If you’ve drooled over the OLED panel in your telephone or TV and determined you’d like the identical tech in your PC video games, you mainly have the selection of a single mannequin every from Gigabyte and Alienware. Asus, then, are about to extend the variety of OLED gaming screens in the marketplace by 100%, with the ROG Swift PG48UQ and ROG Swift PG42UQ. And I’ve simply had a short, however usually spectacular, mess around with them.

OLED, should you’re not acquainted, differs from extra widely-used LCD panel sorts (together with the IPS kind utilized by many of the greatest gaming screens) in that it’s self-emitting. An OLED panel relies round a skinny layer of electroluminescent natural compound that lights up when a present is utilized to it – whereas LCD screens use a cumbersome backlighting system to supply photos, this natural compound layer can straight gentle up every sub-pixel itself. Or merely flip them off by eradicating the present, for good blacks. Usually, this implies OLED shows have excessive response instances, higher distinction and finer lighting management than LCDs, and are thinner (with smaller bezels) as well.

I didn’t have my color calibrator at hand, so haven’t taken very scientific measurements of the ROG Swift PG48UQ and PG42UQ. But just about the entire qualities you’d affiliate with OLED had been on, and apologies for the phrase selection, show. Both are extremely vibrant screens, with no trace of haloing or backlight bleed. Because, after all, there isn’t one. On the rear they’re bulked out considerably by the port housing, twin 10w audio system and 15w woofer, to not point out a twin heatsink system (one draw back of OLEDs is their toastiness), however they’re a lot slimmer across the edges than another gaming monitor I’ve used.

Both fashions are 4K, with a most refresh fee of 138Hz over DisplayPort 1.4. Which seems odd to my 144Hz-accustomed mind, however comes shut sufficient. Taking benefit of those specs will naturally demand one of many greatest graphics playing cards, although enjoying the likes of Halo Infinite and MotoGP 22 prompt these screens can sustain on pace too. Motion is slick and ghosting-free, a selected aid given how my OLED TV at house tends to scramble the pixels on fast-moving objects. None of that right here, fortunately.

Nvidia G-Sync works fairly too (AMD FreeSync can also be appropriate), and whereas I couldn’t measure the display screen brightness, each the ROG Swift PG48UQ and PG42UQ can supposedly hit as much as 900cd/m2. That’s promising for HDR-supporting video games, and together with OLED’s pure capacity to create good, inky blacks, distinction seems good too. The distinction ratio, additionally based on Asus, is 1000000:1, or about 2500 instances increased than an honest IPS monitor.

And the perfect half is that they’re so affordabahhhh simply kidding. There’s no confirmed launch date past “soon” however you possibly can anticipate to pay £1500 for the 48in PG48UQ or £1400 for the PG42UQ, which within the present financial local weather is what you would possibly name “I don’t actually want lights or food” cash. At any fee they’re pricier than your present OLED choices, the £849 Gigabyte Aorus FO48U and the £1099 Alienware AW3423DW, although on paper are usually better-specced as nicely.

With that in thoughts, there are much more wealth-withering gaming screens on the market, together with Asus’s personal £3299 ROG Swift PG32UQX. That makes use of Mini LED tech that, whereas nonetheless nailed to an IPS panel, is technically newer and extra futuristic than OLED. Which makes me surprise – is that this OLED’s time to shine? This tech is a step ahead over most options, the PG48UQ and PG42UQ persuade as proof of its gaming credentials, and TVs and telephones have proven that it may possibly get cheaper in time – however on the identical time, it’s not bleeding edge, so gained’t be the only reserve of the hyper-enthusiast crowd.

Maybe in a few years, OLED gaming screens would be the go-to selection for anybody prepared to spend a bit for optimum image high quality. Suppose we’ll discover out ultimately – and within the meantime, I’ll be seeking to spend a little bit extra high quality time with Asus’s efforts. And my calibrator.