The Gaming menu has the GamePlus suite of enhancements,along with an Adaptive-Sync toggle, Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) and GameVisual with its eight picture modes. Racing is the default and best starting point for calibration. It’s accurate enough out of the box that adjustment is not necessary. For color purists, a usable sRGB mode is included that shrinks the color gamut appropriately. Also here is Shadow Boost, which enhances shadow detail by making dark areas of the image brighter.


In the Image menu are luminance controls, two HDR modes, which appear when HDR signals are present, and Dynamic Dimming. The Dynamic Dimming enhancer does a good job of increasing contrast by adjusting the backlight on a frame-by-frame basis. It manages to preserve highlight and shadow detail without clipping, so we used it to view SDR content. In HDR mode, it’s locked on and makes that content look quite good with a measured contrast ratio of over 8,200:1. Asus also includes a Blue Light Filter to help reduce eye fatigue when reading text with a white background.


Calibration is performed with the User Mode in the Color Temp menu. You can also choose between three fixed white points. Gamma presets number three and measure accurately; if you set 2.2, you get 2.2. Color Saturation can be adjusted in the Cinema and User picture modes.


Lighting Effect gets its own menu, where you can toggle Aura Sync on and off and set options for Aura RGB and Light in Motion. Aura Sync can turn your entire gaming rig into a colorful light show if you have other ROG components installed in your PC’s case. You’ll need a USB connection to the Asus ROG Strix XG27UQ for that to work.

Aura RGB refers to the large ROG logo on the panel’s back that lights up with various effects and colors. Light in Motion projects a logo onto your desktop. You can dim or defeat all the lighting if you wish.

Asus ROG Strix XG27UQ Recommended Calibration Settings

We started in the XG27UQ’s Racing mode, where initial measurements showed no great need for calibration. Asus certifies the monitor with a factory adjustment and an included data sheet. We found a few small gains by tweaking the RGB sliders. Our recommended SDR settings are below.


HDR signals cannot be calibrated, but you can choose from two HDR modes, Gaming and Cinema, that look and measure similarly.

Gaming and Hands-on

The Asus ROG Strix XG27UQ has several options for image enhancement that each provide an improvement over the stock picture. Even without them, color saturation is excellent, and contrast is solid. After setting the backlight to 200 nits, we worked a bit in Windows apps, including Microsoft Word and Excel. The unaltered image was fine for long sessions in front of the screen. With 4K resolution at 27 inches, you’ll see tiny fonts and objects with supreme clarity. We used 150% dpi scaling and had no trouble seeing everything clearly.

Turning on Dynamic Dimming brightened the picture quite a bit and increased contrast three-fold. For productivity, it’s too bright, but for gaming or video, it’s a great way to add punch to the image. Coupled with the extended color gamut, the picture appeared vibrant with a natural look. If you have a lot of sun coming in the room, this would be a great way to make fine detail easier to see.

HDR in Windows looks about the same as SDR. It’s only when you watch an HDR-encoded video or play an HDR game that the full effect is realized. In Call of Duty WWII, we saw tremendous detail and texture with lots of bold color and deep contrast. While it's not on the Best HDR Monitors list, the Asus ROG Strix XG27UQ can definitely be on the Good HDR Monitors list. It truly does the standard justice. Frame rates were not affected in the least. We had no trouble keeping the action at 120 fps or more with Adaptive-Sync with both a Radeon RX 5700 XT and GTX 1080 Ti. Gaming in 4K is a real treat when you have the horsepower to support it.

Turning to Tomb Raider, we left the Asus ROG Strix XG27UQ in Racing mode to see the extra color in this SDR game. Outdoor hues, like blue sky and green grass, leapt from the screen. Dynamic Dimming added a lot of contrast with bright highlights in sunny areas and deep blacks in the cave and indoor sequences. Highlight and shadow detail was never compromised. We recommend using the feature for all SDR games. It adds an HDR-like depth that few monitors can equal.

Regardless of signal mode, video processing was flawless. Both FreeSync and G-Sync operated perfectly. Overdrive eliminated nearly all motion blur when set to three. Higher settings produced visible ghosting which caused some smearing when action got intense. ELMB is also available as an alternative to Adaptive-Sync, but it did nothing to improve motion resolution. The overdrive was better at keeping things sharp.

At around $800 at this writing (if you can find it in stock), the XG27UQ delivers4K resolution at 144 Hz over a single DisplayPort cable and, when paired with a sufficiently stout video card, also supports HDR and Adaptive-Sync.

We’ve talked about the performance advantages of 1440p and 1080p monitors. Certainly, it’s easier to achieve high frame rates when there are fewer pixels to move. And motion resolution is the ultimate barometer of gaming performance. If a display blurs fast action, 4K won’t save the image from smearing. No, you need speed for sure, and the XG27UQ provides it in spades. We recorded the lowest input lag yet for an 4K monitor. This display is easily qualified for competition gaming and well-suited for the most skilled players.

Image quality excels too with true 90% coverage of DCI-P3 and some of the best HDR we’ve seen. Only a FALD-equipped monitor or OLED panel can top the picture quality we saw from the XG27UQ.This monitor truly does the standard justice.

If you have the system horsepower, there are few monitors that can match the Asus ROG Strix XG27UQ in all areas of gaming performance and image quality. Though it’s not exactly inexpensive, it undercuts the top premium displays by a significant margin. With all this in its favor, we highly recommend checking it out.