The ASUS PG27AQDM has okay HDR brightness, but it doesn’t get nearly as bright as the advertised 1,000 cd/m² brightness in HDR. Even though Windows HDR Calibration reported that the monitor was reaching 1,000 cd/m², this is still the brightest it got. We tested this with firmware MCM102, and while there are new firmware MCM103 and MCM104 that ASUS released in spring 2023 to improve the HDR performance, we couldn’t update the firmware as you can see here. We tried using different computers and cables, but nothing worked. It’s something that other people have reported online too. There’s also an issue with the image having a red tint in HDR, which you can read more about in HDR Color Gamut. When we can update the firmware, we’ll retest the HDR performance.
With firmware MCM102, small highlights get the brightest and stand out against dark backgrounds, but it still isn’t bright enough to make them look vivid. The EOTF doesn’t follow the target PQ curve well either, as all scenes are darker than intended. These results are in ‘ASUS Gaming HDR’ HDR Setting with Adjustable Brightness off, and Brightness locked to its max.
Unlike in SDR, there’s a setting in HDR called Adjustable Brightness that lets you change the Brightness setting if you want something with less aggressive ABL, but it also makes the screen dimmer. When enabling this setting and leaving the Brightness at its max, the brightness of the display is the same as leaving Adjustable Brightness off.
While the manufacturer advertises this monitor as using heatsink technology, it doesn’t dissipate heat well. As you can see here, heat is concentrated towards the bottom. For reference, you can also see what the LG 27GR95QE-B looks like here, and on this monitor, heat is concentrated more towards the center.
Also, there are some reports online of issues in HDR occurring after a few hours of gaming, but we couldn’t replicate it with firmware MCM102.
