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It wasn't long ago that the 24in Full HD screen was the sweet spot for gaming. But size and resolution have been inflating in the last couple of years, and we've started to see a flow of curved ultrawide screens with a 21:9 aspect ratio. The ASUS ROG SWIFT PG35VQ sits at the pinnacle of this trend. It's a 35in screen with a 3,440 x 1,440 resolution, and is premium in every respect, particularly the price.
Probably the first thing you will notice is that this monitor costs £2,700, an astonishing amount of money even for a top-end gaming screen. But for that you also get something that is rare even in premium flat gaming screens, let alone curved ones with this size and resolution – a 200Hz refresh. This is partnered by G-Sync Ultimate, which means it has built-in NVIDIA hardware for adaptive sync with NVIDIA graphics cards that supports HDR. The 35in diagonal also makes it a little bigger than the 34in models we have reviewed recently, such as the MSI Optix MPG341CQR, or the Samsung CF791 and professionally-oriented ASUS ProArt PA34V.
Another smaller surprise is the pixel response time. This is a VA panel, and we usually associate around 4ms as the response time for this technology. But ASUS claims 2ms for the PG35VQ. Admittedly, TN panels boast 1ms and we've even seen claims of 0.5ms in some cases. But TN is lower quality in most other respects, and doesn't work well for curved screens due to its viewing angle characteristics.
Alongside these headline features are more typical ones for a VA panel – an excellent 2,500:1 contrast ratio and 500cd/m2 typical brightness, although peak brightness can hit 1,000cd/m2 in HDR mode, to fulfil this screen's HDR-10 capabilities. ASUS also promises 90 per cent of the cinema-standard DCI-P3 colour gamut, and there's even an ESS Sabre HiFi DAC built in so that the digital audio from a video input is converted to high-quality headphone sound.
You get plenty of ergonomic customisation, with tilt, swivel, and height adjustments available. But this screen isn't that well endowed for video inputs, with just HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4. Also, if you want to take advantage of the 200Hz refresh you will need to use the DisplayPort. There's a USB 3.0 hub, but only with two ports and these are on the rear, as is the headphone minijack.
Nevertheless, this is a monster screen, and has been hotly anticipated in the gaming community. At this price, the market will be serious professional gamers or very rich amateurs. But the rest of us may well be longing for this monitor in the same way as you might desire a Ferrari or McLaren. So let's find out if the ASUS ROG SWIFT PG35VQ can justify our lust, or is it just playing with our affections?
Specification:
- Screen size: 35-inch, 21:9 aspect
- Native resolution: 3,440 x 1,440
- Curvature: 1800R
- Refresh rate: 200Hz, NVIDIA G-Sync Ultimate
- Panel type: VA
- Contrast ratio: 2,500:1 (typical)
- Brightness: 500cd/m2 (1,000cd/m2 peak)
- Response time: 2ms Gray to Gray
- Display inputs: HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4
- USB hub: Yes, 2 x USB 3.0 Type A
- Tilt: 6 degrees forward, 20 degrees backward
- Raise: 110mm
- Swivel: 35 degrees left and right
- Portrait: No
- Other: Audio minjack output
Retail Price: £2,699.99 (inc. VAT)
