Asus ROG Swift PG27AQWP-W 27-inch 540 Hz QHD OLED gaming monitor review: Every piece of performance tech in a single display

Asus puts all the gaming monitor tech in its arsenal into the flagship ROG Swift PG27AQWP-W.

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Asus PG27AQWP-W
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QHD OLEDs are the hottest category in high-performance gaming monitors, with many models running at 480 Hz and higher. This group includes Asus’ XG27AQDPG, LG’s 27GX790A, MSI’s MPG271QR, Aorus’ FO27Q5P, and Samsung’s S27FG60.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

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Asus ROG Swift PG27AQWP-W
(Image credit: 3DTested)

Response times typically mirror refresh rates, so it’s no surprise to see the PG27AQWP-W at the top. At 540 Hz, it matches the 500 Hz screens, and at 720 Hz, it only takes one-one-thousandth of a second to draw a full white field. If monitors get any faster than this, I’ll need a new high-speed video camera!

Surprisingly, this does not translate to input lag. I ran this test many times and got a 22ms average, which is fast but not as fast as others. The LG 27GX790A shares the record with the 360 Hz Philips 27M2N8500 at 10ms. Can you tell the difference between 22 and 10ms? I can’t, but a highly skilled gamer might. In my observations, the PG27AQWP-W is super quick and smooth like all OLEDs. But its high refresh rate doesn’t make it the absolute quickest.

Test Takeaway: The PG27AQWP-W is super smooth and responsive. It’s quick but not the very quickest. It is unique in its 720 Hz ability, though, which might appeal to some users. The inclusion of ELMB makes it more useful at low refresh rates. That’s also a unique feature. I do not doubt that it will become the display of choice for some competitors.

Viewing Angles

Asus ROG Swift PG27AQWP-W

(Image credit: 3DTested)

The PG27AQWP-W shows nearly perfect off-axis imagery with no visible change in brightness. If you stare at the photo long enough, you might see a bit of green, but this does not affect content in any way. The top view is solid too, with just a little red and a slight reduction in gamma. This is excellent performance.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

Asus ROG Swift PG27AQWP-W

(Image credit: 3DTested)

OLED monitors continue to impress me with their visually perfect screen uniformity. You will not find a bad example and the PG27AQWP-W is no exception. Mine came out at just 3.76%, which is among the lowest scores in my database, which currently includes 457 monitors.

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Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor
4 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Distortion67
    I'm confused Asus' website clearly states this monitor is a Tandem WOLED but the article states QD-OLED?

    Https://shop.asus.com/us/90lm0cf2-b019b2-rog-swift-oled-pg27aqwp-w.html
    Reply
  • marcgii
    Distortion67 said:
    I'm confused Asus' website clearly states this monitor is a Tandem WOLED but the article states QD-OLED?

    Https://shop.asus.com/us/90lm0cf2-b019b2-rog-swift-oled-pg27aqwp-w.html
    I dusted off my 9 year old account to comment about this. You're correct. This monitor uses LG's new tandem OLED panel instead of Samsung's QD-OLED panel. All the other reviews identify it correctly.

    This is a pretty big error and I'm surprised they haven't corrected it yet.
    Reply
  • Distortion67
    Yeah everything else I've seen definitely calls this a Tandem WOLED.... Just to make sure I think they should send me the review model so I can verify it.
    Reply
  • lizardpeter
    I'm sorry, but there must be something either majorly wrong with your unit or majorly wrong with your testing. There is not a chance in hell that the monitor has anywhere near 22 ms of "input lag." That would be almost 11 frames. Hardware Unboxed and TFTCentral have already tested this display and found it to have the lowest or tied with the lowest input lag they have ever seen. I would say it was your testing method compared to theirs, but you have a different 480 Hz OLED monitor scoring 10 ms on the same test. There is no possible way that ASUS's flagship 540 Hz OLED tested by other reviewers and found to have the lowest latency ever recorded is 12 ms slower (multiple frames) than an inferior 480 Hz OLED from LG.
    Reply