Even though you can still get some reasonably priced displays with “professional” capabilities, true professional monitors are generally purchased at inflated costs.

Of course, when all factors are considered, the features can occasionally match the expenses of this sort of monitor, and it can also be regarded as an investment for people who work with media editions or similar.

And for today’s post, we’ll be looking at an ASUS release from 2021 in this category to see if it can match the criteria for a decent price-performance professional screen. Check out the ASUS PA329CV Review below.

Design

Recently, we’ve seen that ASUS isn’t afraid to try new things, producing a variety of displays that aren’t too similar to one another in the same line. 

The Asus XG27AQM is one of our favorites since it manages to mix solidity with distinctiveness, resulting in a truly unusual monitor with fantastic features. 

This one may also be described as one-of-a-kind since it has several distinguishing traits that we’ll discuss presently. To begin with, it has a very slim overall appearance, measuring only: ‎28.63 x 18.56 x 9.65 inches, which is ideal for a 30-inch display. 

It also has a very thin bottom bezel, as well as 3-sided borderless bezels, putting it in the modern category. Aside from that, it offers an ergonomic square-shaped stand with a variety of adjustments, including height, tilt, swivel, and pivot.  

This is a true highlight of the ASUS PA329CV, as professional monitors with an ergonomic stand are quite unusual. Instead of focusing on the monitor design, most manufacturers for this sort of screen place a greater emphasis on the features, which is what most professionals look for in a monitor of this type.

It’s worth noting that this monitor doesn’t feature a joystick as the primary control for navigating the menu. Instead, it has buttons on the right side of the bottom bezel, which might detract from the aesthetics of the display as well as the user experience.

Looking at the rear of the monitor, we can see that it supports VESA, which is another benefit for this monitor because it allows you to mount it on the wall with ease. However, the aesthetics of the rear half of the screen do not appeal to me, but that is a personal preference. 

Overall, this monitor has solid looks, an ergonomic stand, and some distinctiveness, and it performs admirably within its price range. The only feature missing here is the out speakers, which isn’t a must-have for this monitor’s category though.

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Connectors

It still doesn’t disappoint in the connectors part, delivering pretty much the expected for a high-end screen, including 1x USB-C, 1x DP 1.0, 2x HDMI, 4x USB downstream ports, 1x Headphone-out.

Features

Panel type

As predicted, they used an IPS panel for this screen, which is a common occurrence in this category. Because of its enhanced color accuracy and visual quality, the IPS panel is unquestionably the finest and suitable choice for Professional monitors.

In the professional category, you’ll also discover various VA screens. This type of monitor typically has a decent color gamut and color accuracy rate, and may even include the VA panel – a panel with a higher contrast ratio and lower pricing, but which frequently lacks a strong color accuracy ratio.

Still, if you’re working with the media edition, I strongly advise you to use the IPS. We’ll talk further about the display’s color accuracy in the image quality section. 

Brightness

This monitor also has a peak brightness ratio of 400 nits, which is the highest for conventional displays today and a value that every high-end screen should have.

Believe it or not, it was not difficult to obtain displays with higher pricing and just a 300 or 350 brightness ratio a few years ago.

Of course, these figures will enough for the vast majority of users, but having a decent brightness ratio can help a monitor be more futureproofed and operate better even when exposed to sunlight. 

The 400 nits of brightness, together with the IPS panel’s wide viewing angles, are the start and foundation for this monitor’s excellent color fidelity on displayed images.

Refresh rate and Response time

Before we go any further, let’s take a brief look at the ASUS PA329CV‘s gaming capabilities to see if we can uncover anything unusual for its category. 

Of course, those aren’t the most important aspects of this sort of screen, but it’s nice to have a little smoothness when using the monitor on a regular basis. 

However, if you’re searching for smoothness, you’ll be disappointed because this monitor only has a 60hz refresh rate. Although 60hz is the standard for professional displays, it has far less smoothness and fluidity than a 144hz or 75hz monitor. 

Fortunately, it turns out that this is a really simple thing to get used to, so you won’t be putting much attention to it in the long run. We immediately dropped our response time ratio expectations after seeing this functionality.

Well, this is another one of those features that aren’t really useful for professional monitors, but it’s worth mentioning. This monitor has a response time of 5ms GTG, which isn’t the worst, but it’s also not the greatest. 

A lower response time ratio is mostly utilized in gaming displays since it speeds up the command to screen duration and motion blur. However, unlike the refresh rate, this one isn’t even noticeable in everyday use unless you’re looking for it. 

Overall, we can say that this monitor met our expectations, and thankfully, they did not do anything radical that would have boosted the monitor’s pricing even more and placed this monitor in the hybrid category.

Image Overall Quality

Speaking of exorbitant pricing, it’s time to check if this monitor can truly compensate for them. If you’re looking for high accuracy, this is most likely a monitor you should consider.

To begin with, it features sRGB 100%, which means it will give the highest color fidelity you can get on a modern display, at least on paper and mathematically speaking. 

When I say mathematically, I’m referring to how difficult it is to discern the changes between sRGB 99 and 100. Still, if your work or use of this display necessitates accuracy, 100 percent is the way to go.

It’s worth noting that it works with HDR 10, but you shouldn’t use it for media editing because it degrades the display’s color accuracy (significantly). 

In reality, HDR 10 is already a feature that shouldn’t be a concern when purchasing a monitor. This is not the display for you if you actually want an HDR experience; instead, go for HDR 600 or 1000 monitors. 

Aside from that, this monitor features 10-bit colors, offering a 1.06B color palette, and a delta number of < 2 straight out of the box, which gives excellent color fidelity (once again mathematically).

The closer to 0 the better for the delta measurement, and note that this monitor already gives you 2 out of the box, which is unusual for displays in this price range, and is normally only available on top-of-the-line monitors with outrageous costs.

While it immediately offers you 2, you may choose to increase this ratio by calibrating the display’s colors, resulting in even better results. 

Finally, because it’s a 32-inch 4K display, it’ll provide you with a lot of screen space, allowing you to multitask effortlessly and open many windows. 

Aside from that, the 4K resolution provides excellent visual sharpness, thanks to a large number of pixels on the screen and a 0.1845mm pixel pitch ratio. 

In conclusion, the ASUS PA329CV is without a doubt one of the best monitors we examined in terms of image quality and a good purchase for those who want a high level of color accuracy.

Final thoughts

When to buy it

Although this monitor offers excellent image quality and color accuracy, its 32-inch size may be too large for certain users. 

If that’s the case, you might try out the Dell U2722D, which is one of the best in its category and just measures 27 inches.

Even if you require a smaller monitor, the ASUS PA329CV is still a good option to consider because it has one of the highest color accuracies in its price range, and it may easily be one of the best professional monitors of the year.

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