ASUS Announces ROG SWIFT PG278Q Premium Gaming Monitor

I see this discussion regarding DP cables and problems with cables longer than 10''. Which is quite problematic for me, the setup I am planning on doing will be surround, and the cable will be going maybe 36''-48'', will this be a problem for me?
 
I see this discussion regarding DP cables and problems with cables longer than 10''. Which is quite problematic for me, the setup I am planning on doing will be surround, and the cable will be going maybe 36''-48'', will this be a problem for me?

The spec and few people who chimed in all are saying 6' (72") reliably - but like I said, it's already 5' from my center monitor's dp input to each end of my 3-panel corner desk, and 2' 8" veritcal. I have a 15' cable running from shared wall/ceiling of room above at the moment. I have a few 10' ones too but I don't know if they will make it.

Welcome to high bandwidth displayport cable lengths to desktop monitor.. ;)

Ab3oK3j.jpg


:rolleyes:

...<snip>....

However, this user can't even use 10' dp cables apparently, which is very disheartening. We have been able to use long vga, dvi, and hdmi runs for years.. also audio cables of various types. The only weak signals have been USB (and even those typically reach 16' without being 'active'/repeater types). Displayport tech as an advancement is very disappointing in this regard... ridiculously so if it requires 6' max. Note that there will likely be 120hz input 4k tv's as well, so this also affects home theater usage/setup scenarios.

It is exactly 5' from the end edge of either end of my corner desk to the displayport input on my 27" 120hz monitor. It is another 2' 8" from that height to the ground. So not only would my pc case have to be at my desk, it would have to be under it in the leg area beneath usable desktop surfaces, or on top of the desk if constrained by a 6' displayport cable limitation. Behind the desk is not an option, and the ends aren't optimal either (one end is against a wall, the other is a walk-through) and would still be 5' across plus up to 2' 8" down. Pretty shitty for a modern display signal tech imo. I wonder if dp 1.3 will be any different in strength for a 2015 display cable/signal technology.

I'd also be curious if amd card's displayport signal goes further reliably at 144hz on this monitor for people, assuming someone got 144hz to work on this monitor with amd properly to start with. I sold my 6990 but it definitely had no problem on the long ext cabling while the nvidia 780ti failed and glitched on it.

If they make a 4k 100hz+ input oculus rift, you'd practically have to stand on top of your pc to reach 6' if you kept a tower pc on the floor. If you wanted to use a treadmill/vr walking rig type thing someday it could add distance too, or if you want multiple headsets on separate outputs for virtual theater viewing scenarios (can't daisy chain that kind of rez+hz). These limitations (6', especially when factoring in vertical distances too) are pretty sad.
 
Last edited:
Who has one amd ia it worth it?

linustechtips used the flat LG 34" at work until they sent him a curved LG 34". now he uses the curved LG 34" at work. and as you might imagine, this story ends with him STILL using the swift at home for games.
 
linustechtips used the flat LG 34" at work until they sent him a curved LG 34". now he uses the curved LG 34" at work. and as you might imagine, this story ends with him STILL using the swift at home for games.

How do you know he uses the swift at home for games? or is that what you want to believe?
 
For future posters who're asking if this monitor is worth it, here's your answer.

If you want speed, matteness, gsync and if you are a pew pew gamer who cares a lot about increasing your head shot count, then this monitor is worth it for you.
It has ridiculously bad image quality compared to any normal IPS monitors and the colours look completely washed out. so if you aren't a pew pew gamer and if you want your games to also look beautiful, then this monitor isn't worth it.
 
For future posters who're asking if this monitor is worth it, here's your answer.

If you want speed, matteness, gsync and if you are a pew pew gamer who cares a lot about increasing your head shot count, then this monitor is worth it for you.
It has ridiculously bad image quality compared to any normal IPS monitors and the colours look completely washed out. so if you aren't a pew pew gamer and if you want your games to also look beautiful, then this monitor isn't worth it.

I disagree in regard to TN vs IPS in regard to 1st and 3rd person gaming, though I can't speak for any shortfalls of this monitor model itself in particular (yet).

IPS response time is too low so it blurs more toward the 60hz tn end of the spectrum even on "overclocked models" (i.e the worst blurring). The "resolution" during decent viewport movement in 1st/3rd person games on a poor response time ips can't even be considered a solid grid resolution while it is smearing. There are some TN's with saturated color, though they do suffer TN shift (a gradient like shadow band on the top or bottom of the monitor which isn't really obvious while gaming).
This monitor and even other 120hz-144hz TNs at ~1ms response time cut that blur by 50% at 120hz (by 60% at 144hz) from a smearing of the entire viewport during continual movement keying and mouse look flow pathing in first and third person gaming, to a "Soften blur" more within the "shadow masks" of on screen objects/elements/architecture/geography. This is a huge aesthetic difference, as is lack of judder and tearing (gysync mode) , and zero blur (ulmb/backlight strobing mode option). Backlight strobing mode results in basically zero blur. Any other mode will soften blur or completely smear blur all texture detail and depth via bump mapping during FoV movement. These benefits are in addition to high fps+high hz motion articulation and motion definition that most 120hz+ input monitors bring at high fps.

These real world usage aesthetic benefits are not easy to show online to anyone who doesn't already posses the technology. So these huge aesthetic benefits (not just pew pew and rank seeking!) are typically overlooked by still shot champions who play blind to the continual non-resolution blur periods -(very ugly, not "beautiful" at all imo!) - in 1st/3rd person gaming's FoV movement of the entire game world.

The question becomes which tradeoff do you prefer really. Both are aesthetic choices in my opinion. Motion blur reduction(or even elimination) of the entire game world/viewport .. and motion articulation&definition (and even animation cycle definition) are huge aesthetic gains.
Gsync also eliminates judder and tearing on top of that if you aren't using backlight strobing, rather than using v-syncs frame limiting caps and in some cases input lag.
You can get some of the motion gains on an overclocked ips, but not the motion clarity/blur reduction~elimination(so have a poor response time smearing-to-nonresolution viewport), and no gsync/ulmb either.

Note that I don't own this monitor, and I prefer glossy screens. I own a samsung a750d 27" 120hz tn (non-gsync, and "only" 1080p), which is notably lush and vibrant in color, and is glossy. I use a 60hz 2560x1440 glossy ips next to it for desktop/apps. You can't have it all in one monitor.
 
Last edited:
I disagree. IPS response time is too low so it blurs more toward the 60hz tn end of the spectrum even on "overclocked models" (i.e the worst blurring). The "resolution" during decent viewport movement in 1st/3rd person games on a poor response time ips can't even be considered a solid grid resolution while it is smearing. There are some TN's with saturated color, though they do suffer TN shift (a gradient like shadow band on the top or bottom of the monitor).
This monitor and even other 120hz-144hz TNs at ~1ms response time cut that blur by 50% from a smearing of the entire viewport during continual movement keying and mouse look flow pathing in first and third person gaming, to a "Soften blur" more within the "shadow masks" of on screen objects/elements/architecture/geography. This is a huge aesthetic difference, as is lack of judder and tearing (gysync mode) , and zero blur (ulmb/backlight strobing mode option). This is in addition to high fps+high hz motion articulation and motion definition that most 120hz+ input monitors bring at high fps. These real world usage aesthetic benefits are not easy to show online to anyone who doesn't already posses the technology. So these huge aesthetic benefits (not just pew pew and rank seeking!) are typically overlooked by still shot champions who play blind to the continual non-resolution blur periods in 1st/3rd person gaming's FoV movement of the entire game world.

The question becomes which tradeoff do you prefer really. Both are aesthetic choices in my opinion. Motion blur reduction(or even elimination) of the entire game world/viewport .. and motion articulation&definition (and even animation cycle definition) are huge aesthetic gains.
Gsync also eliminates judder and tearing on top of that if you aren't using backlight strobing, rather than using v-syncs frame limiting caps and in some cases input lag.

Note that I don't own this monitor, and I prefer glossy screens. I own a samsung a750d 27" 120hz tn (non-gsync, and "only" 1080p), which is notably lush and vibrant in color, and is glossy. I use a 60hz 2560x1440 glossy ips next to it for desktop/apps. You can't have it all in one monitor.

Finally a valid debate!
You see, I agree on all the things you said. However, Image quality, vibrance, lushness and popping colors are very very important to some people. Actually to a lot of people.
This is one aspect people need to know about this monitor because all the reviews do not mention it. The image quality and lushness of this screen isn't poor because its Tn. This monitor has washed out colours because of its ag coating primarly. Its not semi-glossy, or even light AG. Its matte in the purest sense of the word.
From another thread a user has switched on this monitor next to his LG 34 inch IPS and he has written the following about his observation.

- seeing a car on both screens, on the LG, it looks vibrant, and on the rog swift, it looks like its been left in the desert sun for a year so the paint has faded.

That's a very relevant information for someone looking to buy this monitor don't you think?
 
Yes I fear I'll hate the AG, and I have always brought up the "color vs my samsung's" fears in this thread. My (glossy) samsung is notably lush and vibrant for a TN. I have avoided the current crop of notably pale TN's of late, and was hoping this "premium panel" would have better color vibrancy than those.

I still wouldn't choose an oc'd ips (let alone a 60hz one) over a 120hz-144hz 1ms or so response time TN for gaming for the aforementioned reasons - so I disagree with your ips position even if it turns out your position on the lack of color saturation on this monitor is true. The general bent of your blanket statement is false imo (i.e. if you want aesthetic gains in games -> ips, and motion clarity is not an aesthetic benefit just pew pew).
 
The TN "issue" has been discussed ad nauseam in this thread already. I think people on this forum generally know the pros and cons of all panel technologies and know what they're getting with a TN panel. Personally I wouldn't go with an IPS because of the slow pixel response time, and ghosting really bothers me. The viewing angles perspective is blown out of proportion when talking about gaming, in my opinion. I also personally think that IPS glow is more bothersome than the slight gamma shift you still see at the bottom of a TN panel when looking head-on.

All just my opinion, of course. I think this monitor is worth it due it being (currently) the only 1ms GTG 144Hz 1440p panel available that also happens to come with GSync and ULMB. It's also 8-bit (no dithering) and PWM-free.
 
For future posters who're asking if this monitor is worth it, here's your answer.

If you want speed, matteness, gsync and if you are a pew pew gamer who cares a lot about increasing your head shot count, then this monitor is worth it for you.
It has ridiculously bad image quality compared to any normal IPS monitors and the colours look completely washed out. so if you aren't a pew pew gamer and if you want your games to also look beautiful, then this monitor isn't worth it.

I have my PG278Q TN right next to my PB278Q IPS and the non-gaming image quality of the PG278Q is excellent.
 
I'll tell you what to anyone on the fence about the image quality. Yes it may have a shit matte coating, but when you get in game and actually start playing all that gets thrown out the window due to how smooth the experience feels.

Get this technology now, its amazing- when a glossy panel with better image quality comes out simply swap to that.
 
Yes its $799 for a TN monitor.

Other post: NO its not worth it.

How long did you keep yours?

I'm loving all the definitive opions in this thread.

It's a great display for its primary intended use, which is gaming. Is it a magical piece of hardware? No. Is it a bit on the pricey side? Sure is! Then again, it's got no competition, so the price premium was expected.
 
The TN "issue" has been discussed ad nauseam in this thread already. I think people on this forum generally know the pros and cons of all panel technologies and know what they're getting with a TN panel. Personally I wouldn't go with an IPS because of the slow pixel response time, and ghosting really bothers me. The viewing angles perspective is blown out of proportion when talking about gaming, in my opinion. I also personally think that IPS glow is more bothersome than the slight gamma shift you still see at the bottom of a TN panel when looking head-on.

All just my opinion, of course. I think this monitor is worth it due it being (currently) the only 1ms GTG 144Hz 1440p panel available that also happens to come with GSync and ULMB. It's also 8-bit (no dithering) and PWM-free.

Other than TN shift, you can't just say "yeah it's a TN" in regard to color saturation and vibrancy. There has been a crop of notably pale 120hz-144hz TN screens on the market from owner reports. This contrasts greatly with lush color capable TN's like the samsung a750d and 950 for example. You can't just forgive a huge difference in (lack of) color saturation by saying "yeah it's how TN's are, just deal with it".
 
Other than TN shift, you can't just say "yeah it's a TN" in regard to color saturation and vibrancy. There has been a crop of notably pale 120hz-144hz TN screens on the market from owner reports. This contrasts greatly with lush color capable TN's like the samsung a750d and 950 for example. You can't just forgive a huge difference in (lack of) color saturation by saying "yeah it's how TN's are, just deal with it".
I'm not denying that there are panels that are of lower quality. That issue isn't dependent on any one technology. But that is irrelevant to the conversation at hand. If you're going to be spending this kind of money on a display then you want to do your homework as to any issues such as the market being flooded with pale panels to take advantage of those looking for a low-persistence, high-refresh rate monitors. But as far as the PG278Q is concerned, most reviews and people have praised its panel's color.

I was addressing the user writing off this monitor because it is a TN panel, and just as you did I gave my opinion on why for gaming I prefer a good fast TN over an IPS. The list of cons where TN technology is concerned is more acceptable to me than the IPS cons, and that is why I feel this monitor is worth it at its $800 price point. He is entitled to his opinion, of course, but to give such a sweeping and resounding "no" because he doesn't like TN technology is not very intelligent. Just because I prefer TN over IPS for gaming does not mean I would completely write off an IPS panel when discussing monitor recommendations. I would rather discuss specific issues with the product, such as the panel uniformity and flickering with the PG278Q.
 
I'm not denying that there are panels that are of lower quality. That issue isn't dependent on any one technology. But that is irrelevant to the conversation at hand. If you're going to be spending this kind of money on a display then you want to do your homework as to any issues such as the market being flooded with pale panels to take advantage of those looking for a low-persistence, high-refresh rate monitors. But as far as the PG278Q is concerned, most reviews and people have praised its panel's color.

I was addressing the user writing off this monitor because it is a TN panel, and just as you did I gave my opinion on why for gaming I prefer a good fast TN over an IPS. The list of cons where TN technology is concerned is more acceptable to me than the IPS cons, and that is why I feel this monitor is worth it at its $800 price point. He is entitled to his opinion, of course, but to give such a sweeping and resounding "no" because he doesn't like TN technology is not very intelligent. Just because I prefer TN over IPS for gaming does not mean I would completely write off an IPS panel when discussing monitor recommendations. I would rather discuss specific issues with the product, such as the panel uniformity and flickering with the PG278Q.

Besides, if you look at the color charts. The Delta E is not bad AT ALL. So the colors are, in fact, close to where they SHOULD BE and far from shitty. Many IPS panels come worse out of the box. So unless you're calibrating your monitor with a device (not your eye) you probably wont care to much.http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/content/asus_rog_swift_pg278q.htm#colour

As far as flickering the panel does not use Pulse Width Modulation and there is no flicker in that regard.

I see a small amount of backlight bleed on a perfectly black screen in a dark room, but not like a lot of people are posting (but I'm sure I could get a camera to show otherwise). No dead pixels for me either.

If I had a complaint, id be with Gsync and drivers, but I can't even be sure that's a monitor issue or video driver issue. I guess the single input can be a complaint.
 
The TN "issue" has been discussed ad nauseam in this thread already. I think people on this forum generally know the pros and cons of all panel technologies and know what they're getting with a TN panel. Personally I wouldn't go with an IPS because of the slow pixel response time, and ghosting really bothers me. The viewing angles perspective is blown out of proportion when talking about gaming, in my opinion. I also personally think that IPS glow is more bothersome than the slight gamma shift you still see at the bottom of a TN panel when looking head-on.

All just my opinion, of course. I think this monitor is worth it due it being (currently) the only 1ms GTG 144Hz 1440p panel available that also happens to come with GSync and ULMB. It's also 8-bit (no dithering) and PWM-free.

DING DING DING

I was a hardcore , never touch a TN panel guy. Fast forward... you will have to pry this swift away from me as I love it. LOVE IT. After an hour youll forget it is even TN especially if it is your only display. In fact I could care less about IPS now because Im never going without 144hz and GSYNC again. the color is very good and lets face it, your eyes and brain adjust.
 
DING DING DING

I was a hardcore , never touch a TN panel guy. Fast forward... you will have to pry this swift away from me as I love it. LOVE IT. After an hour youll forget it is even TN especially if it is your only display. In fact I could care less about IPS now because Im never going without 144hz and GSYNC again. the color is very good and lets face it, your eyes and brain adjust.

Yeah on a static image my IPS wins a little in color, a lot in viewing angles. For any type of movement, especially fast movement the Swift looks so much better it's not even close, doubly so in ULMB mode. So unless you're looking at a still image the image, quality is better on the Swift than any IPS.

For reference, I was one of the people complaining that this monitor was TN before I got it too.
 
Hell I can tell the difference between my SWIFT at 120Hz and my U3014 just moving my mouse on my desktop. The smoothness is real. The colors are noticeably worse but that's why I have both :D Actually, given how good it is for gaming, I'd probably still buy it even if it were monochrome.
 
DING DING DING

I was a hardcore , never touch a TN panel guy. Fast forward... you will have to pry this swift away from me as I love it. LOVE IT. After an hour youll forget it is even TN especially if it is your only display. In fact I could care less about IPS now because Im never going without 144hz and GSYNC again. the color is very good and lets face it, your eyes and brain adjust.

Agreed. I retired the 30" Dell I had been using for the last 4-5 years. I hope this will last me at least 3 or until something truly superior comes along. The colors are not worse, just sRGB vs wide gamut.

The only improvements needed IMO are better viewing angles, smaller overall bezels, more light output for ULMB (so lower pulse width settings can be used) slightly better OSD and a little bit smaller stand. Oh and ULMB that works at the full 144 Hz.
 
When ULMB is not enabled, can this monitor get very dark? My room is dark, so a bright screen causes fatigue.
 
Is there a glossy version planned for this monitor? I knew I did not like antiglare coating on monitors, but due to work limitations, ended up with a 32inch 4K dell which is obviously non glossy. I quickly realized that I seriously dislike antiglare coating.... I am ready to buy this monitor but this whole antiglare coating / matte ( same crap different name for my taste) is preventing me from pulling the trigger.
 
Is there a glossy version planned for this monitor? I knew I did not like antiglare coating on monitors, but due to work limitations, ended up with a 32inch 4K dell which is obviously non glossy. I quickly realized that I seriously dislike antiglare coating.... I am ready to buy this monitor but this whole antiglare coating / matte ( same crap different name for my taste) is preventing me from pulling the trigger.

This is the biggest reason I haven't bought the monitor. If it came in glossy, I'd probably buy it within a month.

But now, I'd have to buy the monitor and spend the extra to have vega remove the AG (when he gets back), and for him to ship it to me. After all of that expense, I'm left with a monitor that has no warranty.
 
I was a hardcore , never touch a TN panel guy. Fast forward... you will have to pry this swift away from me as I love it. LOVE IT. After an hour youll forget it is even TN especially if it is your only display. In fact I could care less about IPS now because Im never going without 144hz and GSYNC again. the color is very good and lets face it, your eyes and brain adjust.

You know, this helps me a lot. I've been following this thread for a long time and keep going back and forth on whether or not to get this. I've been dying for a higher resolution monitor and a video card to go with it and both are basically here. I was a long time hold-out with my CRT because I loved the deep blacks (big Thief fan) but I finally jumped to a 1200p IPS about 4 year ago. The blacks suck, but I'm used to it. But I've never owned a TN panel so some of the notes on this thread have made me a little afraid.
 
I tested this monitor, and as good as it is, I have no intention of buying one. Mostly due to the cost (800€) and Nvidia limitation, but also for some quality issues. I've heard plenty of complaints about bad samples, light bleed, clouding, dead pixels, and the unit I tested had a really low gamma and looked pretty washed out. Interestingly the monitor offers zero ways to change the gamma, and software calibration won't stick in games, and also tends to reset even on the desktop. Maybe you can find a unit with none of these problems, but I would expect it to be the default rather than an exception to the rule of bad quality control. Then again, similar qc issues are found in other monitors too. I just don't see it worth 800€. I'm guessing in a year there's going to be a lot more options. So I guess this is more of an option for the hasty, and who can afford the high price premium.
 

Lowering all the color channels can push the brightness down further. Setting all the color channels to 0 produces a black screen.

I tested this monitor, and as good as it is, I have no intention of buying one. Mostly due to the cost (800€) and Nvidia limitation, but also for some quality issues. I've heard plenty of complaints about bad samples, light bleed, clouding, dead pixels, and the unit I tested had a really low gamma and looked pretty washed out. Interestingly the monitor offers zero ways to change the gamma, and software calibration won't stick in games, and also tends to reset even on the desktop. Maybe you can find a unit with none of these problems, but I would expect it to be the default rather than an exception to the rule of bad quality control. Then again, similar qc issues are found in other monitors too. I just don't see it worth 800€. I'm guessing in a year there's going to be a lot more options. So I guess this is more of an option for the hasty, and who can afford the high price premium.

I got a near perfect panel, it's only blemish being some very minimal bleed around the edges, but the weak gamma still ruins the image quality.

If you're picky about image quality, wait until we get a monitor with gsync that's not a TN panel — it will happen eventually. GSYNC is the real deal, but TN still gon' TN.
 
As discussed ad naseum on many pages of this his thread - if you are talking about ips.. even at 120hz input the response time will be too slow. I don't have time to link or quote it all over again but there is a huge difference between still frame image quality and motion quality of the entire viewport moving continually in movement keying and mouse look flow pathing in 1st/3rd person games.
 
It's been quite a while and I still can't find it for purchase at any of my usual channels... That's pretty disappointing and seriously curbs my enthusiasm.
 
I got my open box newegg swift today and its perfect!

This is not my first rodeo with TN panels, but hands down the swift is THE BEST TN I have ever used. This thing is awesome paired with a solo GTX980 and UMLB set to 50, everything mooves like butter!

Best $639 I have ever spent on a gaming display and I have a FW900 in my closet :eek:
 
I got my open box newegg swift today and its perfect!

This is not my first rodeo with TN panels, but hands down the swift is THE BEST TN I have ever used. This thing is awesome paired with a solo GTX980 and UMLB set to 50, everything mooves like butter!

Best $639 I have ever spent on a gaming display and I have a FW900 in my closet :eek:
Where did you get it for $639? Cause at that price, it'll probably be the best money I shall ever spent on a gaming display too!!!
 
As discussed ad naseum on many pages of this his thread - if you are talking about ips.. even at 120hz input the response time will be too slow. I don't have time to link or quote it all over again but there is a huge difference between still frame image quality and motion quality of the entire viewport moving continually in movement keying and mouse look flow pathing in 1st/3rd person games.

Which means after discussed to death, you still didn't get it. A good majority of people - me included are not bothered about TN. I personally couldn't care less. I care about image quality and let me explain how that's different from the tn/ips debate. I've seen tn panels with beautiful colors that pop that rival any ips panels vibrance. This rog panel is not one of those tns. Perhaps it's due to the aggressive ag coating on this rog panel that makes the colors look washed out because all those excellent tn panels were glossy or close to glossy.

I get that many people don't like glossy but it would have been possible for asus to meet in the middle with a semi glossy coating or a mild ag. But no asus goes ahead and puts on a devilish matte coating thus pushing people like me over to the lg 21:9 camp. In either case it doesn't matter because enough people are buying it anyway.
 
Also note that most people only hate tn because they had a bad experience with a rather washed out tn panel. I know tns can look good because I've seen a tn panel where the colors were so vibrant they popped right into my eyes. If asus had improved on their colors by making their ag coating much milder, then all these guys who complain would also have been believers.
 
I wish we could modify the OP with the swift color and motion blur tests, and stop this tn vs ips debate once and for all in the comments. it's really nonsense to keep bringing it up. people judging the swift because of old tn monitors it has nothing to do with is ridiculously ignorant.

swift has better color accuracy and better calibration than a lot of IPS monitors. it looks better than IPS monitors that cost 2x more money. it looks more like an ips panel than an old tn panel. people complaining about tn just need to be smacked in the face to snap them out of their tn psychosis.

dell 3008wfp:http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/dell_3008wfp/default_adobergb.jpg

dell u2412m: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/dell_u2412m/default.jpg

asus swift: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/asus_rog_swift_pg278q/default.jpg
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/asus_rog_swift_pg278q/comparison_1.png

Better default delta-e than a lot of monitors, which matters for games because games are crappy at dealing with calibrated color profiles!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top