This is beyond infuriating - Asus still haven't fixed HDR on this monitor and it's been nearly 3 months, I'm starting to lose hope on any firmware update given their neglectful responses to people on Reddit (there's several threads on /r/OLED_Gaming). It's a damn shame because it is the best monitor for my needs and there's only one of a kind on the market (42" 4k120 16:9 OLED monitor with DP). I know the LG C2 42 is a clear option but I went out of my way to pay the premium to get this in PC monitor form. I already have a QD-OLED A95K TV anyway and owned a S95B briefly until I saw a side to side comparison between the two (off-topic I know).
My previous display for my workflow and mild gaming was a AW3821DW (38" 3840x1600p 144hz UWD 21:9). The natural upgrade would have been the QD-OLED version of that very same panel in 38"/1600p but instead we got a 34" 1440p version (AW3423DW as you know) which I've tried and loved, but I just couldn't go back to a downgrade in screen real estate for my workflow. 38" 1600p was definitely a sweet spot for productivity. Anyway, I finally built a new PC for myself with the most logical choice in terms of display upgrade (i9-131900KS/RTX 4090 Strix OC/2x64 GB DDR5-6400-CL32/Maximus Z790 Extreme/2TB 990 Pro + 4TB WD SN850X/H170i Elite LCD XT AOI/EVGA SuperNova 1600W P2 80+/Cooler Master HAF 700 Evo Full ATX Tower/PG42UQ 42" 4k138hz 16:9 OLED).
It's been a little over two weeks but I am definitely disappointed with the lousy HDR implementation with triple A gaming titles. The display itself looks absolutely fantastic in full OLED as a workstation and gaming in SDR, the matte coating doesn't bother me at all and I have a 65" Sony A95K QD-OLED TV downstairs in my living room with a full soundsystem via eARC for comparison so I get the appeal of glossy OLED but as far as a monitor goes this is still ideal for me. I can have my workflow distributed over 42" 4k OLED in 16:9 real estate (same setup as my AW3821DW but taller windows in pixels since the horizontal pixel count is the same). I can play single player games with full immersion using the entire 42" in glorious 4k OLED, and when I want to play competitive FPS games I can easily use the module to downscale to 27" 1440p or 24" 1080p. I believe the most sought after monitor at this time is a 32" 4k240hz 16:9 OLED monitor but it would not be economically viable for manufacturers since it would probably cost $3k+ a piece due to the way the mother glass is cut. It's cheaper to produce 42, 48, 55, 65 and so on for OLEDs and we probably won't see QD-OLED on a 38" UWD for years as well.
Anyway, I came here to post what has already been posted a page back:
a very solid guide on how to bandaid fix/workaround HDR issues with games. This has worked very well for me (from the correct firmware updates to the NVIDIA control panel settings to the windows 11 calibration test). I used the above setting with several new games including Dead Space, it definitely looks incredible in-game. The grey washed up filter goes away. I looked at comparison videos with 4090 systems in HDR and it looks very similar (after applying the above settings from the guide). Anyway, 4k138hz OC 10bit Full RGB works fine in SDR and HDR for me over DP1.4 but with HDMI 2.1 I did notice some flickering issues and warnings saying my connection wasn't stable (and I'm using high quality Audioquest cables).
I suppose we'll have to wait for 4k240hz W/QD-OLED 16:9 monitors in the 32-42" range with proper HDR implementation and GSync Ultimate, that would certainly prove to be an upgrade. I almost want to get 2 of those new LG 27" 1440p240 OLEDs and return this but I hate the idea of having two separate displays and not taking full advantage of my 4090's capability to 4k120 most games.
