ASUS ProArt Display (PA348CGV) Review

Usually, you would see me raving about a gaming monitor ASUS sent me to test. However, outside of the usual gaming-centric lifestyle I live, I actually do a lot of content creation. Every video needs to be edited and while many think video editing is simple if you respect the art you actually need to have a decent display to ensure your content comes out the way you intend it to be. That’s why when ASUS sent me the new ASUS ProArt Display (PA348CGV), I was pretty excited to use it as a daily driver for creator and productivity tasks.

Watch the ASUS ProArt Display Review below

The ASUS ProArt Display, this model being the PA348CGV, is a high-end 1440p monitor that boasts excellent build quality and some features that make this feel future-proof to a certain extent. The display is 34-inches wide which makes it an ultrawide monitor. It is an IPS panel with 120Hz support, features HDR and a 98% DCI-P3 colour gamut. Of course, some of these features aren’t as great as others. For example, HDR isn’t technically up to standard due to the IPS panel’s inability to reach the desired brightness levels to achieve proper HDR. The speakers are also not so great. But outside of these issues, the ASUS ProArt Display definitely offers something you are looking for.

ASUS ProArt Display (PA348CGV) Tech Specs

• Display
  • Panel Size (inch) : 34
  • Pixels Per Inch (PPI) : 110
  • Aspect Ratio : 21:9
  • Display Viewing Area (H x V) : 799.8 x 334.8 mm
  • Display Surface : Non-Glare
  • Backlight Type : LED
  • Panel Type : IPS
• Ports
  • USB-C x 1
  • DisplayPort 1.4 x 1
  • HDMI(v2.0) x 2
  • USB Hub : 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
  • Earphone Jack : Yes
  • USB-C Power Delivery : 90W
• Full Specs Here

ASUS ProArt Display PA348CGV Design

First off we have the design of the display. This monitor is beautiful in every direction. In the box, there are two stands. You can opt for the usual metal stand that is easily attached to the monitor and stands on the desk or you can go for the desk clamp stand which gets attached to the table by tightening the bolt while holding the monitor in place. I opted for the so-called C-clamp because I wanted more space under the monitor to store stuff. Most people will go with the basic stand but I loved the options available for those who want a bit more.

Everything on the ASUS ProArt Display is held up by the same arm. No matter the stand you choose, the display will move and rotate the same way. The panel can move up and down by 11.5cm. It can tilt up to 23 degrees and swivel 30 degrees both left and right. I just felt that the C-clamp made things a lot neater. It did create more of a wobble on the display when typing and moving about but it wasn’t a major issue.

Cable management on the display is also great thanks to the arm. There’s a hole at the bottom where everything is fed into and the ports are situated on the underside of the back. When it comes to ports, here you’ll find the power port, earphone jack, 2 HDMI 2.0 ports, 1 DisplayPort 1.4, a USB C port and three USB A ports. There are also two USB A ports found on the left-hand side of the monitor too.

Installing the stand is also pretty easy. The arm slots into the back of the display and you have to screw on the desired stand. Removing it is also quick thanks to a button that releases the arm from the back panel. Speaking of stands and such, you can also mount this panel thanks to its VESA support.

Other than that there isn’t much else going on here. There’s a control panel on the bottom right of the panel that is used to change the format, colour profile, enable HDR and other features. There’s also a nub to move about all the menus. Under the power button, there’s also a little light indicator.

The panel itself is quite big. It is 34-inches in diameter and there are 2cm bezels along the top and sides. Behind it, there are vents which might get a bit dusty so keep that clean wherever possible.

ASUS ProArt Display PA348CGV Performance

Given that this is a display for creators and productivity, I used my M1 Mac Mini to test the monitor. It also helps that this ASUS ProArt Display uses USB C which is a godsend. This means you can connect a supported device to the monitor with one simple cable. This cable will then pass through audio, high res display functions, and 90W power and feed all the USB A ports with power and data support at the same time. It makes life so much easier and best of all, it is one cable.

USB C support on the M1 Mac Mini meant that MacOS was a dream to work with too. I enabled HDR, fiddled with some settings and immediately had HDR working on the monitor and working in specific areas where HDR content was being used. But here’s the thing with the HDR on this ASUS ProArt Display – it isn’t great at all. The HDR certification is only 400 meaning it isn’t a very bright display. Don’t expect any sort of super-peak brightness here at all. There’s also no local dimming so the IPS panel is on all the time even when you have a simple image on the screen.

Outside of the peak brightness issues, the general panel functions are superb. There’s 100% Adbode RGB coverage and 98% DCI-P3. ASUS has also packed in Calman Verified sub-2 Delta E calibration into this display. Outside of the fancy calibration, the IPS monitor means you’ll also get a 1000:1 contrast ratio and a 2ms response time.

There are some important things to mention in regards to the feature set here. If you decide to use HDR or a specific colour profile on this monitor, you won’t be able to adjust the brightness. In fact, it completely disables most settings on the monitor. It shouldn’t be an issue for those who are looking for specific profiles though.

The display also packs some speakers which are fairly decent. They get quite loud and while they don’t pack any powerful bass, the sound is clear and should be enough for your daily tasks. I was just annoyed by how cumbersome adjusting the volume can be. Instead of letting me turn things up and down on my Mac, I had to adjust the sound by going into the OSD menu on the display, going down to volume and turning it up and down from there. Surely ASUS could have implemented a simple volume dial or shortcut here?

In the end, I loved my time with this ASUS ProArt Display. I enjoyed games running at 1440P and taking advantage of AMD FreeSync Pro but I also enjoyed having this extra workspace to open more tabs and see more on my screen. This came in handy when editing videos and even doing daily creative tasks in Affinity Photo. There’s just so much room to do so much more. I combined the monitor with Universal Control on my Mac Mini, iPad Pro and Macbook Pro. This way I could move across all these fantastic screens using one mouse, drag and drop content and much more. It is definitely every creator’s dream set up.

There’s a lot you can do with this display and you have to be willing to splurge a lot of money on it too. It will set you back R27,999 which isn’t cheap. At the same time, it does the job and in some cases, does it well. The HDR issues are definitely something you should keep in mind especially if you want a bright and vibrant display. Other than that, I didn’t have any other gripes with the ASUS ProArt Display besides its price tag of R27,999. It is a pricey display but you pay for the quality and that’s definitely not lacking here.

The ASUS ProArt Display PA348CGV will retail in SA for R27,999 and is planned to launch by the end of August. When launched, it can be found here.