OLED monitors are an envy of mine. That's why it comes naturally for me to sit behind my IPS screen and point out some of the still-remaining flaws of the tech, namely burn-in and low brightness. But on this front, Asus might have an answer in the form of tandem WOLED monitors such as in the just-announced ROG Strix OLED XG27AQWMG.
Asus explains that this technology "splits the light emitting layers from three into four, separating the yellow layer into two distinct red and green layers. This eliminates the need for colour filters, which comes with a number of benefits."
To get to the point, it should mean brighter panels with less risk of burn-in. These two benefits are actually linked because, as I've written about before, prior to this tandem tech there wasn't really a way to have bright screens without risking burn-in.
Asus says the new tandem OLED tech it's using should allow for 15% higher peak brightness plus 25% wider colour volume. Not only that, though, but because it's more efficient at emitting light, the company is claiming "60% longer lifespan than previous-gen WOLED monitors."
The ROG Strix OLED XG27AQWMG the company was showing off earlier also has a "Neo Proximity Sensor" which turns the monitor off when you move away from it and back on when you return. This should help with OLED burn-in, and I'm not sure whether that 60% figure is with this factored in, or whether it's down to the tandem tech alone.
The XG27AQWMG is also rated to 280 Hz at 1440p QHD with the usual low OLED response time, so no worries on that front.
Based on all this, it looks like we might be dealing with this LG WOLED panel that Asus is using here, and it's certainly the same tech that LG outlined a few months ago.
The figures Asus is quoting certainly seem promising for OLED monitors given their two main issues of brightness and life span, and it certainly looked very shiny when I feasted my eyeballs on it. But we'll have to wait for more extensive hands-on testing to figure out if it's all as game-changing as it sounds.
1. Best overall:
MSI MPG 321URX
2. Best 4K:
LG Ultragear 27GR93U
3. Best budget 4K:
Gigabyte M28U
4. Best 1440p:
Xiaomi G Pro 27i
5. Best budget 1440p:
Pixio PXC277 Advanced
6. Best budget 1080p:
AOC Gaming C27G4ZXE
7. Best Ultrawide:
Asus ROG Swift OLED PG34WCDM
8. Best 32:9:
Samsung Odyssey OLED G9
9. Best budget ultrawide:
ASRock Phantom PG34WQ15R2B
10. Best WOLED:
LG Ultragear 32GS95UE
11. Best 1440p OLED:
MSI MPG 271QRX
12. Best budget OLED ultrawide:
Alienware 34 QD-OLED
13. Best dual-mode:
Alienware AW2725QF
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