ASUS announced its first professional OLED display back at CES 2018 over a year ago. The compact and lightweight 21.6-inch 4K monitor covering 99% of the DCI-P3 color aimed at professionals attracted a lot of attention from various parties, but it has taken ASUS quite some time to perfect the product. Only this month the company began to sell the display on select markets with broader availability expected going forward. Meanwhile, the price of the monitor looks rather overwhelming.

The ASUS ProArt PQ22UC features a 21.6-inch 4K RGB stripe OLED panel produced by JOLED using its printing method. The panel supports a 3840×2160 resolution, 140 - 330 nits  brightness (typical/peak), a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, and a response time of 0.1 ms. The monitor features an internal 14-bit 3D LUT (lookup table), can reproduce 1.07 billion colors, and comes factory-calibrated to a Delta E <2 accuracy. The ProArt PQ22UC is said to feature a 95% uniformity compensation to avoid fluctuations in brightness and chromaticity on different parts of the screen. ASUS says that it can cover 99% of the DCI-P3 color space (without specifying whitepoint chromacity) and supports HDR10 as well as HLG formats for high dynamic range content. Meanwhile, ASUS yet has to reveal which other modes the display supports (e.g., REC2020, REC709, etc.).

Besides very accurate colors and a very high contrast ratio, the main features of the ProArt PQ22UC are its compact dimensions, a foldable stand, a foldable protection case, as well as a low weight (about a kilogram or so with the stand). To further save space and make the product thinner, ASUS equipped the the ProArt PQ22UC with two USB Type-C and micro-HDMI inputs (no word on exact protocols, but DP 1.2 and HDMI 2.0x are likely). The compact dimensions and weight enable owners to easily carry it around, which is particularly important for people who need to do post-production outside of their studios as well as various on-set routines. ASUS does not ship the monitor with a light-shielding hood, a common accessory for displays used for cinematography and color-critical workloads, due to its portability.

Brief Specifications of the ASUS ProArt PQ22UC
  PQ22UC
Panel 21.6" OLED
Native Resolution 3840 × 2160
Maximum Refresh Rate 60 Hz
Response Time 0.1 ms (black to white)
Brightness minimum: 0.0005 cd/m²
typical: 140 cd/m²
maximum: 330 cd/m²
Contrast 1,000,000:1
Viewing Angles 178°/178° horizontal/vertical
Pixel Pitch 0.1245 mm²
Pixel Density 204 ppi
Display Colors 1.07 billion
Color Gamut Support DCI-P3: 99%
sRGB/Rec 709: 100% (tbc)
Adobe RGB: ?
SMPTE C: ?
Rec2020: ?
Stand Tilt and height adjustable
Inputs 2 × USB Type-C (DP 1.2?)
1 × mini HDMI (2.0a? 2.0b?)
PSU External
Launch Price & Date Spring 2019
€5000 ~ $5000

The ASUS ProArt PQ22UC display is now available from select stores in Austria and the UK for €5,160 and £4,699 with taxes. TFTCentral claims that broader availability is expected in April, but the official price for the UK will be £4,799 with taxes. If we roughly subtract the UK sales tax from the current retail price and convert the sum to US Dollars, we will get something like $5150, which means that the product will likely carry a ~$5000 MSRP in the US.

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Sources: TFT Central, AVMagazine

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  • eddman - Monday, March 25, 2019 - link

    Why are you even reading anandtech.
  • sonny73n - Monday, March 25, 2019 - link

    Don’t be a dick. AT just reported the specs and price from the maker of this monitor. AT haven’t tested it. I know you’re the type who just believes everything the media says but did AT recommend this monitor? FYI this monitor doesn’t contain any break thru tech or anything new. Professional need well calibrated monitors that have the range of colors they need just to have accurate readings and produce accurate results, not outrageously priced ones with a “pro” suffix.
  • eddman - Monday, March 25, 2019 - link

    "I know you’re the type who just believes everything the media says"

    So you call me a dick and then proceed to be a massive one. Very nice. You have no idea what I do or don't believe.

    Yes, they reported the specs and it falls in the professional category, including the price. Which part of that is not clear? A review will reveal if it's any good or worth the money, but that wouldn't change its category.

    awehring simply wrote the price is good for a pro display, nothing more, and yet you proceeded with personal attacks and calling him an idiot.

    Again, why are you even reading anandtech when you cannot even comment without unwarranted personal remarks.
  • dropme - Saturday, March 23, 2019 - link

    It comes out, finally. I saw a video Joled posted on youtube recently and their technology was very impressive. Still wondering whether they've improve the short lifespan of blue diode, though.
  • Beaver M. - Sunday, March 24, 2019 - link

    Red ones are the most problematic nowadays.
    Theres a long term test with OLEDs on rtings.com. On one hes running CNN all day long (all red banners and bars), and its by far the worst burned in.
  • BenSkywalker - Sunday, March 24, 2019 - link

    LG OLED panels only use white OLED elements.

    Blue is still the problematic color for all the companies that lack access to the white OLED IP.
  • Beaver M. - Sunday, March 24, 2019 - link

    Oh my god... wtf is wrong with you guys? Read the article. Its has pictures that prove what I just said. Why make a jerk out of yourself?
  • BenSkywalker - Monday, March 25, 2019 - link

    It's a white OLED sub pixel basically painted red(oversimplification). LG TVs are all made that way because each sub pixel element degrades at a different rate of time.

    This has been linked in this thread already. This is I spent ten minutes learning about OLED level simple.

    You can't test white OLED sub pixels against white OLED sub pixels and then say red is the problem, technology , science and reality don't work that way.
  • Santoval - Saturday, March 23, 2019 - link

    Wasn't JOLED's printing method supposed to result in *cheaper* OLED monitors? Or is much of that price a "professional tax"? By the way, how is a monitor with just 330 nits peak brightness expected to support HDR10 exactly?
  • Soulkeeper - Saturday, March 23, 2019 - link

    that is 10x the price I payed for a ProArt 8yrs ago ...
    For that price it should atleast have a higher refresh rate, Maybe they should throw in a used car too.

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