Before we get to the product 360 and OSD menu tours, we want to explain the main three reasons gamers will want to consider buying a ROG Swift: G-Sync, fast refresh, and ULMB.
Enabling G-Sync
If you’ve seen a G-Sync demo with your own eyes, you know it’s quite addictive. The smoothness it imparts to games is hard to live without once you’ve tried it. So once you’ve connected the PG278Q, there are a couple of steps to take before launching your favorite first-person shooter.
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Obviously, you need a G-Sync-supported video card. Any GeForce GTX 650 Ti or better will work. For our tests, we built a new platform around a GTX 780 from EVGA. You also need a DisplayPort 1.2-rated cable, which is included with every ROG Swift. Lastly, you should download the latest Nvidia drivers. As of this writing, that’s version 340.52.
Once you have your hardware together, open the Nvidia control panel. There are two areas you have to visit to enable G-Sync.

First check “Enable G-Sync” in the Set up G-Sync menu.

Then go to Manage 3D Settings and select G-Sync from the Vertical Sync options.
G-Sync only works for full-screen applications. If you play games in a window, it won’t function.
Fast Refresh Rates
The PG278Q supports refresh rates up to 144 Hz. You can change rates on-the-fly with the Turbo bezel button, or through Nvidia's control panel.

The selected rate won’t affect G-Sync. But if you want to set an upper limit, you can do that here. We ran our Windows desktop at 120 Hz and enjoyed fluid motion from mouse cursors and other objects. The choice is one of personal preference. If you want to engage the motion-blur reduction feature ULMB, choose 85, 100, or 120 Hz.
ULMB
We saw motion-blur reduction via backlight strobing on Asus' VG248QE (with the LightBoost utility) and BenQ's XL2720Z, which has it built-in. Asus is doing the same thing with its Swift, going so far as to include a variable pulse width slider to control the amount of light output.
First and foremost, you can’t use ULMB and G-Sync at the same time. You can choose to eliminate screen tears or improve motion resolution, but not both. Like LightBoost and BenQ’s blur-reduction, engaging the backlight strobe cuts output anywhere from 57 percent or more depending on the setting.
Here’s what it looks like in the OSD.
We could only get ULMB to work with an Nvidia graphics card running driver 340.52 (dated July 29, 2014). It wouldn't work with our Radeon HD 7770. To enable it, the monitor must be set to 85, 100, or 120 Hz. Maximum brightness varies depending on refresh rate and the position of the Pulse Width slider. At 100, the backlight pulse is longer for maximum output. As you drop it down, light decreases as motion resolution increases.
GamePlus
GamePlus is only accessible from a bezel hotkey; you won’t find it in the OSD. It offers four different reticules and a timer function.

It’s similar to what we saw on the VG248QE. You can choose an aiming reticule and place it anywhere within a few inches of center using the OSD joystick. Or set a 30- to 90-minute timer to help you remember when to stop playing. The aiming point is especially helpful to FPS newbies, since it remains on-screen regardless of what’s happening in the game.
- Asus ROG Swift PG278Q G-Sync Monitor Review
- Gaming Features: G-Sync, Fast Refresh, ULMB and GamePlus
- Packaging, Physical Layout, And Accessories
- OSD Setup and Calibration of the PG278Q
- Measurement And Calibration Methodology: How We Test
- Results: Brightness and Contrast
- Results: Grayscale Tracking and Gamma Response
- Results: Color Gamut and Performance
- Results: Viewing Angles and Uniformity
- Results: Pixel Response, Input Lag and Blur Reduction
- ROG Swift PG278Q, A Display Technology Revolution
But one thing I do hope for is a 144hz g-sync IPS monitor, ever since I've gotten my new Asus MX239H the ips makes a huge difference in games.
But besides that, it is a glorious monitor, resolution is great, 144hz, and of course g sync makes it a wonderful monitor.
But really $800? I know that it is one of the few g sync equipped monitors, but you can buy a 4k monitor for $650!
Pretty unlikely. ULMB requires a static refresh rate, because it has to strobe the monitor at a constant rate. GSYNC would mean that it would have to strobe in time with each frame, at a variable rate. You would introduce a lag time on the strobing if you tried to do this, since it would be at a variable rate instead of a constant one.
Off to read it now! lol
Off to read it now! lol
There have been plenty reviews for this monitor just Google it. And they have all been great reviews...makes me want it even more
Personally, I'm sick of the crappy motion resolution in LCDs. It's not so bad in some games, but it's nigh-unbearable in certain games. My next monitor/TV WILL have Strobing-Backlights since it's the best way to get rid of motion blur.
However, maybe someone can help me out on this, I don't understand why monitors that feature such motion-enhancing technologies seem very nitpicky with which frame rate, refresh rate, etc. it's being used with. I'm saying this because more and more TVs are coming out with such Strobing-backlight technology, and I'm pretty sure those don't require an absolute steady framerate for it to work.
For example, if I were to connect a console to this ASUS Swift monitor, could I use ULMB in 120hz mode with a 30fps game?
It's not the framerate they're being picky about, it's the refresh rate. The light has to strobe in time with when the next frame is being introduced. When the refresh rate is constant (i.e., locked at 80, 100, or 120 Hz) then the strobe knows exactly when the next frame will be displayed. You're asking the display to strobe the backlight at will whenever the GPU can put out a frame. You're essentially asking the GPU to not only handshake with GSYNC when to render a frame, but to trigger the backlight to strobe then too. The tricky part here is that's another layer where you will have to reduce response time (response from the GPU's frame being rendered to backlight being strobed) since the refresh rate is no longer constant (it's now dependent on your game's refresh rate - which is barely ever anywhere near "constant").
How awful would your strobing backlight look if it came a few ms after your frame rendered? That'd probably screw all of the blur reduction qualities you want from it. At best, you could make an algorithm that would strobe at the *average* framerate you're outputting since framerate can rise and dip so quickly, but that could still cause a lot of problems
For example, if I were to connect a console to this ASUS Swift monitor, could I use ULMB in 120hz mode with a 30fps game?
I'm definitely not an expert on ULMB or Gsync but the blurbusters website says "LightBoost motion blur elimination is not noticeable at 60 frames per second." So even if you could get a console hooked up to the Asus Swift I don't think you would be able to notice any difference unless you get 85+ fps.
Off to read it now! lol
There have been plenty reviews for this monitor just Google it. And they have all been great reviews...makes me want it even more
Oh I know that, it's just that I was waiting for Tom's Hardware specifically to do a review since I like their reviews!
It's not the framerate they're being picky about, it's the refresh rate.
Ok, let's forget consoles then for a second, because I didn't think of the fact that they can't output at 120hz. If, for example, I had my PC hooked to the Swift monitor, set to 120Hz, and that the game I play has a fluctuating framerate going anywhere from 30fps to 90fps. Would I be able to use ULMB since the monitor is running at 120Hz? Despite the framerate being all over the place, and not ever at 120fps?
Thanks for your reply btw.
For example, if I were to connect a console to this ASUS Swift monitor, could I use ULMB in 120hz mode with a 30fps game?
I'm definitely not an expert on ULMB or Gsync but the blurbusters website says "LightBoost motion blur elimination is not noticeable at 60 frames per second." So even if you could get a console hooked up to the Asus Swift I don't think you would be able to notice any difference unless you get 85+ fps.
But like I said, more and more TVs are being released with a 'Black-Frame insertion' option, and from reviews, it gets rid of motion blur very well, even for a movie, which plays at 24fps.
Ok, let's forget consoles then for a second, because I didn't think of the fact that they can't output at 120hz. If, for example, I had my PC hooked to the Swift monitor, set to 120Hz, and that the game I play has a fluctuating framerate going anywhere from 30fps to 90fps. Would I be able to use ULMB since the monitor is running at 120Hz? Despite the framerate being all over the place, and not ever at 120fps?
Thanks for your reply btw.
No problem. I enjoy discussing the topic.
Yes. You would. Because with ULMB on, the REFRESH RATE stays constant, despite your varying frame rate. The monitor (In regular, or in ULMB mode, with Gsync off) will only refresh the frame at a rate of every 8.33 ms (1 / 120Hz), regardless of your framerate. This has nothing to do with the 1ms response time. That's where your keyboard or mouse input lag comes in. This is also what causes horziontal tearing, which is what GSYNC aims to remove. If your FRAME rate is much higher, or much lower, than your monitor's REFRESH rate, you will observe lots of tearing. ULMB does not reduce tearing, just motion blur.
You don't have to hit 120 fps to refresh at 120 Hz, but you get the most benefit out of your monitor that way. So yes, you can play ULMB at any framerate, but you *will* notice stutter if you're playing in the 90s and then drop into the 30s. This is what traditionally VSYNC tries to remove, but introduces input lag as a side effect.
Gsync removes the stutter and the tearing with virtually no input lag. It makes it so your monitor will refresh at the same rate as your framerate. So if you set your monitor to 144 Hz, and turn GSYNC on, then suddenly your *Max* framerate becomes 144 Hz (can't update faster than the panel), and the refresh rate of the monitor (when the monitor displays new frames from the GPU) varies with the framerate of the game from any range of 35 FPS up to 144 FPS. If you drop below 30 FPS, the GSYNC module switches to traditional VSYNC.
GSYNC can be toggled on and off from the Nvidia Control Panel. This is how you can switch between GSYNC or ULMB depending on what type of game you want to play.
Some of their lower-end products have some quality issues I hear, but you see that in Dell, HP, Acer... It's not exactly a new trend.