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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.
The PA32UCXR supports HDR10, Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) and Dolby Vision specifications for HDR content. It does not support HDR10+, which is relatively new. It is rarely found in content at this writing. Nearly all games, streamed and disc-based material is encoded in either HDR10 or Dolby Vision. HLG is a broadcast spec used in Europe and for some YouTube content.
HDR Brightness and Contrast
• HDR White Luminance – 1,974.9994 nits
• HDR Black Level – Unmeasurable
• HDR Sequential Contrast - Unmeasurable
Asus makes multiple claims for the PA32UCXR’s peak HDR brightness and in my test, it exceeded all of them. It’s certified VESA DisplayHDR 1400 and Asus specs 1,000 nits sustained and 1,600 nits peak. When I measured a 25% window pattern with Dynamic Dimming set to Medium, the result was nearly 2,000 nits. It’s so bright you can’t look at the screen directly.
Black levels are unmeasurable since the LEDs are switched off, so contrast is also undetermined. In content, the 2,304 dimming zones are effective at producing a deeply detailed image with tremendous dynamic range. Halo artifacts are nearly non-existent. While the PA32UCXR won’t quite match an OLED panel for ultimate real-world contrast, no LCD can get closer. And it is officially the second-brightest monitor I’ve ever tested. The record belongs to Samsung’s Odyssey Neo G8 which just pips the Asus at 2,094 nits peak.
Grayscale, EOTF and Color
I measured the PA32UCXR in its Rec.2020 HDR mode with PQ set to Optimized. This delivered perfect grayscale tracking and an almost perfect EOTF trace. Luminance is a bit under the mark until 40%, when it goes slightly over the reference line. This will not affect content in any meaningful way. The tone-map transition is at 80%, which is super high. That means the PA32UCXR has enough brightness range to let content metadata determine light levels up to 80% where it takes over. Content creators can accurately master their HDR content up to 2,000 nits peak.
To render the full DCI-P3 and Rec.2020 gamuts in HDR mode, I had to select 2020 from the OSD. There is a P3 option, but it caused under-saturation in both tests. In the above charts, you can see a bit of over-saturation but nothing significant. There are also a few slight hue errors. None of these will be visible in content. The PA32UCXR’s HDR color is about as good as it gets.
Test Takeaway: The PA32UCXR is a perfect tool for mastering HDR, HLG and Dolby Vision content in DCI-P3 and Rec.2020 color gamuts up to 2,000 nits peak. Since this exceeds most consumer display’s peak brightness capabilities, that makes the content adaptable to future monitors and TVs, which will likely be brighter than what’s commonly available now.
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