Initial Setup and Functionality
SDR - WCG Mode
When powering up the panel, you will be asked to select which Power Mode. For the best range of brightness settings, we recommend Standard Mode
Shortcut Functions
For easier navigation, we can define our shortcuts using My Favourites.
We can define two selectable presets for each arrow on the Navigation Wheel.
Gaming Menu
Adaptive Sync
Leave at ON which is the default for best G-Sync/Adaptive Sync Compatibility.
Game Plus
Game Plus gives you a range of gaming-related aids for competitive play.
Note: We can easily access the Game Plus Menu by default by toggling right on the navigation wheel as this is bound to My Favourites.
FPS Counter:
The ROG PG27AQDM offers an FPS counter feature, allowing users to monitor their frames-per-second performance conveniently. Unlike many third-party overlay tools, which may not always be compatible or could trigger anti-cheat detection in gaming environments, the monitor's built-in overlay eliminates these concerns. Furthermore, while external overlay tools might occasionally impact system performance negatively, the monitor's OSD overlay ensures seamless integration without compromising performance
Note: You can move the FPS OSD by using the navigation wheel
Crosshair:
This function does exactly what it says on the tin, providing a range of crosshairs depending on your preference.
We can adjust the position of the crosshair using the navigation wheel as well as select whether we want dynamic adjustment or a static crosshair.
Sniper:
Sniper allows us to magnify our crosshair by up to 2x. This function won't be for everyone, but it's a great tool for calibrating long distance recoil and improving accuracy.
Note: This function is only available when HDR is disabled.
Timer / Stop Watch
A quickly accessible clock.
Gaming Visual
Gaming Visual allows us to select from predefined profiles depending on our application. For the sake of this overview we are going to select User Mode as this gives us the widest range of adjustment.
Shadow Boost
Shadow Boost allows gives us the option of either dynamically adjusting our black levels, or choosing from 3 select presets. On this panel, it's recommended to leave this OFF unless you want to forcibly increase the black floor levels to brighten darker scenes. The PG27AQDM's OLED panel provides exceptionally deep and true-to-life black levels, but it's down to personal preference.
Image
Brightness
By default, the Brightness is set to 90. Once we enable Uniform Brightness we can set our preferred Brightness setting depending on our surroundings and ambient lighting. We've set the panel to 80 which is 200nits
Uniform Brightness
Enable Uniform Brightness to mitigate the OLED panel's ABL feature. This will stop the panel from dynamically adjusting the brightness depending on the content or desktop window application. This will also help to bring down power consumption.
Contrast
This can be left at default which is 80.
Vivid Pixel
VividPixel is an ASUS-exclusive technology that enhances images' and videos' outlines, sharpness, and colour saturation.
50 is the default setting and the most optimal. The triangular arrangement of RGB subpixels in QD-OLED displays may lead to colour fringing along the edges of text, potentially diminishing the clarity. If we lower or turn VividPixel off completely, we'll notice a large degradation in text clarity.
Aspect Control
Allows you to force alternative aspect ratios for content compatibility.
Blue Light Filter
The Blue Light Filter is a personal preference. I recommend leaving this function off.
Colour
Display Colour Space
For our SDR calibration, we'll be using DCI-P3.
Colour Temperature
This is a personal preference. For the most balanced preset we can leave this at 6500K. To manually calibrate, select User Mode.
Gamma
Leave this at 2.2
SDR - SRGB Mode
Colour
Display Colour Space
The easiest method to change the colour space setting is from within Colour menu. Note that using this method will mean that our colour balance is not the same resulting in the need to change your defined colour balance settings each time this is toggled.
We recommend this method: Browse to the Gaming menu and select the sRGB Mode. This will retain our previously set colour adjustments.
Using this method we can now quickly switch between SRGB and our DCI-P3 modes by using the Navigation wheel and pressing up (default for My Favourites), which will take you directly to the GameVisual menu.
Screen Protection
For more information on ROG OLED Care Pixel Cleaning see this link.
Screen Saver
Screen Saver can be left on. This feature will automatically dim the display when inactivity is detected.
Screen Move
This feature helps mitigate image retention by shifting the pixels. Some users may find this function distracting for desktop use. Experiment with the various modes to see which you find to be tolerable, however it can also be switched off.
Adjust Logo Brightness
This can be turned on, but experiment with this setting yourself as some people may be susceptible to noticing dimming changes. I didn't notice any difference with it set to Off, so it may provide some additional image retention protection.
HDR
To switch to HDR we can simply enable it Windows Display Settings menu
Access the OSD. Under the Image menu, select HDR Setting. The differences are fairly minor between these profiles, however, for the best Windows calibration with Auto HDR I tend to use ASUS Console HDR as this is provides the most accurate calibration for peak brightness (900nits)
Download the Microsoft HDR Calibration Tool from the MS Store. With ASUS Console HDR enabled, you should find that the brightness peaks on the slider around the 900nits setting.
Note: I'd recommend trying out games both in native HDR and in Windows Auto HDR mode. Certain games tend to raise with the black floor levels and I've found that Auto HDR produces more desirable results. This is likely in an effort to ensure that certain details aren't lost on some panels. However, these things are subjective. Use what works for you, and if needed check out the Shadow Boost settings within the OSD mentioned earlier.
After we've done this, we should be ready to checkout some HDR content.
