ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27ACDNG  Monitor Review

The ASUS XG27ACDNG has a gamer-oriented but rather simple design. It's made of plastic that's mainly black throughout, with some red accents. There are also vents and branding elements that feature RGB lighting on the back.

The build quality is excellent. There aren't any obvious issues, and the plastic materials don't flex easily. It feels smooth to adjust on the stand and stays in place once you do so, but rotating it into portrait mode takes a bit of force.

The ergonomics are fantastic. You can easily adjust it in a number of ways, and there's a cutout in the stand for basic cable management.

The stand holds the screen well, with minimal wobble, and there's a cutout to put a phone. Due to the slant of the stand, the thickness depends on the height you adjust it, as it's 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) thick with the screen at the maximum height.

There's a joystick and two controls to navigate the on-screen display and turn the monitor on and off. They're easy to use, and navigating through the menu is straightforward.

• HDMI cable
• DisplayPort cable
• USB-B to USB-A cable
• USB-C cable
• Power cable
• User guides
• VESA mounting bracket
• Cleaning cloth
• Accessory bag
• Stickers

The ASUS XG27ACDNG has a near-infinite contrast ratio, as its OLED panel can turn individual pixels on and off. This means it displays deep blacks next to bright highlights in dark rooms.

This monitor doesn't have a backlight, so it doesn't require a local dimming feature. However, with a near-infinite contrast ratio, there isn't any blooming around bright objects, and it's the equivalent of a perfect local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the monitor so you can see how the screen performs and compare it with a monitor that has local dimming.

Settings:

• Game Visual: User Mode (after calibration)
• Brightness: 100
• Uniform Brightness: Off
• Auto Logo Detection: Off
• VividPixel: 50

The SDR brightness is good. It gets bright enough to fight glare in most well-lit rooms. It gets a bit brighter with VividPixel on its max of '100', but it also introduces some artifacts. With Uniform Brightness off, there's some variation in brightness between different content, but it isn't enough to be distracting. However, if that bothers you, it's better to enable Uniform Brightness, for which you can see the results below:

• Real Scene: 254 cd/m²

Settings:

• HDR Setting: Console HDR
• Adjustable HDR: On
• Brightness: 100
• Uniform Brightness: Off
• VividPixel: 50

The HDR brightness is okay. While small highlights really pop against the rest of the image, it can't sustain this brightness with larger highlights, as they don't pop as much. It also has some issues with PQ EOTF tracking, as there's a slow roll-off before the peak brightness, so it doesn't let highlights get as bright as possible.

You can also see the results with Uniform Brightness on below:

• Real Scene: 255 cd/m²

The gray uniformity is fantastic. There aren't any noticeable issues.

The black uniformity is remarkable, with a uniform black level across the screen.

The accuracy before calibration in the sRGB color space is excellent. It locks colors fairly well to the sRGB color space, and although some primary colors are still slightly oversaturated, you likely won't notice this. On top of that, most colors, the color temperature, and the white balance are still accurate, but gamma tracking is a bit darker than intended.

Using the 'sRGB Cal Mode' GameVisual locks a few settings, which are listed below. That said, if you want to use another mode that gives you more access to these settings, then colors are more oversaturated.

• Shadow Boost
• Uniform Brightness
• Contrast
• Blue Light Filter
• Display Color Space
• Color Temp.
• Saturation
• Six-axis Saturation
• Gamma

The accuracy after calibration is outstanding. There aren't any visible issues, and the main advantage of calibrating it is that you have access to settings that are locked out in the sRGB mode.

The SDR color gamut is remarkable. It displays the sRGB color space used in most web content almost perfectly, and it also displays a wide range of colors in the Adobe RGB color space, but they're oversaturated.

The HDR color gamut is exceptional. It displays a wide range of colors in both the commonly-used DCI-P3 and wider Rec. 2020 color spaces, and there are minimal tone mapping issues with either.

The ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27ACDNG has an amazing HDR color volume. It displays dark and bright colors very well.

The horizontal viewing angle is fantastic. Although it technically isn't perfect, you visually won't see any inconsistencies when viewing from the sides or if you sit close to the screen.

The text clarity is decent. It isn't as good as 27-inch, 1440p monitors with IPS panels due to the fact that programs don't render text well with the triangular subpixel layout. Enabling Windows ClearType (top photo) makes text sharper, though. These photos are in Windows 10, and you can also see them in Windows 11 with ClearType on and with ClearType off.

Due to the triangular subpixel layout, there's some color fringing around letters and at the edge of windows, though it's hard to see unless you look closely at the monitor. Whether or not you notice it or it bothers you changes from person to person, and it depends on how sensitive you are to this subpixel layout.

If you want a QD-OLED with higher pixel density for less fringing and better text clarity, you can also check out the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM.

The direct reflection handling is decent. Light bounces off like a mirror, but glare isn't too strong either. However, the screen isn't perfectly flat, so some bright objects look warped on the screen. That said, how much you notice this depends on the light source itself and its positioning in front of the monitor. If you're looking for a monitor with no mirror-like reflections, take a look at the Samsung Odyssey OLED G81SF S27FG810S.

This monitor has noticeable black level raise in bright rooms. Mainly due to the fact that it lacks a polarizer, blacks look purple in bright rooms, which is a typical issue with QD-OLEDs. This means you need to use it in a dark room to get the best black levels.

There's minimal total reflected light on this monitor. Even strong light sources aren't distracting, so visibility isn't an issue in bright rooms.

The gradient handling is fantastic, and it's hard to notice any banding between shades of similar colors.

You need to enable DSC Support in the monitor's OSD to reach the max refresh rate over DisplayPort and HDMI connections. Disabling it results in a lower refresh rate. If you want a monitor with an even higher refresh rate, take a look at the LG 27GX790A-B.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG27ACDNG supports FreeSync VRR and G-SYNC compatibility, as well as HDMI Forum VRR.

The ASUS ROG Strix XG27ACDNG has outstanding motion handling across its entire refresh rate range with VRR enabled. There's minimal blur with fast-moving objects at any refresh rate.

The CAD at the maximum refresh rate is remarkable. It displays fast-moving objects as intended, and motion is extremely sharp.

The CAD at 120Hz is outstanding. Pixels transition to their target RGB level almost instantly, so there isn't any visible blur or inverse ghosting.

The CAD at 60Hz is fantastic. Although some transitions are a bit slower than other OLEDs, it's hard to see any difference, and any noticeable blur is persistence blur.

The ASUS XG27ACDNG has a black frame insertion feature to reduce persistence blur. However, it's limited in how you can use it as it only works with fixed 120Hz or 180Hz refresh rates, and the flicker isn't properly working as it should. It doesn't stay off long enough to get dark and doesn't impact motion, meaning there's still some persistence blur with fast-moving objects. It also locks the Brightness to '70.'

The ASUS XG27ACDNG has noticeable VRR flicker with changing frame rates, which is most distracting in dark scenes. You can avoid this issue by setting a frame rate cap or if your PC can maintain consistent frame rates.

There's an OLED Anti-Flicker setting that's meant to reduce flicker, but it only works over DisplayPort and actually disables VRR. It only works with fixed 360Hz, 120Hz, 100Hz, and 60Hz signals. Instead of having VRR flicker, it introduces stuttering and screen tearing.

The monitor has low input lag for a responsive feel, and it remains low even if you use OLED Anti-Flicker. If you're looking for a monitor with even lower input lag, check out the Sony INZONE M10S.

If you want a monitor with the same fantastic image quality but prefer a sharper, more detailed image, check out the 4k MSI MPG 322URX QD-OLED.

Besides the fact that it needs to downscale 4k signals, there aren't any compatibility issues with the PS5 or PS5 Pro.

As the Xbox only supports HDR with 4k signals, you can only get HDR with downscaled 4k signals with this monitor.

The USB-C port allows you to display an image from a compatible device, and the 90W of power delivery is enough to charge most laptops.

The ASUS XG27ACDNG works well with macOS, and there aren't any issues with HDR or VRR. If you're using a MacBook with an HDMI connection, closing the lid puts the monitor to sleep, and when you open it again, windows return to their original position. That said, you can continue working on the monitor with a USB-C connection when you close the lid.

This monitor has a ton of extra features to improve your gaming experience, including:

• Aspect Control: You can change the display area to simulate a 24.5-inch image or a 4:3 aspect ratio.
• Blue Light Filter: Reduces blue light to help reduce eye strain.
• GamePlus: Includes the following gaming features: FPS Counter, Crosshair, Sniper, Timer, Stopwatch, and Display Alignment.
• Lighting Effect: Offers settings to control the monitor's RGB lighting, like Aura Sync and Aura RGB.
• PIP/PBP: Has settings to adjust the picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture modes.

It also includes a few settings to reduce the risk of burn-in associated with OLEDs. They're all under the OLED Care section:

• Screen Saver: Dims the screen when there's no movement on the screen after a certain period.
• Pixel Cleaning: This feature fixes any burn-in issues, and it runs when you turn the screen off. It takes about six minutes to complete, and there's a reminder that pops up when to start it. It also has an OLED Usage Info setting to show how many times the cleaning cycle has been performed.
• Screen Move: Moves the image by a few pixels at a time so that pixels aren't always displaying the same thing.
• Auto Logo Brightness: Dims static logos on the screen.

You can read more about the OSD in the user manual.