David Nicholson: Asus PQ321 4K display review

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Asus PQ321 4K display review

Asus makes monitors exciting again with its new 4K display.

It seems just about everyone has gotten on the 4K bandwagon recently. Nvidia and AMD both emphasized 4K compatibility with their most recent cards, and one of the most talked announcements at CES was Netflix’s plan to start streaming content in 4K.

With the supply of 4K content steadily increasing so are 4K displays. Sony was first to the market with such a device, but now nearly every manufacturer is joining the ranks: LG, Samsung and others all have displays on the market.

But what about 4K displays specifically designed for PC users? Well then, the market gets more narrow.

Right now there are only a handful of 4K PC displays available, and even less in the APAC region, thus Asus is making a big push with its PQ321. Let’s take a look at what this display has to offer.

Plenty of pixels to go around

Before taking a closer look at the PQ321, it is important to understand what 4K actually means. Colloquially, 4K refers to Ultra High Definition which at a resolution 3840 x 2160 is four times the resolution of 1080p HD.

As to be expected, the content that’s available at this resolution — limited as it is — looks pretty great.

Asus gave the public a first look at the PQ321 during Computex 2013. Like other 4K computer screens on the market, it uses the Sharp IZGO panel.

The PQ321 has an aspect ratio of 16:9 and has two HDMI 1.4a connectors and one DisplayPort 1.2 connector.

The screen itself seems quite heavy compared to standard resolution screens, but it comes with a sturdy stand that is rugged enough to support it.

For power users, the PQ321 offers a plethora of options to those who want to tweak their display. Users that are planning to attach a content source to the monitor via DisplayPort should note that the DisplayPort Stream option should be set to MST not SST to ensure that 60Hz is used. Also, users should ensure that the HDMI dual input mode is selected to take advantage of that capability if they intend to use it.

Is it worth it?

While 4K is still a young, emerging technology it’s already here in full force. Those gamers that want to spend to embrace its high-resolution beauty won’t have a problem building or buying a system that can play games at that resolution.

Both Nvidia and AMD offer cards such as the Geforce 780 Ti and Radeon R9 290 that can make light work of games such as Battlefield 4 at 4K.

Right now the only downside to embracing 4K is the sticker shock, but as the technology matures that is sure to come down in price. Playing a game in 4K or watching 4K content is an amazing experience and for gamers with a budget that could accommodate such a purchase, a monitor like this is a necessity.

The Asus PQ321 gets 8.5/10