Asus ROG Strix XG27JCG 27-inch 5K gaming monitor review: Performance that raises the bar

Asus includes its full suite of extras, such as GamePlus with aiming points, sniper mode, timers, frame counters, and alignment marks. You get Aura Sync and Aura RGB lighting along with the use of Asus’ DisplayWidget Center app for desktop control of the XG27JCG. There are complete calibration controls, nine picture modes, three HDR modes with adjustable brightness, programmable shortcut keys, and plenty of USB ports. You get two HDMI, a DisplayPort, and USB-C for video sources and KVM control in the OSD. The only thing missing was internal speakers.

With so much packed into the XG27JCG, you’d expect it to be expensive, but it delivers decent value for $849 at this writing. That puts it below OLEDs with comparable specs. It’s also the most useful dual-mode display I’ve seen yet, and that is something unique.

My XG27JCG sample arrived packed in a plain brown carton with crumbly foam inside. The upright is already attached to the panel, so assembly is just mating the base with its captive bolt. There is a 100mm VESA mount with fasteners hiding under a trim ring in the back. To get there, pry off the trim ring and unbolt the stand if you want to use an aftermarket mounting solution. The box also includes the obligatory ROG pouch with stickers and cables, a DisplayPort, and IEC power. A snap-on cover goes over the input panel once you’ve made your connections.

The stand is solid and anchored by a heavy metal plate with a small footprint. Ergonomics include a 5/20-degree tilt, a 40-degree swivel, a 4.4-inch height adjustment, and a 90-degree portrait mode. Movements are smooth and firm with no play or wobble. The XG27JCG has a solid and premium feel when you interact with it. One minor complaint: the stand doesn’t sit high enough to let me set the panel vertically.

The input panel is well up and under. It’s recessed enough that large cable connectors will have a tight fit. A cover snaps on when you’re all installed. Inputs include two HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4 with Display Stream Compression (DSC), and a USB-C. Peripherals are supported by one upstream and three downstream USB 3.2s. KVM function is included in the OSD so you can bind USB and video ports to control multiple systems from a single set of input devices. For audio , there’s just a 3.5mm headphone jack. No internal speakers are provided.

The XG27JCG’s OSD proudly announces the signal resolution and refresh rate at the top of every screen along with the current picture mode, active input, and HDR status. It appears when you press the joystick.

There are two ELMB options: Sync and 2. Sync lets you run the backlight strobe along with Adaptive-Sync. The pulse width is fixed, but light output is only slightly reduced. It runs perfectly with no hint of the phasing artifact common to this technology. If you want more control, ELMB 2 is a traditional backlight strobe with five pulse width levels. As it gets darker (shorter pulse), motion becomes smoother. Finding the right balance is a user preference; I liked it on level 3. Both ELMB modes work in 5K and QHD modes.

The XG27JCG also includes one of the most precise overdrives I’ve seen. It has a 20-click adjustment so you can perfectly align it with frame rate. It’s super smooth, even in 5K at 120 Hz, and works almost as well as ELMB at removing motion blur.

For lighting effects, Asus provides Aura Sync and RGB. RGB is a set of fixed effects that can run in multiple colors, or you can have a single static color. Sync matches the light show with what’s happening on the screen as long as you have a USB connection.

Two of the control keys can be programmed for different quick access functions like Frame Rate Boost or GamePlus. And there are two memory settings, which you can use for later recall.

The XG27JCG is extremely accurate out of the box, as evidenced by my tests, which showed it did not need calibration. I tweaked the Racing mode anyway for a reference-level result. If you leave color space on wide gamut, it will render the full saturation for SDR content. If you’d rather have the spec-correct picture, just choose sRGB from the color space options. The sRGB Mode in GameVisual is also accurate, but it grays out the color temp and gamma controls. My SDR settings are below.

For HDR content, the XG27JCG switches automatically and enables three specific picture modes which are fixed. An Adjustable HDR toggle turns on the brightness and contrast sliders if you wish. Dynamic Dimming is always available and for HDR, it should be left on for the most impact.

The XG27JCG packs every one of Asus’ core video processing technologies into its chassis. With dual refresh, overclock, Adaptive-Sync and two flavors of ELMB available, there’s a lot to check out here.

Setting up dual refresh operation is easy. I started in 5K mode where the max rate I could choose was 120 Hz. Engaging the overclock forced me down to 60 Hz because my video card is a GeForce RTX 4090. You’ll need a 50-series board or a Radeon RX 7600 for 180 Hz. I was able to switch to QHD/330 Hz mode without issue. Once I had selected that rate in the Nvidia Control Panel, I was set. There isn’t a single button solution for toggling between modes, but you can do it with two clicks of the control keys on the right back side.

ELMB comes in Sync and 2 modes. Sync lets you use the backlight strobe with Adaptive-Sync. And it is very effective; it removes all motion blur without much brightness penalty. The peak dropped around 20%, which is hardly noticeable, and it is free of artifacts. If you want control over the pulse width, ELMB 2 offers five settings that let you balance brightness with blur reduction. 3, the middle setting worked for me.

The overdrive is also superb. It has a 20-click range and is very precise. If you can run at max frame rates, 120fps for 5K and 330fps for QHD, then a setting of 8 out of 20 works perfectly. This was my preferred combination. ELMB wasn’t necessary because there was no blur at 120 or 330 Hz. That tells you how good the overdrive is that 120fps was almost perfectly smooth. I only noticed a slight jitter during fast transitions, but nothing that distracted me from gameplay.

For HDR, I used the Dynamic Dimming option, which has ten horizontal zones emanating from the backlight that runs on the vertical edges of the panel. This arrangement is why the XG27JCG is so bright. HDR produces nearly 800 nits peak, and that’s for a full field, very impressive.

I wasn’t sure 5K would look much better than 4K, but though the difference is subtle, it is visible. The slow camera pan that precedes Doom Eternal’s horde mode had me reaching out to touch the screen. It’s so sharp that you can almost feel the textures. Tiny reflections and highlights make the picture incredibly realistic. Before starting the first battle, I looked down at the ground and could clearly see the separations of rendered texture patches. In that scenario, it could be said that the XG27JCG is too sharp. But who would actually say that?

Gameplay was smooth and responsive in either resolution. Though 120fps typically shows me motion blur on LCDs and OLEDs, the XG27JCG managed only a slight jitter when panning by complex textures like rock or ice. I had no problem with precision movement and quick transitions. This got even better at 330 Hz, and the reduction in resolution to QHD had a less severe impact than other dual-refresh screens that switch between 4K and FHD. This is the most useful example of the feature that I’ve encountered.

I’ve already waxed on about the image quality. Though 5K is an unusual resolution, it enhances everything you see, whether it's static photos or video. The XG27JCG is free from edge enhancement, so there’s no ringing or ghosting when non-multiple resolutions are shown like video in FHD or UHD formats. The monitor upconverts cleanly.

Color was rich and vibrant in both SDR and HDR. Though the XG27JCG doesn’t quite have the brilliant greens and reds of a Quantum Dot display, it covers enough of DCI-P3 to qualify as very colorful. And I could see its accuracy right away. Calibration was not required though I did it anyway for testing.

Ergonomically, the XG27JCG is a solid piece with a quality stand and a premium feel. I’d have liked the panel to sit a little higher so it could be perfectly vertical. And I missed the internal speakers. Even average ones are better than nothing. But I appreciated the utility of the USB ports and KVM feature. And Asus’ DisplayWidget Center app was a handy way to change settings without reaching for the control keys. This is a monitor I could easily use every day.

Takeaway: The XG27JCG is an all-around great display with incredible capabilities and an equally incredible image. 5K in 27 inches is fine enough to hide any hint of the dot structure and my sample was gorgeous to look at. I appreciated the accurate out-of-box color and ease of calibration to a reference standard. Contrast was also a cut above typical LCDs and easily on par with the best full-array Mini LEDs I’ve reviewed. Gaming was super enjoyable with almost perfect smoothness in 5K/120 and QHD/330 modes. Throw in a taller stand and some internal speakers and the XG27JCG would be even closer to perfection.

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