Gaming monitors with 4k QD OLED – Conclusion

2024 is the year that 4K OLED monitors will finally hit the market, with specifications that gamers have been looking forward to for years. In this article we looked at the first four screens that are in stores in the Netherlands and Belgium. The Alienware AW3225QF, ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM, Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P and MSI MPG321URX QD-OLED are not for everyone, with prices ranging from 1150 to more than 1500 euros. The good news is that each of the four screens offers excellent picture quality, which in many areas is better than common (and cheaper) LCD options. The screens offer a high 240Hz refresh rate, extremely fast response times, unparalleled viewing angles, very good uniformity and of course excellent contrast.

Despite all the praise, the first generation of 4k QD OLED screens is not so good that further improvement is unthinkable. Colorfringing Although it is a lot less visible, so that it no longer bothers me during use, it is not completely gone. In contrast to the average LCD, the screen is mirrored, with the maximum brightness not being very high and not higher than that of the first generation of QD OLED screens, while Woled technology for monitors is making major strides. With HDR display we also notice a deviation in the mode with the highest peak brightness. In addition, HDR images that contain a lot of white look less bright than in the mode in which small highlights can be less bright. Gigabyte’s monitor has a mode without that problem, which unfortunately introduces new deviations. Hopefully firmware updates will improve things. Looking ahead, it remains to be seen how sensitive these screens will prove to be to burn-in. Alienware, ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI all promise a three-year ‘burn-in warranty’, but of course you can expect a good image for longer for this money. The many ‘anti-burn-in tricks’ can help reduce retention, but at the same time they sometimes have a measurable impact on image quality.

A new winner

On to the question which of the four manufacturers has built the best QD OLED monitor. In the previous three-monitor roundup, we declared the ASUS ROG Swift PG32UCDM the overall winner. In our opinion, this screen remains highly recommended; The monitor has an extensive feature set and the color reproduction is very good, both for HDR display and for normal sRGB content. The 120Hz blackframe insertion function is also unique, which helps prevent motion blur at that lower refresh rate, but does not look sharper than a 240Hz image.

The Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P does not have BFI and the color reproduction is also slightly less good than the ASUS monitor. At the same time, the FO32U2P does provide an AdobeRGB mode, which the PG32UCDM does not have. In addition, this screen for HDR display can offer slightly higher brightness in practice than the other QD OLED screens, although this is at the expense of accuracy. The FO32U2P has many connections, including five image inputs, a DisplayPort output, the most extensive KVM function and DisplayPort 2.1 support. Whether the latter has major added value remains to be seen. In our opinion, the Gigabyte monitor deserves the same distinction as the ASUS monitor. Given the lower suggested retail price, it is the best monitor of the four.

For those who can cope with four image inputs, DisplayPort 1.4 and no DisplayPort output, the Aorus FO32U2 is possibly even more interesting than the FO32U2P. The other features should be identical, while with a suggested retail price of 1149 euros it is in theory one of the cheapest QD OLED monitors.

Back to the screens in this article. The Alienware AW3225QF also costs 1149 euros at the time of writing. The feature set is rather basic, even compared to the cheaper Gigabyte screen. The Alienware monitor is the only one that does not have a multifunctional USB-C port. The display for ‘normal’ sRGB content is very good, even better than on some photo editing screens, and the AW3225QF still offers the most beautiful HDR color reproduction of the tested QD OLED monitors. The curved panel may or may not be the main reason for choosing this screen. I didn’t find the curvature too bad in practice and I wasn’t bothered by the active cooling, which this screen is the only one to have.

The MSI MPG321URX lacks one compared to the competition unique selling point, where the monitor here is not one of the cheaper options, as it is abroad. Like the screens from ASUS and Gigabyte, the MPG321URX provides a USB-C port. The MPG321URX is the only screen to offer up to 90W Power Delivery in all circumstances. However, the USB 2.0 hub is outdated and its construction is slightly less stable than that of the other screens. In color accuracy, MSI cannot compete with the competition, even though the scores compared to other gaming monitors are not bad and the other features are still very good, considering the QD OLED panel.