There are some misconceptions I’ve seen about 60hz input lag, so I will clear those up before describing the issue and why it needs to be fixed: 60hz input lag only matters when your display is set to a fixed 60hz, either in Windows display settings, or by another source (like a console). The vast majority of the time for PC users, it doesn’t matter at all — running a game at 60fps with VRR will still manifest the same input lag as your monitor’s max refresh rate (as long as your monitor is set to its max refresh rate of course).
Also, when I say “input lag” I’m referring to the processing lag that manifests when displaying a frame, so that doesn’t include frame time or pixel response lag. If you read RTINGS or TFTCentral reviews, you’ll notice a bit of disparity between their measurements, so let me clear that up as well: RTINGS’ measurements report the processing lag + half of the frame time at a given refresh rate, while TFTCentral reports only the processing lag. So for example, for the PG32UCDM, RTINGS reports a 60hz input lag of 19.3 ms and TFTCentral reports 10.10 ms. For a 60hz signal, the frame time is 16.67 ms, and half of that is 8.33 ms. So, 19.3 ms - 8.33 ms = 10.97 ms of processing lag, which is within margin of error and basically the same as TFTCentral’s measurement.
So… as I am a PC user, why do I care about the 60hz input lag on this monitor when factoring in what I stated before? Well, because some games actually DO set your monitor to a fixed 60hz refresh rate, the most notorious one being Elden Ring, and by extension other Fromsoftware games when running in fullscreen mode. Elden Ring specifically does have a borderless windowed mode, which sets the display to the max refresh rate and provides significantly better input lag… but it disables HDR (one of the main reasons for getting an OLED), and, at least for me, gives me absolutely atrocious frametimes. So, there is a whole suite of games for which the PG32UCDM provides a compromised experience. This is a $1300 monitor, there should be no such thing as a compromised experience when using it.
For those wondering, YES, 10.97 ms of input lag is very noticeable even on a 60hz signal. I have a 65” LG C2 which RTINGS reports has 10.6 ms input lag at 60hz (which is actually 10.6 - 8.33 = 2.27 ms processing lag). The difference in input lag between these two displays is extremely noticeable. Never would I have thought 8.7 ms of additional input lag would be noticeable, but I don’t know what to tell you if you’re skeptical… it is definitely a big difference, and it makes playing Fromsoft games on my PG32UCDM significantly less enjoyable than on my C2.
So, long explanation over… the conclusion is that 60hz (and by extension 120hz input lag for newer consoles) needs to be fixed. Ideally we’d have <1 ms of processing lag at all refresh rates. Here is a link to another forum where someone else brought it up https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/gaming-monitors/pg32ucdm-60hz-input-lag/td-p/1013683. The customer service rep that responded said this is normal behavior — NO, it is not. The other QD-OLED monitors do not have input lag nearly as bad at 60hz (or 120hz), and the WOLED monitors don’t either. To give a few examples, RTINGS reports that the G80SD has a 60hz input lag of 11.8 ms (3.47 ms processing lag) and the AW3225QF has 13.5 ms input lag (5.17 ms processing lag). Funnily enough, when talking about WOLED monitors, the 32GS95UE has 9.2 ms 60hz input lag (0.87 ms processing lag) while the PG32UCDP has 15.4 ms lag (7.07 ms processing lag). So, it kind of seems like this is a uniquely ASUS issue. It is utterly pathetic when TVs have better input lag than your monitors.
