dark or dim rooms, there is basically no difference between them.
Ultimately the question is whether glossy QD OLED or TrueBlack glossy WOLED is better. We think most people will prefer the TrueBlack glossy finish as it is more versatile and usable in a wider range of conditions. In moderately lit rooms, with either artificial or natural light, QD OLED ambient reflections are quite obvious and you just do not get that on glossy WOLED. That makes WOLED a better choice for gaming both during the day and at night.
There is a higher risk of direct reflections on WOLED, but we think that is easier to work around than QD OLED's ambient light issue. That is just our opinion though, screen coatings are subjective and it depends on your setup and how you use your monitor.
Burn In and OLED Care
OLED panels of all kinds are susceptible to permanent burn in. You will not get burn in while gaming or watching videos, but the panel can burn in over time when showing static content for long periods. This makes OLED less suitable for productivity use where you have static desktop windows visible all day. You can check out our ongoing OLED burn in series to see how real world productivity affects burn in.
Occasional static app usage is fine, so do not worry about browsing the web between gaming sessions. We just would not recommend OLED as a monitor for hours of work every day. Asus offer a standard 3 year burn in warranty.
The PG27AQWP also features Asus' Neo Proximity Sensor, first seen on the PG27UCDM earlier this year. This sensor detects when you are not sitting in front of the display and automatically turns the screen black to prevent burn in. There is no point showing an image when you are not there to see it.
It has adjustable timing and sensitivity, and in our testing it works really well. If you leave your seat, it turns the screen off after a few minutes. Sit back down and it turns back on instantly. It is not a gimmick; we think it is a great feature that strengthens Asus' OLED lineup.
Motion Performance at 1440p
Response time performance is excellent on this WOLED monitor, which is to be expected. What makes things a bit more interesting is that Asus are quoting a 0.02 ms transition time for the PG27AQWP, compared to 0.03 ms for other OLEDs they have made, including the previous 480Hz PG27AQDP. However, from our testing, this new panel performs very similarly to previous OLEDs and is, at best, only slightly faster in actual transition speed.
As usual, this display technology offers lightning fast response times around the 0.2 to 0.3 ms mark, and performance does not change at lower refresh rates, which is one of the many benefits of OLED for variable refresh rate gamers. Unlike some LCDs, you do not need to tweak settings depending on the refresh rate you are using.
There is basically no difference in response time performance between this WOLED and other OLED monitors, including QD OLED variants. OLEDs are much faster than LCDs and offer benefits like no overshoot artefacts, consistent performance across the refresh range, and cumulative deviation that shows near perfect behavior. With transition times an order of magnitude faster, OLEDs have around a 1.5 times clarity advantage over LCD at the same refresh rate. This means a 540Hz OLED delivers a similar experience to an 800Hz LCD, which does not exist yet.
Aside from LCD comparisons, the main thing to understand when buying an OLED for motion is that clarity is directly tied to refresh rate. At the same refresh rate, two OLED monitors will look identical. So the actual refresh rate you can run while gaming is more important than the monitor's max refresh. If you compare a 280Hz OLED and a 540Hz OLED but run both at 120Hz while gaming, they will look the same and feel the same. If you mostly play single player games at lower frame rates, there is no reason to spend extra on a 540Hz OLED.
Where higher refresh rate OLEDs matter is when you can actually hit those refresh rates. This 540Hz monitor has huge potential for high level competitive gaming at 1440p, so if you play at over 280 FPS and want extreme motion clarity, there is absolutely a reason to go for this over cheaper 280Hz models. It is clearer, smoother and has lower input lag when we compare max refresh to max refresh.
It is hard to say whether you "need" a 540Hz display over something slower. Some people call these displays "diminishing returns," but we think they do offer a noticeable upgrade, and that is coming from us not being hardcore competitive players. At the same time, 540Hz over 280Hz is not essential in the same way 120Hz is over 60Hz.
Another comparison is 540Hz WOLED versus similar refresh panels like 500Hz QD OLED or previous 480Hz WOLED. To me, each generation bumping refresh rate slightly feels more like a marketing push than a practical advantage. 540Hz is only 8 percent faster than 500Hz and 13 percent faster than 480Hz, and that is almost impossible to notice in real use. Motion clarity at 1440p is not a major reason to choose 540Hz WOLED over 500Hz QD OLED. The difference is negligible.
Dual Mode: 720p 720Hz
This latest 540Hz panel does have one neat trick: dual mode support. At the press of a button, the PG27AQWP can switch into a 720Hz mode, but resolution drops to 1280 x 720. There was some confusion online about whether 720Hz runs at 1080p or 720p, probably because it was labelled as "HD," but we can confirm it is definitely 720p.
When you enable "Frame Rate Boost" mode, the display behaves like other dual mode monitors. The only things that change are refresh rate and resolution. Everything else stays the same, including HDR, adaptive sync, color performance and processing lag. Your PC sees it as a different monitor, which helps with game compatibility and prevents enabling 720p mode by accident.
The 720p 720Hz mode is exclusively designed for fast paced competitive gaming, even more so than 4K dual mode monitors that drop to 1080p. 720p is extremely low for a 27 inch screen, and since it is non native, the picture looks blurry when clarity matters. Text is soft and pixelated, so you absolutely would not use this mode for desktop apps. You also lose a ton of screen space, so modern apps designed for 1080p feel cramped and oversized.
Whether resolution is a problem in games depends on the title. Most game visuals still look fine, just not as clean as 1440p or even 1080p. UI elements can be an issue because fine lines, icons and text look rough at 720p. You can adjust over time, but it is always compromised compared to 1440p at 540Hz.
What makes this a niche feature is that 720Hz is not a huge jump over 540Hz. On other dual mode OLEDs, going from 240Hz to 480Hz is a big improvement because the refresh doubles. Here, 720Hz is only a 33 percent bump over 540Hz, so the gains are noticeable but small. 540Hz at 1440p already looks amazing, and we think most gamers will stick with that, only using 720Hz in specific extreme cases.
That said, 720Hz still delivers one of the clearest and most responsive gaming experiences you can get. Motion clarity is crazy in this mode, on par with the best strobed LCDs, but you get it with full feature support. The issue is that dropping from 1440p to 720p is a much bigger sacrifice than the clarity gain moving from 540Hz to 720Hz. Some top level players might disagree, but that is how we see it.
ELMB and Anti-Flicker
Asus include two extra features worth mentioning. First is ELMB black frame insertion. This works at 270Hz and 120Hz. ELMB at 270Hz gives clarity similar to 540Hz, and ELMB at 120Hz gives clarity like 240Hz. It does this by technically running the panel at a higher refresh rate, but showing every second frame as black. You have to disable adaptive sync and HDR to enable ELMB. Also, because the 720p mode does not include 270Hz, ELMB only works at 120Hz in that mode. So really, it is only useful at 1440p.
Since ELMB only works in specific scenarios, it is a niche feature. It works, but it is not as advanced as backlight strobing on good LCDs, which use shorter strobe pulses for cleaner motion. It is a nice bonus, just not something we would use often.
The second feature is OLED Anti Flicker, designed to reduce VRR flicker in rare cases. It does this by raising the minimum refresh rate and shrinking the VRR range. Asus have updated how it works. Instead of multiple modes, it is now just on or off. Turning it on sets the minimum refresh rate to 240Hz. LFC still works in all cases. Oddly, in 1440p mode, turning on Anti Flicker reduces the max refresh slightly to 500Hz. Not sure why, but that is what happens.
| Mode | Refresh Range | LFC | Effective Refresh Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off at 1440p | 48-540Hz | Yes | 0-540Hz |
| On at 1440p | 240-500Hz | Yes | 0-500Hz |
| Off at 720p | 48-720Hz | Yes | 0-720Hz |
| On at 720p | 240-720Hz | Yes | 0-720Hz |
TFT Central have a great article on OLED flicker, why it happens and how this mode helps. Basically, on WOLED, gamma is tied to refresh rate. Big swings in refresh cause gamma shifts that you can see as flicker. Narrowing the VRR range reduces how much gamma shifts during frame drops, but it does not completely fix it. This matches what we have seen. Anti Flicker reduces flicker severity, but does not totally eliminate it.
Input Lag and Power
Input latency is excellent, offering a 0.1ms processing delay in both the 540Hz and 720Hz configurations in both the SDR and HDR modes. With a slightly higher refresh rate than other models, this puts the PG27AQWP at the top of the charts, though in practice there's a negligible difference in input lag between any OLEDs in the 480 to 540Hz range. What is noticeable is the increase in responsiveness and smoothness compared to 360Hz monitors, and especially 280 or 240Hz displays: this 540Hz panel is twice as fast and twice as responsive.
Power consumption is as expected. This new 540Hz panel is somewhat more efficient displaying full white than the previous 480hz panel, dropping power usage from 59 watts to 49 watts. However among 4th gen panels the higher refresh model does use more power than 280Hz variants. Compared to QD-OLED we see the usual power advantage viewing white, due to the inclusion of a white subpixel in WOLED.
For typical mid-APL gaming there's not a huge difference between this 540Hz WOLED panel and 500Hz QD-OLED. Power consumption is still lower than 480Hz WOLED, but higher than 280Hz 4th-gen panels. It's a perfectly acceptable result.
SDR Color Performance
Color Space: Asus ROG Swift PG27AQWP - D65-P3
As we found with previous reviews of Primary RGB Tandem WOLED monitors, this new panel brings a major color space improvement compared to previous WOLEDs. Previous panels typically hit around 97% DCI-P3 coverage; that's been bumped up to 99.7% with this new WOLED, and the difference is even larger when we look at the full Rec. 2020 HDR gamut. Last-gen WOLEDs all sat in the 72% range, while this new Primary RGB Tandem WOLED leaps forward to offer 83.6% coverage, which is right up there with the best monitors I've tested, including LCDs. This is a slightly wider color gamut than QD-OLEDs, which were previously the leading OLED technology for color space coverage, and it certainly eliminates the gap in saturation between the two options.
Default Color Performance
Factory calibration in the default configuration is average. The color temperature and gamma are both pretty good and the deltaE ITP average is fine. Like a lot of wide gamut gaming monitors, the color space is left unclamped for SDR use, leading to oversaturation in content like YouTube videos. This oversaturation is more noticeable on the latest WOLED panels due to their wider color gamut. Compared to other monitors we're looking at standard average results here, middle of the chart stuff.
Default ACM Color Performance
This display performs pretty well with Windows 11 Auto Color Management. Greyscale results are unaffected, but the display does provide accurate color primaries to the OS, so we get 98% sRGB coverage and very good saturation and ColorChecker results. This sort of configuration is good enough to be classed as factory calibrated.
sRGB Mode Color Performance
But if you want to take things a step further, Asus offer an excellent sRGB Cal mode, which is the more accurate of the two built in sRGB modes Asus offer (this mode locks settings, the other option is to just change the color space in the OSD). The sRGB Cal mode has improved greyscale results and even better performance in the color tests.
When we compare these results to other monitors, the greyscale numbers are good enough to class as proper factory calibration and sit mid-table overall, no different to some of the 500Hz QD-OLEDs I've tested. ColorChecker results are fantastic though, cementing this display in top position. Further calibration is not really necessary on this monitor though of course it is possible.
SDR Brightness
4th-gen WOLED panels introduced a noticeable brightness increase compared to previous generations and this applies to both the 540Hz and 280Hz panel variants. The PG27AQWP produced a maximum of 334 nits in the SDR mode which is excellent among OLEDs and approaching the level of LCDs. It's in the same ballpark as other Primary RGB Tandem panels and is slightly higher than 500Hz QD-OLEDs like the Samsung G60SF, which report in at around 310 nits. Minimum brightness is good at 28 nits. Asus offer a uniform brightness setting which is not enabled by default and caps the monitor to around this 334 nit level for all window sizes, rather than varying brightness as you resize windows, behavior I find annoying.
Viewing Angles and Uniformity
Viewing angles from this WOLED panel are great, no concerns there whatsoever, typically what you are getting is better than what you'll see from an LCD. Uniformity was perfectly fine when viewing white, but this 4th-gen panel does not improve grey uniformity substantially, so there is still some banding and dirty screen effect when viewing uniform dark grey backgrounds. This is not an issue you'll see with QD-OLED and it can be visible in some desktop apps that use dark grey for the interface.
Specifically on the PG27AQWP I found the dark grey dirty screen effect to be a bit more noticeable than on the XG27AQWMG. It might be impossible to capture on camera, but the 540Hz model has a faint horizontal lines artefact across the screen, almost like a pattern or texture is being applied to the image. As far as I can tell it's not a pixel inversion artefact, and it's not present on the 280Hz panel. It's not a dealbreaker because it's quite difficult to see – I only spotted it looking at the screen side by side with QD-OLED and IPS LCDs – but it's something to be aware of.
HDR Hardware, Modes and Performance
Moving now into the HDR section and OLEDs are a great choice for HDR as many people will already know. The main strengths to this panel type are individual pixel control and zero level blacks, which create high levels of local contrast. With such fine control over the image, OLEDs can display amazing contrast even if a bright and dark area are right next to each other. Combined with rapid response times and low input lag, OLEDs keep up with the demands of fast-paced HDR gaming without introducing artefacts or delay. The main weakness to OLED for HDR is overall brightness, especially in brighter, high APL scenes.
LCDs with zoned backlights are the main alternative to OLED. These types of panels get brighter than OLED and don't have burn-in concerns, which might be better suited to your preferences. However they lack individual pixel control, which in unfavorable scenarios leads to reduced contrast, zone artefacts and in some cases weak highlight brightness. Zoned LCDs also have higher input lag and the backlight can struggle in fast HDR games. The best LCDs still deliver a great overall HDR experience, but OLEDs are typically a better and more premium option for gamers.
The PG27AQWP uses a pretty standard Asus set of HDR configurations, and these configurations perform similarly to the 280Hz 4th-gen WOLED from Asus that we looked at previously, the XG27AQWMG. There are four HDR modes, then a separate toggle called "Adjustable HDR" which when enabled allows you to increase brightness and change other settings.
You can see the differences between the various modes here, tested using a 2% window size. By default, so with Adjustable HDR disabled, all offer peak brightness of around 600 nits. The Console HDR and DisplayHDR 500 True Black modes both have stricter roll-off which is good if you want the source device to perform most of the tone mapping. The Gaming HDR and Cinema HDR modes have more gentle roll-off at higher brightness, which can be better in certain circumstances. The Gaming, Cinema and Console modes all report a peak brightness of 1400 nits to Windows, whereas the True Black mode reports 600 nits to Windows – regardless of whether Adjustable HDR is enabled or not.
With Adjustable HDR enabled, and brightness set to the maximum of 100, now we see peak brightness reach around 1350 nits at a 2% window size in the Gaming, Cinema and Console modes, with the same roll-off characteristics we saw previously. The True Black mode can be increased to nearly 800 nits. All of these configurations have some overbrightening so let's take a closer look at Console HDR mode performance.
With Adjustable HDR disabled, so the default Console HDR experience, accuracy is excellent in all configurations but brightness is capped to 600 nits or so. We've seen a lot of these "True Black" type configurations across OLED monitors we've tested, this one is definitely brighter than what you'll find on most QD-OLEDs, but still it doesn't have especially amazing peak brightness capabilities.
With Adjustable HDR enabled and brightness manually increased to 100, now we see up to 1400 nits of peak brightness at small window sizes. But there's a few drawbacks, the main being highlight overbrightening – the same issue you get with other Primary RGB Tandem monitors in a similar configuration. Essentially, this mode gives you good accuracy in bright scenes with no panel dimming, and good accuracy in dark scenes where the content's brightness level is supposed to be below 80 nits. But any on screen element above 80 nits gets overbrightened, so a highlight that's meant to be say 200 nits, becomes 400 nits in this mode.
This is different to QD-OLED overbrightening, where with some modes the entire scene gets doubled in brightness, even for darker elements, making lower APL scenes look too bright, almost as if the screen is running at a higher brightness setting. This WOLED panel in this configuration only overbrightens some things in dark scenes, usually highlights, which is more acceptable and makes dark content look better relative to 'overbright' QD-OLED configurations. In most content this mode looks normal and quite accurate, with the exception being brighter than normal highlights – think street lights, lightning and fire displayed among an otherwise dark scene.
While I'd prefer not to see overbrightnening for the best all-round accuracy, I think most gamers will prefer the look of the Console HDR mode with Brightness set to 100 – and in general this is a more balanced configuration than the brightest modes QD-OLED has to offer.
Synthetic brightness tests are next up, and the PG27AQWP in its 'brightness 100' configuration produces 350 nits of peak full screen brightness, which is similar to other 4th-gen WOLEDs and slightly higher than 500Hz QD-OLED. I should note here that there has been a firmware update for the XG27AQWMG that is supposed to improve HDR brightness, I haven't gotten a chance to re-test that monitor yet, so these are the launch review numbers.
At a 10% window, the PG27AQWP offers an impressive 783 nits of brightness, matching the previous 480Hz WOLED and significantly outperforming 500Hz QD-OLED, which even in the brightest configuration is only good for around 550 nits in this test. This makes this new WOLED over 40% brighter. We also see at a 2% window size brightness of over 1300 nits, which is 16% higher than the last-gen panel and at least 25% higher than QD-OLEDs, matching Asus' claims around the brightness improvement this new panel offers.
In terms of brightness vs window size, looking across a variety of OLEDs I think the PG27AQWP offers the best performance yet. It either matches or exceeds other panel types at all window sizes, offering excellent small window results and very good full screen numbers for an OLED as well.
In real scene brightness there's a couple of things to explore. The most accurate mode, console HDR without the brightness boost, is one of the better performing 'True Black' modes I've looked at. It's slightly brighter and more accurate than the True Black 500 mode on the MSI 272QP X50, while offering a 27% better average result than True Black 400 modes available with lower refresh QD-OLEDs. This mode doesn't give amazing results but it's nice to see progress for this configuration.
The brightest configuration is very solid in real tests. Unlike with QD-OLEDs, there are no panel dimming concerns, and this panel produces better results in high APL bright scenes than even the EOTF Boost mode on the 272QP X50 – a mode that as you can see, doesn't fully resolve panel dimming. Highlight brightness is typically either as good or better than this competing QD-OLED model as well, leading to better overall brightness characteristics in the HDR mode. The consistency of this panel across a wide range of tests is key, and while there is still that weakness of overbrightening in low APL scenes affecting accuracy, the package offered here is top tier among OLEDs right now.
Relative to older models like the PG27AQDP that this new monitor directly replaces, brightness performance is also quite a bit better. Both low and high APL brightness is better on the new model, so average brightness has increased by 15% - and the PG27AQDP was one of the best performing WOLEDs from the previous generation of panels.
Dark scene accuracy using a 10% window is not amazing, but also not terrible using the highest brightness mode, and it's pretty good just in the regular Console HDR mode. This test is where QD-OLEDs like the MSI 272QP X50 excel. Bright scene accuracy though is very solid whether we use the brightest mode or not, and this level of performance is only exceeded by MSI's EOTF Boost mode. I also saw really good color results from this display, showing good attention to detail as often only brightness is calibrated for.
As I noted in other Primary RGB Tandem monitor reviews, color volume has increased with this new panel, due to an increase in color gamut and brightness. In its brightest configuration, the PG27AQWP delivers a 29% higher result than the previous model. Compared to QD-OLED it still falls short though, as color brightness isn't as good on this WOLED panel despite increases to gamut coverage and white brightness. It's much closer to parity than it was, but the latest 500Hz QD-OLEDs have a 12% lead in this metric.
HUB Essentials Checklist
Asus does a solid job of marketing this monitor, as shown in the Essentials Checklist. There are still the usual questions around strange response time claims, and although it may pass certain flicker free certifications, it is not truly flicker free. WOLED panels use a short pulse each refresh, which can cause eye strain for a very small group of users.
The name is a problem, though. This is another example of Asus creating a word salad product name that is too long, hard to remember and full of random letters. Like many Asus monitors, the difference between models often comes down to one letter buried in the name. In this case the W in AQWP is important. A simpler name would make things much clearer.
In the feature support matrix we see a wide range of strong features, including excellent contrast and motion results. Only a few things hold this monitor back from being a complete flagship, such as the missing USB C port, no KVM switch and no Dolby Vision support.
Who Is This Monitor For?
Overall, the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQWP W is an excellent high refresh 1440p gaming monitor. It sets a new standard for 500Hz class displays thanks to its Primary RGB Tandem WOLED panel, which brings improved performance, better brightness, stronger HDR and the addition of a 720p 720Hz dual mode. If you want the ultimate 1440p gaming experience, this is it.
The PG27AQWP does many things well. At 1440p, its 540Hz refresh rate is not massively higher than competing models, but motion clarity is outstanding, especially in fast paced games. If you love competitive shooters and regularly push above 300 FPS, the extreme refresh rate and low latency give a clear advantage.
This is a super responsive, super fast panel without the limitations that LCD backlight strobing often introduces. And because it is OLED, image quality and resolution are far better than what premium TN esports monitors offer.
The Primary RGB Tandem panel delivers the same excellent experience we saw earlier on 280Hz models. It is a major upgrade for WOLED, with higher brightness and a wider color gamut. In both SDR and HDR, the PG27AQWP is the brightest and most consistently bright high refresh OLED available. It offers deep blacks, excellent contrast and all the usual per pixel control benefits that make OLED HDR look fantastic.
Asus remains one of the best brands when it comes to tuning and extra features, and that continues here. There is an excellent factory calibrated sRGB mode, great HDR accuracy with no aggressive auto dimming, and lots of useful additions like the Neo Proximity Sensor, Anti Flicker mode, customizable color profiles and DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20.
We also love the TrueBlack Glossy coating. It is a major improvement over the matte coating on the older 480Hz model. This is the best glossy finish on any monitor right now and delivers a better experience than QD OLED for most people because it does not suffer from raised blacks in bright rooms. Combined with the fourth gen WOLED panel, image quality is stunning.
We are less convinced by the 720Hz dual mode. Yes, the clarity is incredible, but dropping from 1440p to 720p is a big compromise, and the jump from 540Hz to 720Hz is not as meaningful as dual mode monitors that switch from 4K to 1080p. Going down to 720p feels like too much of a sacrifice for a small gain in clarity.
At $1,000, the PG27AQWP launches at the same price as the older 480Hz PG27AQDP, which is reasonable considering how much better this monitor is. It is, however, more expensive than some 500Hz QD OLED competitors like the MSI 272QP X50, which has an MSRP of $850 and is selling for around $750. So is it worth paying an extra $150 to $250 for the PG27AQWP?
If you only care about pure motion clarity at 1440p for competitive gaming, there is very little difference and we would suggest saving money and choosing a 500Hz QD OLED instead. But if you want the better overall product with superior HDR, better coating and long term features or if you will genuinely use the 720Hz mode, spending more on the AQWP makes sense. In this premium segment, paying extra for the very best is more justifiable than in lower price brackets.
One final reminder: if you do not play games at extremely high refresh rates, you can get a very similar SDR and HDR experience, brightness and image quality from a 280Hz 4th-gen WOLED. The Asus XG27AQWMG with the same glossy coating is the direct alternative and costs just $600, so that is worth keeping in mind.