Asus ProArt PA32UCXR Mini LED review: A precision instrument with reference-level color accuracy

32-inch IPS 4K Professional Monitor with HDR, Dolby Vision, wide gamut color, and reference-level image accuracy.

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Asus ProArt PA32UCXR Mini LED
Editor's Choice
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

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Maximum Backlight Level

• Maximum White Luminance Native Mode – 1,319.396 nits

•  Maximum Black Luminance Native Mode – 0.9967 nit

• Maximum Contrast Ratio Native Mode – 1,323.8:1

Mini LED monitors are capable of high peak output levels, and the PA32UCXR is one of the brightest screens I’ve ever tested. With so much headroom, it’s too bad there isn’t an ELMB feature to reduce motion blur for SDR content. Obviously, you wouldn’t max the brightness for typical work scenarios, but with the local dimming turned on, you can increase the slider a bit for punchy highlights. I noted that when setting brightness above 50, each click was 5-7 nits. Below 50, each click was 1-3 nits.

After Calibration to 200 nits

I didn’t calibrate the PA32UCXR, but it was set to 200 nits for testing. That doesn’t change the native contrast ratio, it’s still around 1,300:1. To make the best use of local dimming, I set brightness to 54, which gave brighter parts of the image a little more verve without causing visual fatigue.

• 16-point ANSI Contrast Ratio – 1,114.5:1

ANSI contrast was also measured with local dimming turned off. The PA32UCXR registered a result on par with other premium IPS panels. Turning the dimming on made black levels unmeasurable.

Test Takeaway: The PA32UCXR has native contrast in keeping with other high-end IPS monitors. The image is significantly improved by the local dimming feature. Set to medium, it rivals an OLED panel for depth and dimensionality. There is enough light output available to use the monitor anywhere, indoors or outside under bright sunlight. And with so many dimming zones, there is no trace of halo artifacts.

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Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • NedSmelly
    This is going head-to-head with the Eizo ColorEdge CG319X, which costs around twice the price. It will be interesting to see if ProArt actually makes headway into design houses and studios, because so far the Asus vibe seems to be targeting the value-oriented freelance market.
    Reply