Buying a really good monitor used to be easy. The more money you spent, the obviously better the specs. Expensive monitors had higher resolution, used better panel tech, reproduced more colors more accurately, and had lower response times. That was then and this is now. Your requirements are less straightforward.
On the surface, Asus’s latest ROG (Republic of Gamers dontcherknow) monitor seems a bit pokey In the numbers department. Only 24 Inches? Only 1920×1080? Only TN panel tech? What gives?
What gives is that this display Is dedicated entirely to the gaming arts. Those two million pixels are backed by an Nvidia G-Sync module. This, in essence, dynamically matches the display’s refresh rate to the frames-per-second the GPU Is currently generating. It means no awkward divisions of framerates (47 doesn’t go that well Into 60, see) and that In turn means defence against herky-jerky gameplay.
And because this monitor uses TN panel tech Instead of the superior (for static Images) IPS, It responds even faster to pixel changes when showing content with lots of movement.
Asus claims the refresh rate of the PG248Q can be “overclocked” to 180Hz -a full 36Hz higher than the other gaming monitors we’ve reviewed this Issue! Will that make any difference at all to your gameplay? Probably not. But If your game frame numbers are similar to the refresh rate here you’ll see the difference.
Oh we should point out again that G-sync tech only works on PCs with Nvidia GPUs on board. It does make games running at less than 60fps looks somewhat better, but really this kind of display deserves higher-end kit, something that can push a 1920×1080 game well up above 100fps.
Which brings us back to the familiar and constant chorus we always come back to when singing the praises of these monitors: right now Is an awkward time for the hardware. Applying this tech to a 28-Inch 4K monitor would just be too damn expensive, though Ironically 4K Is where we need G-sync the most, since that’s where framerates dip.
So yes, the PG248Q seems a little small and low-res for its price. It will make your games looks great. But you might have a niggling feeling you should have waited another year or so for a bigger version. Anthony Fordham
KEY SPECS
24-inch • 1920×1080 • Panel tech: TN • Refresh rate: 180Hz “overclocked” • Sync support: Nvidia G-Sync ■ Response time: 1ms