To compare the PG42UQ’s performance, I’ve rounded up a group of OLEDs and two high performance VA panels. There’s Alienware’s AW5520QF and AW3423DWF, Aorus’ FO48U, Asus’ XG43UQ and Samsung’s G8.
Pixel Response and Input Lag
Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.
Obviously, refresh rate is a determining factor. The 240 Hz G8 is the fastest 4K panel currently available, though you’ll need a lot of graphics power to drive it to its full potential. It’s the smoothest monitor of the group, though the OLEDs are nearly as good with their super-quick sub-field response times of 0.1ms. Ultimately, you won’t find any distracting blur or artifacts on these screens.
The PG42UQ’s 138 Hz overclock gives it a slight edge over the 120 Hz OLEDs and is even a touch quicker than the 144 Hz XG43UQ and its VA panel. Given the state of today’s premium gaming systems, you won’t need more Hertz than the G8 for some time to come. And the 120, 138 and 144 Hz found in other 4K panels is also more than enough capacity. It’s certainly enough to match with a PS5 or Xbox Series X or a PC equipped with a GeForce RTX 3090 like mine.
Viewing Angles
Here’s what I alluded to earlier regarding the PG42UQ’s polarizing screen layer. Like any OLED, there is no reduction in brightness or detail at 45 degrees off-axis. But there is an obvious color shift to blue/green. You can also see that the center of the screen is a touch warmer than the edges. This effect is easier for the camera to see than the naked eye, but it does illustrate the effect of Asus’ anti-glare layer. It delivers a super sharp and bright image but has some of the drawbacks of a big LCD. With that said, the PG42UQ is entirely shareable thanks to its large size.
Screen Uniformity
To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.
Clearly, there is no issue with OLED screen uniformity. All the panels here measure less than 10% deviation, which is visibly perfect. I tested with a 10% brightness field pattern since 0% ones are unmeasurable. I couldn’t see any aberrations in either color or white patterns and real-world content looked perfect from edge to edge.
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