Asus Just Dropped a 720Hz OLED Bomb: Is the 1000Hz Dream a Reality or Just a Glitch in the Matrix?
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Asus just unveiled new tandem OLED monitors, including a flagship 720Hz beast, pushing us closer to the 1000Hz dream with incredible motion clarity and improved brightness, colour, and lifespan. While requiring a super-powerful PC and coming with a hefty price tag, this tech promises to redefine high-refresh-rate gaming, with similar panels likely appearing from other brands soon, bringing the magic closer to everyone.
Right, so you know that feeling when you're messing about with a new spell, and it suddenly works a bit *too* well, blowing a hole straight through your expectations? Well, Asus just pulled something similar at a Gamescom side-event, revealing a couple of new monitors that are frankly, a bit mind-bending.
We're talking about two new tandem OLED beasts, with the star of the show, the flagship PG27AQWP-W, apparently capable of hitting a blistering 720Hz. Read that again: seven hundred and twenty hertz. My brain did a little jig just processing that number. Now, before you start hyperventilating, that ludicrous refresh rate is at 1080p, but it can still do a ridiculously smooth 540Hz at its native 1440p. And for those of us who've been following the display tech space – or, you know, just like our pixels to move *really* fast – a 1000Hz OLED has been the holy grail for a while. By that metric, mate, we're definitely most of the way there.
But it's not just about raw speed, is it? It's about how those pixels *look* when they're zipping around. These new tandem W-OLED screens, found in both the flagship and its slightly less unhinged sibling, the XG27AQWMG, are promising some proper wizardry. We're talking 15 percent higher brightness – which has long been OLED's Achilles' heel, like a powerful but shy mage – plus a 25 percent wider colour range, and a whopping 60 percent longer lifespan. Apparently, they're sipping power like a connoisseur sips fine wine, which helps with the longevity bit. That’s a serious glow-up for OLED, making it even more tempting to dive headfirst into a world of vibrant pixels and inky blacks.
Now, I didn't get to run these things through a full battery of tests in a darkened lab, but the initial 'eyes-on' experience sounds pretty darn convincing. Will Judd from Eurogamer, who got to poke at them, reckons the motion clarity at these insane refresh rates on an OLED is immediately obvious in fast-paced shooters like *Counter-Strike 2*. You know, those moments where you're trying to track a lightning-fast target, and your current monitor feels like it's rendering smeared butter? These new screens apparently make those pesky trails – what the boffins call 'overshoot and undershoot' artefacts – basically non-existent. Everything just looks incredibly smooth, like you've suddenly unlocked a new level of digital clairvoyance. It’s like the game’s frame data is suddenly speaking to your eyeballs in a language you actually understand.
Of course, there's always a 'but', isn't there? You're going to need a PC that's an absolute beast, a proper digital dragon, to push anywhere near 720 frames per second, even in older esports titles. Most of us are still trying to hit a stable 144fps in *Cyberpunk 2077* without our rig sounding like a jet engine. So, while it's an incredible technical achievement, for the lucky few with bottomless wallets and ludicrous GPUs, this is quite the playground. Good on Asus for throwing in a full 80Gbps DisplayPort too, meaning you get that full spec without needing to compress the signal. Nobody likes compression artifacts, do they? It's like trying to listen to a symphony through a tin can phone.
For the rest of us, the slightly more grounded XG27AQWMG might be the sensible choice. It's a 1440p 280Hz panel, which is still incredibly fast and a cracking fit for most gaming enthusiasts, especially those rocking high-end GPUs that can leverage frame generation for truly smooth experiences. It settles for standard HDMI 2.1 with DSC, which is perfectly fine for its spec, offering a fantastic balance of speed and visual fidelity.
And then there's the 'trueblack glossy' coating. This is something I'm genuinely curious about. Asus is trying to combine the rich, deep blacks of glossy panels with better reflection handling than the old-school glossy screens that turned into mirrors in a brightly lit room. The initial reports suggest it works, offering deeper blacks than matte coatings and avoiding the dreaded 'purple tint' you get when some QD-OLEDs are turned off. It’s a bit like trying to find the perfect potion that tastes great but doesn't turn your tongue blue. A subtle but significant quality-of-life upgrade for your eyeballs.
Design-wise, the flagship PG27AQWP-W sounds like a piece of art. It’s got a semi-transparent rear shell that apparently shows off some of the juicy circuitry inside. As someone who grew up utterly fascinated by the translucent plastics of the G3 iMacs and spent countless hours gazing at the guts of my purple see-through Game Boy Colour, I absolutely dig that. It’s a nod to a time when tech wasn't afraid to show its inner workings, like a wizard proudly displaying their spellbook. The stand is skeletonised too, apparently to reduce metal usage, but let's be honest, it looks cool. The XG27AQWMG is a bit more conventional, but it does have a compact stand, which means more desk space for frantic mouse movements and keyboard smashing.
Asus also packed in a few thoughtful features beyond the raw specs. Alongside the usual suite of burn-in countermeasures – because nobody wants ghosting on their fancy new screen – there's a presence sensor that'll automatically turn off the display when you're not there. 'Did I leave my OLED on?' has almost become the new 'Did I leave the stove on?' for some, so having a tunable option that dims rather than completely cuts power could be genuinely useful. No one wants their window placements messed up just because they popped to the loo.
Pricing, as always with cutting-edge tech, remains the big unknown. The best guess is that the flagship PG27AQWP-W will land north of £1300, and the XG27AQWMG will be nudging the £1000 mark. Tandem OLED, for all its magic, isn't going to be cheap, at least not for a while. But that's pretty standard for pushing the boundaries, isn't it? Like buying the first-gen magical orb that can project holographic dragons – it’s gonna cost ya.
And here’s a fun bit of observation: while Asus is shouting about being the number one producer of OLED gaming monitors, they're ultimately relying on panel giants like LG and Samsung. This is actually good news for us, the gamers, because it means we'll likely see these same fantastic fourth-generation W-OLED panels cropping up in monitors from other brands relatively soon. Competition is always a good thing, potentially driving prices down and innovating even further. So, while these specific Asus models might feel a bit out of reach for now, the tech itself is clearly compelling and it's hurtling towards us. Keep your eyes peeled, mates, the future of gaming displays looks ludicrously, beautifully fast.
Tags: Gaming Monitors, OLED, High Refresh Rate, Hardware, Tech Innovation
Original article: Eurogamer