ASUS Starts to Ship Its First Curved Ultra-Wide Display: ROG Swift PG348Q
by Anton Shilov on March 17, 2016 6:00 PM ESTASUS this week began to ship its first gaming curved ultra-wide display, the ROG Swift PG348Q, which the company introduced back in September and showcased at CES. The monitor, which is the largest ROG display ever, is designed primarily for gamers, features up to 100 Hz refresh rate as well as Nvidia’s G-Sync technology.
The ASUS ROG Swift PG348Q display is based on an IPS panel with 3440×1440 resolution, 1000:1 contrast ratio and 300 cd/m2 brightness. The ultra-wide 34” monitor features 21:9 aspect ratio and 3800R screen curvature, which is larger than a number of 3000R panels that are currently on the market. The monitor can reproduce 1.07 billion colors and covers 100% of sRGB color space, which is not a bad result for a gaming solution. The ROG Swift PG348Q has default refresh rate of 60 Hz and everything between that and 100 Hz should be activated using a special turbo button. ASUS claims that G-Sync variable refresh-rate technology on this display actually works at up to 100 Hz, but to ensure high framerate (as well as refresh rate), a graphics card with sufficient processing performance (e.g., GeForce GTX 980 Ti and higher) is required with demanding titles.
Specifications of ASUS' Curved Display | |||
ASUS ROG Swift PG348Q | |||
Panel | 34" IPS | ||
Resolution | 3440 x 1440 | ||
Refresh Rate | 50 Hz - 100 Hz | ||
Response Time | 5 ms gray-to-gray | ||
Brightness | 300 cd/m² | ||
Contrast | 1000:1 | ||
Viewing Angles | 178°/178° horizontal/vertical | ||
PPI | 109 pixels per inch | ||
Colors | 1.07 billion | ||
Color Saturation | 100% sRGB | ||
Curvature | 3800R |
The ROG Swift PG348Q is equipped with one DisplayPort 1.2 and one HDMI 1.4 inputs. The latter only supports 3440×1440 resolution with 50 Hz refresh rate, according to ASUS; for everything between 50 Hz and 100 Hz the DP input must be used. The display also features a 4-port USB 3.0 hub and two 2 W speakers.
The ROG Swift PG348Q will be ASUS’s largest display ever. It will also be the company’s flagship monitor for gamers for a while. Since the company does not offer non-curved gaming displays larger than 28”, one might expect to expect ASUS to introduce one or two non-gaming models in the future.
The new display uses the new ASUS ROG color scheme — plasma copper inlays on armor titanium casing as well as an LED effect on the bottom. The monitor also has an ultra-thin frame (which ASUS calls frameless design) as well as tilt, swivel, and height adjustments. Eventually, other ROG-branded displays will inherit similar design and color scheme.
ASUS did not reveal the official MSRP of its ROG Swift PG348Q display and at time to press, and the product should be available at major U.S. retail stores from May. Given the fact that the monitor is a pretty unique combination consisting of a curved IPS panel, high resolution, G-Sync technology and up to 100 Hz refresh rate, this product will be in the upper echelons of monitor pricing. TechReport caught the fact that this panel is being offered by iBuyPower as an add-on option to a prebuilt system for $1200, so we would expect the full retail price to be in that $900-$1200 region. Anyone still want VR?
Source: ASUS
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ToTTenTranz - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
On the long run, it's irrelevant if there's no freesync option.euler007 - Tuesday, March 22, 2016 - link
Last figure I saw Nvidia has a 71% market share for the discrete GPU market. Yeah, quite irrelevant...JeffFlanagan - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
> Anyone still want VR?Of course. A nice monitor is still just a monitor.
xenol - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
When can we get monitors like these without the useless gaming trims?jasonelmore - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
It absolutely makes me mad that asus did not put HDMI 2.0 in this display.. What would that have cost them? a extra $3 per monitor?They sell a next gen monitor, with cutting edge features and a amazing chassis, and gimp it by not putting in at least Display Port 1.3, and at least HDMI 2.0 (which is backwards compatible with older GPU's who dont have HDMI 2.0)
I expect the MSRP to be much higher than $1200.. $1200 is what the Acer 34" Curved IPS costs.. No doubt asus will demand a small premium for the 100hz feature and metal chassis.
Kylis - Friday, March 18, 2016 - link
I dunno, the x34 looks to be 1300 bucks or greater everywhere I am looking. The PG348Q is looking to be 1300 bucks in the US as well.Kalost - Saturday, March 19, 2016 - link
Please tell me what current video card comes with DP 1.3? None, so how would they make money selling a monitor without the support for it.jasonelmore - Sunday, March 20, 2016 - link
because monitors are not commodities like graphics cards, and tend to stay in your collection for years. All of the GPU's launching this summer will have either 1.3 or 1.4 and are both backwards compatible. it's a free open standard, so they should include it to lock in those consumers on the fence, who are worried a even better monitor is right around the corner.dcompiled - Sunday, March 20, 2016 - link
If this monitor is anything like the Asus PG278Q stay away - far away. I have purchased this monitor and it has been nothing short of a complete nightmare. 3 monitors were returned to newegg due to dead pixel issues (clearly asus just doesnt QA anything). The fourth monitor developed a severe backlight bleed. I sent the monitor in for repair and what I got back was a damaged monitor and missing parts. They failed to reconnect the baseplate of the monitor and ripped the ribbon cord. To add insult to injury, they basically ignore me now and have done nothing to rectify the situation.In summary if you don't care about your Asus hardware breaking, they sure make cool looking products. Just expect nothing when it comes time for warranty service.
akula2 - Tuesday, March 22, 2016 - link
Today is World Water Day. Don't you think Power Consumption is important anymore?Please mention that parameter in all reviews because many are interested to know about it.