Asus ROG PG348Q: the ultimate monitor for gamers

Presentation

The Asus ROG PG348Q has a 34 inch curved IPS panel with a UWQHD definition of 3440 x 1440 px. It is compatible with Nvidia's G-Sync technology which dynamically adjusts the screen refresh according to the number of frames per second sent by the graphics card. This monitor is massive and has flawless ergonomics. It must be said that it is marketed for around € 1,300, which does not make it a cheap model.

---

Ergonomics

Even more than on the PG279Q and PG27AQ monitors, the gamer design is affirmed by an imposing foot which stabilizes the curved 34-inch panel. The screen edges are quite thin, but, above all, the coating of the screen is matt.

The imposing foot is adjustable in height by 11.5 cm. The inclination is adjustable between -5 ° and + 20 °. The panel does not switch to portrait mode, but the stand is rotatable ± 50 °. As always with ROG monitors, the various adjustments are made smoothly, without any squeak.

The design of the back of the monitor is particularly worked. The connectors are hidden behind a removable hatch which hides the connectors and part of the cables.

The connection is rather light, a characteristic common to all G-Sync screens. There is simply an HDMI 1.4 input, a DisplayPort input, the only one capable of handling the UWQHD definition at 100 Hz, four USB 3.0 ports and a headphone output. The screen also has two 2-watt speakers whose quality is very average. They are just enough to restore the voices and will only be used to troubleshoot.

The four buttons on the side allow you to turn on the monitor and access the various shortcuts. The joystick allows you to navigate the OSD settings very intuitively. It is simply the best system for accessing the various settings. And there are many: brightness, contrast, temperature, saturation, overdrive, blue light filter, source, position of the OSD, overclocking of the refresh rate, etc. The Light In Motion menu allows you to manage the light emitted inside the stand and projected onto the desk.

By lowering the brightness to 14 to obtain a white at 150 cd / m², the Asus ROG PG348Q monitor consumes 36 watts, a relative consumption of only 77 W / m², much lower than the average of monitors (100 W / m²).

---

Colors and contrast

Default: average gray temperature: 6,450 K

Default: gamma curve at 2.2

Default: Delta E average at 2.2

By default, this Asus PG348Q monitor offers almost perfect rendering. The colors are faithful, with a delta E - difference between the colors requested and the colors displayed - measured at 2.2 (the eye no longer makes the difference below a delta E of 3). The temperature is perfect, with a perfectly stable curve and an average at 6450 K. The gamma curve is for its part relatively stable on an average which is established at the expected value of 2.2.

Manual adjustment: average gray temperature: 6,430 K

Manual adjustment: gamma curve at 2.2

Manual setting: Average Delta E at 2.2

Once the brightness reduced to 14 to obtain a white close to 150 cd / m², the rendering remains perfect. The colors are still as faithful (average delta E at 2.2), the temperature curve still as stable (6430 K) and the gamma still as good (2.2) despite a small dropout on the very light gray slightly overexposed.

Calibrated: average gray temperature: 6,550 K

Calibrated: gamma curve at 2.2

Calibrated: Delta E medium at 1.8

Calibrating the monitor with an ICC profile is far from essential, but it perfectly smoothes the gamma curve and further improves color fidelity (average delta E at 1.8). The rendering is simply perfect. This color profile is available on Focus Numérique.

Contrast remains the weak point of the Asus PG348Q. IPS technology does not achieve a very high rate. We measured the contrast at 1120: 1, a good value for an IPS panel, but that remains far from the contrast offered by VA panels, whose best representatives (Eizo Fortis FG2421 and BenQ BL2410PT) exceed 3000: 1.

The average difference in homogeneity is measured at only 10% over the entire 34-inch panel and we did not find any light leaks or clouding. IPS technology offers very good viewing angles. A non-negligible plus which avoids having to place yourself well in front of the slab to take advantage of all the richness of the image. Its curved shape also avoids problems with viewing angles, which suggests that Asus could have opted for a VA panel in order to gain contrast.

---

Reactivity

The Asus ROG PG348Q does not use Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), to adjust the power of the backlight, and therefore the brightness. This modulation usually varies the intensity of the LEDs cyclically, a phenomenon which is perceived as flickering by certain sensitive people. In some rare cases, this modulation can induce eyestrain and headaches. So there is no such problem with this monitor.

By default, the overdrive is set to Normal, which allows a ghosting time of 9.5 ms, without ghosting effect. As often, switching to the Extreme setting causes the appearance of a phenomenon of reverse ghosting (a negative trail appears behind a moving object) quite annoying. We therefore prefer the Normal setting, which already offers satisfactory performance. With a ghosting time of 9.5 ms and a refresh rate of 100 Hz, this monitor can actually display 100 images per second, which is excellent especially for a model of this size. We measured the delay on display (input lag) at 9.5 ms. There is thus no offset between the source and the monitor. This monitor is therefore perfect for gaming, but it is also suitable for office automation thanks to its very comfortable definition.

---

Conclusion

A direct competitor to the Acer Predator X34 monitor, the Asus ROG PG348Q is doing much better thanks to better factory calibration and better ergonomics which allow it to earn its fifth star. It is simply the best 34 inch monitor to play.

---