All posts

The Dream OLED Monitor for Mac Creators? ASUS PA32UCDM Review

11:33 video

This is the ASUS ProArt PA32UCDM, and it’s one of the best displays I’ve ever used. At $1,899 it’s a 31.5-inch 4K QD-OLED display built for creators: up to 1,000 nits peak, 99% DCI-P3, factory calibrated, Dolby Vision support, and up to 240 Hz. On paper it’s basically the dream display. But there’s one small issue that might make it a no-go for some people, or maybe just me.

This video was sponsored by UGREEN.

Design

Honestly, it deserves an award compared to most displays. Thin, modern bezels; a small, non-distracting logo in the chin, with a pop-out for controls and a proximity sensor; a thin panel with a metal bump on the back for the power supply, speakers, fans, and ports. The aluminum base has a very small footprint for a 32-inch display, and the dual-pillar stand adjusts height, tilt, and rotation, but doesn’t swivel.

Two complaints. Why print the specs on the aluminum base? That’s just dumb. And there’s no real cable management: whether the cables hang down or go through the bottom of the stand, you’ll see them from the front.

Ports

HDMI 2.1, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and two USB ports. The Thunderbolt port delivers 96 W to a laptop, and the second one connects Thunderbolt devices or daisy-chains a second display, like the ASUS ProArt 5K.

The panel

At 31.5 inches, 4K works out to 140 pixels per inch. I’ve been a hardliner on 218-ppi displays for the Mac, but after a lot of time with 4K displays this past year, 4K looks just fine with 2x scaling, and maybe it’s my mid-40s eyes, but I’ve been enjoying the larger 1080p-looking scaling.

ASUS says 99% P3 with a Delta E under 1, with presets for P3, Adobe RGB, Rec. 709 and more, plus calibration software. My SpyderX Elite measured 98% P3 and an average Delta E of 0.83, and because it’s OLED, over 7000:1 contrast in SDR. There’s an auto brightness limiter for consistency with full-screen graphics.

HDR is where it really pops: about 1.5 million:1 contrast and up to 1,000 nits. I don’t create HDR content, but watching it is exactly what you’d expect. Colors pop, bright scenes feel real, and dark scenes have that OLED contrast. It supports HLG, HDR10, and Dolby Vision coming soon. On a Mac, enable HDR in System Settings, pick a profile in the display’s menu, disable uniform brightness, and raise max brightness. You can leave it that way, but SDR color and brightness get slightly worse, so I turn HDR off when I’m done.

240 Hz variable refresh makes gaming and everyday scrolling and window moving feel more fluid. For burn-in, there’s pixel shift, image protection for static elements, and the proximity sensor dims the display when you walk away. After 6–8 hours of daily productivity use for a few weeks, I’ve seen no ghosting or burn-in.

On the Mac, there’s no built-in brightness control; the free MonitorControl utility handles basic brightness and volume. Sleep and wake are the fastest I’ve seen outside the Studio Display. The two 3 W upward-firing speakers are not good. A closed MacBook Air sounds 100 times better.

The one issue: the fans

I have a bit of an auditory sensitivity. Clicking ceiling fans, electronic whines, even subtle shifts in white noise drive me nuts. This display has two fans that spin up within minutes of normal use, and to me they’re loud: louder than my three studio lights combined, with an industrial electronics sound that changes pitch as they ramp, which makes it harder to ignore.

ASUS says 26–28 dB and not noticeable in a normal workspace. I measured 28–29 dB in front of the display shortly after the fans start, but 32–34 dB as the speed changed. In a quiet office or edit room, you’ll hear it. I took the back off: two small fans, maybe 25 mm, drawing air past the power supply. A thermal camera never showed that area above about 26 °C, which makes me wonder if the fans are needed there, and I couldn’t find a quieter replacement.

My M4 Max MacBook Pro’s fans run often and are inaudible. My Studio Display, which costs less, has two fans that always run and are inaudible. At $1,899, I wish ASUS had spent a few more pennies on better fans or found a way to cool it passively.

If you work in a busier space or wear headphones a lot, the fan noise may not bother you. This is nearly a perfect display for creators, artists, or anyone who wants a really good display out of the box, as long as a little fan noise won’t bother you.

In this video

Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. See my ethics statement.

Watch on YouTube

Keep reading

Related posts