Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP review: A spectacular, versatile OLED monitor

OLED monitors, which already delivered exceptional SDR image quality in 2023, have improved this year thanks to a wider range of options from dozens of monitor makers. Samsung’s QD-OLED panel, which took the lion’s share of attention in 2023, is now joined by a new generation of LG WOLED panels that are more competitive than their predecessors. The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP is a great example of what LG WOLED panels can achieve — complete with a nifty feature that lets you choose between maximum fidelity and maximum smoothness while gaming.

Further reading: The best monitors we’ve tested

Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP specifications

The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP, like most other 32-inch OLED monitors, has a maximum resolution of 3840 x 2160 and a refresh rate of up to 240Hz. But unlike most 32-inch OLED monitors, it also has a 1,920 x 1,080 mode with a refresh rate up to 480Hz, which is designed to offer peak motion clarity for competitive gamers.

• Display size: 32-inch 16:9 widescreen
• Native resolution: 3,840 x 2,160 / 1,920 x 1,080 (dual resolution mode)
• Panel type: 240Hz / 480Hz (dual resolution mode) WOLED
• Refresh rate: Up to 480Hz (at 1080p) and 240Hz (4K)
• Adaptive Sync: Adaptive Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, Nvidia G-Sync Compatible
• Ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4 with Display Stream Compression, 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 90 Watts of Power Delivery, 1x USB-B 3.2 (upstream), 3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (downstream), 3.5mm audio out, 1x SPDIF
• VESA mount: 100mm x 100mm
• Speakers: No
• Price: $1,299 MSRP

Asus also packs the monitor with connectivity. It has two HDMI 2.1 ports and one DisplayPort 1.4, all of which can handle the monitor’s maximum resolution and refresh rate. USB connectivity includes a USB-C port with DisplayPort and 90 watts of power delivery for charging devices, as well as three downstream USB-A ports. The typical 3.5mm audio jack is joined by SPDIF for an alternative audio.

Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP design

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

The ROG Swift PG32UCDP, like other Asus gaming monitors, has a black and gunmetal design that includes thin display bezels on all sides. Compared to alternatives like LG’s UltraGear 32GS95UE-B and the Alienware AW3225QF, the Asus has an edgier look that works in a gaming den but might seem out of place in a home office.

The monitor has two RGB LED lighting features, one on the rear of the panel and one beneath the stand, which add flair to your desktop. They’re Aura Sync compatible, so they can be synced with other Asus Aura Sync devices. Both RGB LED lights offer a good variety of customization options, and I didn’t find them overly bright at their default settings.

Like other Asus ROG monitors, the Swift PG32UCDP has a wide tripod-style stand that takes up more space than necessary. It also sits closer to the viewer than most, which can prove awkward if your desk is only 25 or 26 inches deep. LG’s similar UltraGear 32GS95UE-B has a smaller, flat stand, so the desk space it occupies is still usable. Asus’ stand offers ergonomic adjustments for height, tilt, swivel, which is standard for a monitor in this price range. The height adjustment was stiffer than I prefer, however.

While I’m not a fan of the default stand’s size, Asus offers a 100mm x 100mm VESA mount for connecting a monitor arm or a different stand. Asus offers an ROG-branded ergonomic arm that can be used with the Swift PG32UCDP and other Asus ROG monitors. I’ve not tested this arm, but the design matches Asus’s ROG aesthetic.

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Unlike most competitors, the ROG Swift PG32UCDP includes a threaded mount at the top of the stand. It can be used to attach a streaming camera or a light.

Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP connectivity and menus

Asus offers a solid range of connectivity with the ROG Swift PG32UCDP. Its video inputs include two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4, and a USB-C port with DisplayPort Alternate Mode, for a total of four inputs. All video inputs can handle the monitor’s maximum resolution and refresh rate.

The USB-C port also provides 90 watts of power delivery. While it doesn’t provide enough power for a typical gaming laptop, it can charge most thin-and-light and mid-range consumer notebooks. The USB-C port also connects to three downstream USB ports, providing connectivity for wired devices like a gaming keyboard or an external hard drive. If you don’t have a USB-C port on your computer, the USB-A ports can be driven by a USB upstream port.

The Swift PG32UCDP is one of several monitors to offer an SPDIF audio out. This is a popular choice for sound bars and home theater speakers, making the ROG Swift PG32UCDP more viable as a small television. A few monitors, like the Alienware AW3225DWF, also offer SPDIF, but most don’t. A 3.5mm audio out is still available.

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Asus’s on-screen menu provides easy access to options through a responsive and intuitive joystick control centered on the display’s lower bezel. The monitor’s menu options are well-labeled and offer a wide range of image quality controls, including precise color temperature and gamma adjustments. Also, like other Asus OLED monitors I’ve recently tested, this one has a uniform brightness mode. It lowers the brightness of the OLED panel overall but prevents the brightness swings that can sometimes occur with OLED displays.

My only complaint about the on-screen menu is that the text is too small for people with less than perfect eyesight. However, Asus provides a software utility that is available on Windows and can be used to adjust most monitor settings. The utility is more accessible and easier to use.

The monitor also includes a range of gaming-centric features, such as a shadow booster to reveal foes in dark areas of a map, an on-screen crosshair, and a magnification feature to assist in sniping distant enemies. And like many other OLED gaming monitors, the Swift PG32UCDP offers alternative display size modes that restrict the viewable area to that of a 27-inch or 24-inch monitor—a feature that competitive gamers may find useful.

The monitor doesn’t have speakers, which is a minor disappointment but not unusual for a gaming monitor. Most competitors also lack speakers. LG’s UltraGear 32GS95UE-B is a notable exception, as it has a unique Pixel Sound system that ranks among the best audio available from a monitor.

Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP SDR image quality

The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP has an LG WOLED display panel. We’ve tested the panel in the 27-inch size with prior monitors like the Asus ROG Strix XG27AQDMG and found that while it performs well, it has trade-offs when compared to monitors with Samsung QD-OLED panels, such as the Alienware AW3225QF and Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDM. The Swift PG32UCDP doesn’t change the story, but it’s an excellent monitor overall.

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

SDR brightness is an area where LG WOLED and Samsung QD-OLED monitors tend to perform similarly, and the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP was as bright as expected. Its maximum measured SDR brightness of 256 nits is fine for most situations but might look a little dim if the monitor is used in a room with bright sunlight. Shoppers looking for brighter SDR performance should consider a Mini-LED display instead.

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

The Swift PG32UCDP’s contrast is exceptional, with an effectively infinite contrast ratio thanks to the LG WOLED panel’s ability to reach a perfect minimum brightness of zero nits when required. This provides an exceptional sense of depth and immersion, especially when enjoying a movie or playing a game. The same is true of other OLED panels and monitors, though, so the Asus doesn’t have an edge here.

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Color performance is where the LG WOLED and Samsung QD-OLED panels start to differ. The LG WOLED panel tends to have a slightly narrower color gamut than QD-OLED. As a result, the Swift PG32UCDP can achieve only 96% of DCI-P3 and 89% of Adobe RGB. These are still excellent results that allow the Asus to deliver a punchy and vivid image. However, when compared to the Alienware AW3225QF, which has a QD-OLED panel, the Swift PG32UCDP falls behind.

Personally, I think this is more of a concern for content creators than it is for gamers. This difference in color gamut won’t noticeably change how games look on the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP versus the Alienware AW3225QF or Swift PG32UCDM. However, content creators who need to work in a wide color gamut, like DCI-P3 or Adobe RGB, would be better off with a QD-OLED monitor.

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Color accuracy also swings in favor of the QD-OLED monitors. The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP had a color error of 2.01, which is not bad and not noticeable in most situations. However, as the graph shows, the Alienware AW3225QF and Swift PG32UCDM are far more color accurate out of the box.

Clearly, there’s a difference in out-of-box color accuracy between LG WOLED and Samsung QD-OLED panels. WGOLED monitors like the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP, LG Ultragear 32GS95UE-B, and ViewSonic XG272-2K-OLED all perform behind Samsung QD-OLED monitors in color accuracy at default settings. This isn’t a huge issue because color accuracy can be improved with calibration, and all of these readings are not bad to begin with. Still, if you want the most accurate color possible, you will see better results with the QD-OLED options.

The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP performed well in color temperature and gamma tests, with an out-of-the-box color temperature of 6700K and a gamma curve reading of 2.3. These are slightly off the targets of 6500K and 2.2, indicating the image is a little cooler and a tad darker than our preference. However, both deviations are small and unlikely to be an issue for most people.

Sharpness is a perk of the 32-inch 4K panel. The pixel density of the monitor overcomes some of the sharpness issues that 1440p OLED monitors can show. You will still see a sharper image with a 32-inch or 27-inch 4K IPS monitor, but given the other trade-offs, I think most people will agree that the OLED display is the better choice.

On the whole, the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP’s SDR image quality is strong. It has excellent contrast, great sharpness, and good color performance, but it’s not especially bright. Some QD-OLED monitors are even better in color performance, but the ROG Swift PG32UCDP still performs well enough for all but the most demanding users and shoppers. Games, movies, and photos all look outstanding.

Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP HDR image quality

The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP’s SDR performance is a tad behind monitors with a Samsung QD-OLED panel. Fortunately, the Asus is able to strike back in another key aspect of image quality: HDR.

The Swift PG32UCDP had a maximum full-screen sustained HDR brightness of about 260 nits, which is similar to its SDR performance. However, when only 50% of the display is lit, brightness increased to a maximum sustained peak of 407 nits. When only 10% is lit, that improved further to a sustained peak of 730 nits. These figures are better than 32-inch monitors with a Samsung QD-OLED panel. For example, the Alienware AW3225QF achieved a maximum brightness of 480 nits when 10% of the display was lit. In general, the Swift PG32UCDP has a brighter, punchier HDR experience than most OLED monitors on the market.

The Swift PG32UCDP also has practical features that make for a better HDR experience. It does a good job handling SDR content on the Windows desktop when HDR is on, meaning that SDR content won’t look horribly washed-out or strangely colored—a problem that can occur on some less capable HDR monitors. There’s also a brightness adjustment option when HDR is on. Using it will cause HDR content to look different than what the creator intended, but helpful if you feel the HDR content you’re viewing is too dim or bright.

On the whole, the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP is among the best 32-inch OLED monitors for HDR content. Its only rival is the LG Ultragear 32GS95UE-B which also, of course, has an LG WOLED panel.

Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP motion performance

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry

The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP’s most interesting feature might be its dual-mode display. It can display 4K resolution at up to 240Hz, or it can lower the resolution to 1080p at up to 480Hz. This is a feature that Asus shares with other 32-inch LG WOLED monitors like the LG Ultragear 32GS95UE-B, but it’s otherwise uncommon. The 480Hz refresh rate is the highest available so far from a consumer OLED panel.

Motion clarity is stunning. OLED panels already tend to look great at 240Hz due to their low pixel response times, which reduce motion blur. But if you want to see the next level of clarity, the 1080p 480Hz mode has you covered.

Games at 480Hz look almost perfect in motion clarity. Even the smallest details are clear when rapidly panning the camera or moving quickly through a scene. It’s not truly perfect, but the improvement over even 240Hz is so dramatic that it can feel that way. Motion clarity absolutely rivals, and perhaps exceeds, 500Hz IPS monitors like the Aliewnare AW2524H.

The Swift PG32UCDP’s motion performance is further enhanced by its adaptive sync support, which includes official AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-Sync Compatible certification. Simply put, it should work with any video card on the market and provide smooth, stutter-free gameplay.

Conclusion

The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP is a jaw-dropping OLED monitor with a crisp 32-inch 4K image, yet also provides a 1080p 480Hz mode for extreme motion clarity. That makes it unusually versatile: it’s great for both immersive AAA games and fast-paced, competitive multiplayer titles. It backs these perks with superb HDR performance and a wide range of connectivity that includes USB-C and multiple downstream USB ports.

It’s hard to go wrong with a flagship 4K 32-inch OLED monitor right now, and the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP is an outstanding option. It’s especially well-suited to people who want top HDR performance and extreme motion clarity.