Asus ProArt PA348CGV review: A do-it-all ultrawide wonder

Price When Reviewed

729.99

Best Prices Today: Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV

$729.99

$729.99

Content creators who play PC video games face powerful decisions when it comes time to purchase a monitor. Many of the perfect skilled displays look nice in video games however lack a excessive refresh charge and adaptive sync. Gaming displays, then again, can have nice picture high quality however are lacking options important to demanding creators. Asus ProArtPA34CGV bridges this hole, and does so at an inexpensive worth.

Note: This evaluation is a part of our ongoing roundup of the best monitors. Go there for details about competing merchandise, what to search for in a monitor, and shopping for suggestions.

Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV: The specs

The Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV’s specs are typical of a 34-inch ultrawide monitor. Its decision of 3440×1440 is actually the usual for this measurement of monitor, with solely a pair LG 5K Ultrafine displays going larger. The IPS panel can also be typical for this class.

• Display measurement: 34-inch ultrawide
• Native decision: 3440×1440
• Panel kind: IPS 
• Refresh charge: 120Hz
• HDR: Yes
• Ports: 1x USB-C 90W Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0, 4x USB 3.2, earphone jack
• Stand adjustment: Height, tilt, swivel
• VESA mount: 100x100mm
• Speakers: Yes
• Price: $729

As a consequence, it’s simple to underestimate the PA348CGV. This monitor’s strengths aren’t clearly expressed by its specs however rapidly turned apparent in my testing.

Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV: Design

The Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV is a monitor meant for skilled use and, as such, has a restrained design that doesn’t stand out—particularly from the entrance, the place reasonably sized matte-black bezels body the display. It’s a bit extra enticing from the rear because of a collection of heatsink-like ridges, however nonetheless tame.

Matt Smith

Pick it up, nonetheless, and the monitor is extra spectacular. This is a beefy show with thick, sturdy plastics and a remarkably weighty stand certain to maintain it regular. The stand’s design features a modestly sized, flat base that minimizes its footprint in your desktop.

The stand can regulate for peak, swivel, and tilt. Those who want extra vary of movement can connect a third-party monitor stand or arm to the 100x100mm VESA mount. A phrase of warning: The panel alone weighs about 17 kilos, which assessments the bounds of cheap Amazon monitor arms. You’ll need to finances for a greater monitor arm from Ergotron, Jarvis, or comparable.

Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV: Features and menu

The Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV has an inexpensive vary of recent connectivity. This contains one USB-C port with 90 watts of Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate mode. That port can prolong connectivity to 4 extra USB-A 3.2 ports. The monitor lacks ethernet or DisplayPort-Out, nonetheless, making it much less helpful than Dell’s finest USB-C hub monitors such because the Dell U3421WE.

Matt Smith

Additional video inputs embrace one DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.0, for a complete of 4 video inputs. There’s additionally a 3.5mm earphone jack for passing by way of audio.

The monitor’s menus are managed by a joystick and collection of entrance buttons. Placing the joystick up entrance will not be the widespread selection however makes it simple to seek out, and the buttons permit entry to a wide range of shortcuts like brightness or blue mild controls. The menus look nice, have clear labels, and reply rapidly to enter.

There’s no scarcity of preset image-quality modes which, importantly, embrace sRGB, Rec.709, and DCI-P3. That’s key for content material creators who need to work in a really particular coloration area. 

Matt Smith

Customization is in depth, as nicely. The monitor gives 4 exact coloration temperature modes and 5 exact gamma modes. There’s additionally six-axis coloration hue and saturation adjustment, plus achieve and offset. These choices assist creators dial within the picture to match their wants. The monitor contains audio system, which is good, however they’re weak and solely usable at (or very close to) most quantity. They are helpful in a pinch, and for fundamental audio notifications, however don’t maintain up in music, motion pictures, or video games. Those who want high quality audio in a monitor ought to look at alternatives from BenQ like the EW3880R.

Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV: SDR picture high quality

The Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV’s specs don’t supply a lot cause for pleasure, because it lacks flashy new applied sciences like Quantum Dots, a Mini-LED backlight, or an OLED panel. Yet the monitor manages to impress with strong brightness and glorious coloration accuracy. 

Matt Smith

Asus begins out robust with a most brightness of 375 nits in SDR. This degree of brightness will not be uncommon in 2022 however does stand out amongst ultrawide displays I’ve just lately examined.

Most customers will need to flip down the brightness considerably for normal use: I left it round 25 % of most. The brightness can be appreciated in vibrant rooms, because the show stays vivid, and simple on the eyes. 

Matt Smith

As talked about, the PA348CGV lacks any cutting-edge show panel or backlight options, and that has penalties for its distinction ratio. The monitor’s unsophisticated backlight and IPS panel gives a most distinction ratio of simply 1120:1. 

That’s not dangerous for an ultrawide with an IPS panel however clearly falls behind the OLED panel within the Alienware AW3423DW. It’s additionally inferior to the Dell Ultrasharp U3223QE’s IPS Black panel (although, sadly, this panel kind will not be presently obtainable in an ultrawide format).

You ought to anticipate disappointing black ranges and a few lacking element in darkish scenes. This isn’t a lot of an impediment for content material creation however turns into apparent when watching motion pictures or taking part in video games with darkish visuals comparable to Diablo 2: Resurrected. 

Matt Smith

The PA348CGV’s coloration gamut is robust, delivering 100 % of sRGB and 98 % of DCI-P3. This is true in step with the Dell U3223QE and definitely qualifies it as a “wide gamut” monitor. The PA348CGV additionally has a real 10-bit panel. 

As a consequence, the PA348CGV shows an enormous number of coloration with minimal banding in gradients. It’s a really spectacular show on this regard. I seen virtually no coloration banding in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The simulator’s expanse of a blue sky, with its delicate variations in hue, can result in apparent, distracting bands of coloration on much less succesful displays.

The monitor additionally seems splendidly vivid straight out of the field, with a punchy, over-saturated model that many informal homeowners will favor. Any vibrant, vivid content material, whether or not it’s a sport or animated movie, seems spectacular. 

Matt Smith

Color accuracy is available in robust, defeating all different displays on this aggressive set. None of those displays, apart from the BenQ EX3415R, are particularly inaccurate, but it surely’s all the time nice to see precision in a monitor constructed for content material creation. 

The monitor additionally did nicely in gamma and coloration temperature. It hit a gamma curve of two.2, which implies content material seems about as vibrant as anticipated, and a perfect coloration temperature of 6500Ok. And, as talked about, the monitor has a number of gamma coloration temperature settings. These settings additionally have been correct to their acknowledged targets, which makes calibrating the monitor to your particular wants simple. 

Sharpness is simply adequete. The monitor’s decision of 3440×1440, unfold throughout the 34 inches of ultrawide display, gives a pixel density of 109 pixels per inch. This is just like a 27-inch 1440p monitor. Fine fonts are detailed, pictures look sharp, and video games appear crisp. However, there’s not sufficient decision right here for 4K video modifying. Serious photographers may additionally want extra pixels to deal with high-resolution DSLR pictures. 

I got here away impressed by the Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV’s SDR efficiency. It does an exquisite job of mixing the precision content material creators demand with the brilliance and punchy coloration homeowners will need for informal use. This monitor is a wonderful selection for a house workplace, because it’s nicely suited to each skilled purposes and PC video games.

Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV: HDR picture high quality

The Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV helps HDR10 however isn’t VESA DisplayHDR licensed. That left me with low expectations, and the monitor simply cleared them.

Maximum HDR brightness is nice at 515 nits, and the monitor sustains this brightness nicely with out fluctuation between full-screen and 10 % home windows. In brief, the show seems uniformly vibrant when exhibiting a wide range of vibrant content material.. 

The exception to that is the monitor’s native dimming mode, which is on by default. I used to be shocked to seek out it performs okay regardless of the monitor’s fundamental backlight system. Switching between scenes doesn’t usually trigger a dramatic and distracting variance in brightness. 

But don’t get too excited. While it didn’t destroy picture high quality, native dimming additionally failed to extend the measured distinction ratio. It additionally brought on blotchy variations in brightness when viewing darkish scenes.

The PA348CV dealt with tone mapping nicely. For instance, maximizing HDR brightness didn’t trigger the cells of an Excel spreadsheet to vanish, an issue seen on many entry-level HDR displays. 

There are nonetheless severe limitations to the PA348CV’s HDR efficiency. It lacks the brightness and distinction required to make HDR content material actually stand out. However, HDR efficiency is satisfactory for normal use, offering some enhance in brilliance and a bit extra element in vibrant parts of a scene. That’s sufficient to put the PA348CV forward of equally priced rivals.

Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV: Motion readability

Most skilled displays are usually not good for gaming, as they lack each the pixel response instances and refresh charges players demand. The Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV is an exception to this rule. It claims a gray-to-gray pixel response time of two milliseconds and has a 120Hz refresh charge. It formally helps AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and will unofficially work as a G-Sync suitable monitor, although I used to be unable to confirm that.

Motion readability may be very strong. Fast shifting objects retain good element and quick digicam pans in video games don’t obscure the background. Blur Busters’ gaming take a look at, which quickly pans throughout a scene in League of Legends, proved characters and well being bars stay identifiable. Character names, nonetheless, have been too blurry to learn. 

The PA348CGV’s efficiency is what I anticipate from a 120Hz or 144Hz monitor, and that’s excellent news. This degree of movement readability is greater than enough for many PC players and a serious enchancment over a 60Hz refresh charge.

Final ideas

The Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV is an outstanding ultrawide monitor that manages to serve an enormous vary of customers. It’s equally glorious for skilled content material creators, players, and prosumers who’ve fundamental wants however desire a premium expertise. It’s additionally a uncommon instance of a monitor that’s equally suited to each content material creation and gaming. 

Here’s the kicker: It’s $729. That’s not low cost, to make sure, however the PA348CGV is priced equally to high-end rivals that lack its versatility. Monitors just like the $700 BenQ EX3415R and $750 LG UltraGear 34GP83A-B are nice for gaming however not almost as succesful for creators, whereas Dell’s $620 U3421DW is strong for creators however disappointing in PC video games. The PA348CGV does all of it with out rising the worth.