Designed as a monitor – not a TV – Asus' 42-inch PG42UQ is the first of hopefully more 42-inch OLED monitors with 4K resolution. It is available now for pre-order in the UK.

Asus unveiled the ROG Swift PG42UQ (42") and PG48UQ (48") OLED gaming monitors at CES 2022 to compete with other PC monitor makers who have expanded their line-ups n recent years to include large OLED monitor. OLED monitors finally make HDR gaming experiences possible with PCs.

You can of course connect an OLED TV such as LG's 42-inch C2 or Sony's 42-inch A90K to any PC but Asus stresses that its new displays are designed from the ground up as monitors. This includes an anti-glare coating and a custom-built heatsink that "ensures 8% lower temperatures for OLED longevity".


 42-inch Asus PG42UQ 4K OLED monitor. Photo: Asus

They feature two HDMI 2.1 ports (48Gbps), two HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4, a USB hub, and built-in speakers. They are based on LG Display's OLED panel and Asus highlights specifications such as 3840x2160 pixels, 120Hz (138Hz over DP 1.4), HDR10 support (Dolby Vision is not supported), 900 nits peak brightness, true 0.1 ms response time, 10-bit color, and pre-calibrated colors (Delta E < 2).

In addition, Asus emphasized that unlike QD-OLED monitors with triangular pixels, its OLED monitors have a conventional RGB stripe pixel layout to ensure clearly-defined text and objects without color fringe artifacts.


 Asus' OLED monitors use LG Display's WOLED panel with an RGB stripe pixel (left) layout as opposed to QD-OLED (right). Photo: Asus

Acer, Dell Alienware, LG Electronics, MSI and Philips have also launched or announced OLED monitors intended for gaming and media consumption.

Asus refers to it as "the world's first 42-inch gaming monitor" and it is available now for pre-order in the UK for £1,399, with wider availability to follow later.