Anticipation has been building around the new ASUS ProArt display, but can the PA32UCDM meet the hype? In short, yes.

Creative professionals have a lot to consider when picking a new monitor. They need incredible color accuracy, HDR support, high resolution, and they need those things to just work, without a color science lab or a blockbuster budget.

Enter the ASUS ProArt PA32UCDM. This 32-inch 4K QD-OLED monitor is a genuinely powerful tool for editors, filmmakers, colorists, game developers, and anyone working on visuals where accuracy matters.

It packs in true 10-bit color depth, 99% DCI-P3 coverage, factory calibration to ΔE < 1 (meaning color difference is virtually imperceptible), support for multiple HDR formats, refresh rates up to 240Hz, and Dolby Vision (coming via firmware update in April, 2025).

It’s impressive on paper, but the $1899/​​€ 1799/£1599 price tag is what really makes it stand out. There are cheaper OLEDs. There are more expensive ones, too. But none strike this balance of performance, creator-focused features, and real-world usability—all while staying under $1900.

After a week of editing, grading, reviewing HDR content, and dabbling in game dev and Photoshop, I can confidently say this is the best-value QD-OLED on the market for the right kind of creator.

The rundown

Top-level technical specs 

Who is the PA32UCDM for?

• Professional colorists and editors working in Rec.709, DCI-P3, HDR10, and Dolby Vision workflows
• Filmmakers who need confidence that their footage will look right across delivery formats
• Photographers and designers working in Adobe RGB or sRGB for print or digital
• Game developers reviewing lighting, texture, and tone mapping in real-time
• 3D/VFX artists needing accurate contrast and clarity in previews
• Studios that require multi-workstation consistency via internal LUTs (lookup tables for color consistency across workflows, saved to the display itself) and calibration profiles
• Ambitious creatives who want a single display that can handle SDR, HDR, and everything in between

First impressions & setup

The PA32UCDM shows its intent straight out of the box: premium, professional, and refreshingly unflashy. Everything’s neatly packed, including a printed calibration report, a Thunderbolt 4 cable, an HDMI 2.1 cable, and a sturdy quick-release stand that snaps into place without tools. I had it on the desk and powered up within minutes.

The design strikes a smart balance between subtlety and polish. The ultra-slim panel (8mm at its thinnest) is housed in a robust metal chassis that suits almost any setup. The screen finish lands in a sweet spot between matte and glossy.

I know some of you feel strongly—to put it politely—about the matte vs. glossy debate. For me, this halfway finish solves it. It cuts reflections better than most glossy panels without muting contrast like older matte coatings. This is all I want moving forward please, and thank you. 

The stand adjusts smoothly in height, tilt, and rotation. There’s VESA support, too, but I found the included stand capable and compact enough.

The onboard OSD, controlled by a five-way joystick, is one of the more intuitive I’ve used. It took seconds to locate the ProArt Presets and toggle Uniform Brightness.

Connectivity is generous: two Thunderbolt 4 ports with daisy-chaining, HDMI 2.1, Type-A and Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2, and 96W USB-C Power Delivery. I tested both Thunderbolt and HDMI on Mac and PC—no issues and switching inputs was fast.

Extras include a proximity sensor that dims the screen when you step away, and an ambient light sensor that can auto-adjust brightness and color temperature. I prefer manual control, but it’s great to have options.

What you see is what you get

Aesthetics are great, but image quality is what really matters—and this is where the PA32UCDM shines with quiet confidence. It doesn’t try to dazzle with overblown visuals or colors so saturated they’d make a bag of Skittles blush. Instead, it delivers calibrated accuracy you can trust.

HDR performance

HDR is the headline act here. While many displays boast HDR support but fall short in practice, this one handles it with precision and control.

The true 10-bit panel features excellent tone mapping and supports HDR10, HLG, and—coming soon—Dolby Vision.

I tested a range of HDR10 footage, and results were consistently strong. Highlights popped without clipping or blooming, and black levels stayed rich without crushing shadow detail. From bright exteriors to moody interiors, colors remained accurate and nuanced. Subtle transitions in skin tone, light falloff, and fine gradients were all preserved—crucial for evaluating the final output.

This isn’t showroom HDR—it’s built for grading suites, where reliability matters more than dazzle. That means less second-guessing and more confidence in what your audience will see.

That said, it’s worth noting that OLED does its best work in controlled lighting environments. If your workflow leans on full-screen brightness in bright studios—say, for client reviews—mini-LEDs may still have the edge there. But for contrast precision, especially in shadows, this OLED panel is hard to beat.

Uniform Brightness keeps luminance steady by capping output around 250 nits, preventing shifts when window sizes or UI layouts change—ideal for grading, where consistency matters more than sheer brightness.

Turn it off, and you unlock the full OLED range: 1000 nits in highlights, 400 at 10%, and 250 fullscreen. Either way, transitions are smooth, with no jarring jumps between dark UIs and fullscreen playback.

SDR performance

Even with HDR gaining traction, SDR remains a staple for most creative workflows—and the PA32UCDM handles it with equal care.

I tested Rec.709, sRGB, DCI-P3, and Adobe RGB modes using log and RAW footage. As with the HDR content, SDR content felt just as well executed, with consistent color, smooth gradients, and accurate tonal balance across footage types.

Factory calibration (ΔE < 1) clearly plays a role here. ASUS includes a calibration report in the box, and for once, I didn’t feel the need to recalibrate. It just looked right.

Color modes and presets

The ProArt Presets are thoughtfully implemented. Switching between Rec.709 and DCI-P3 didn’t cause dramatic shifts, which speaks to calibration consistency. You can tweak gamma, white point, and RGB values or overwrite presets—but most won’t need to.

The 15 included modes cover a broad range:

• Native – Full panel capability. Ideal for general content or mixed formats
• sRGB – Web, UI, and digital publishing
• Adobe RGB – For photographers and CMYK print workflows
• DCI-P3 – Standard for digital cinema and high-end video
• BT.2020 – Ultra HD video mastering
• Rec.709 – SDR video editing and delivery
• DICOM – Grayscale-critical work in medical/scientific fields
• HDR_PQ DCI / BT.2020 – HDR10 tone curves for film/game mastering
• HDR_HLG DCI / BT.2100 – HLG workflows for live HDR and broadcast
• Dolby Vision – Dynamic metadata format, ideal for streaming content.
• User 1 / 2 / 3 – Custom slots for your own calibrated profiles.

Hardware calibration matters even more in HDR workflows, where software-based profiles aren’t always reliable. Having your calibration data saved directly to the display means your color accuracy travels with you, no matter the system or app.

A note on text clarity

macOS users may notice softer text due to Apple’s subpixel rendering. It’s not a display issue, but something to be aware of if you're doing a lot of text work. Windows handles it better, but tools like BetterDisplay can help bring macOS closer to parity.

With that said, this display wasn’t built with word processing in mind. It was built for creators, and it’s been fully kitted out.

Creator features that stand out

Beyond the panel itself, the PA32UCDM includes a few creator-focused features that show real care went into the design.

The ProArt Presets are fast and intuitive to access via the OSD. Switching between Rec.709, DCI-P3, Adobe RGB, and HDR modes is seamless, and they’re consistent out of the box. You can fine-tune or overwrite them if needed, though most won’t need to right away.

Uniform Brightness is another standout. Especially in color grading or design work, avoiding shifts in luminance when resizing windows or changing layouts makes a big difference to visual consistency.

QuickFit Plus overlays helpful guides like center markers, safe zones, and rulers—great for composition and asset prep. Meanwhile, OLED care features like pixel shifting and auto-dimming run silently in the background, minimizing the possibility of image burn-in.

There’s even a proximity sensor that dims the screen when you step away—a small touch, but a thoughtful one.

None of these features feel like filler. They’re practical, workflow-friendly tools that add up to a smoother daily experience.

Real-world use case breakdown

I’ve spent the past week putting the PA32UCDM through its paces. From grading to game dev, it consistently handled demanding workflows without drama.

Here’s how it performed across key real-world scenarios—focusing on areas where color accuracy, contrast control, and reliability matter most.

A. Color correction & grading

From where I’m sitting, this is the PA32UCDM’s main event.

In DaVinci Resolve, I graded log and RAW footage in SDR (Rec.709, DCI-P3) and HDR (HDR_PQ BT.2020). The monitor felt honest—no artificial punch, no flattening of subtle differences. Footage felt natural and correctly weighted, from shadows cto highlights, especially in HDR, where tone mapping stayed smooth and believable.

Uniform Brightness was especially helpful in SDR, keeping luminance stable across UI layouts. In HDR, turning it off exposed full peak brightness, making it easier to catch clipping or blown-out areas.

Most of all, I trusted what I saw—and in grading, that’s everything. The less time spent buried in scopes, the better.

B. Video editing & filmmaking

In Adobe Premiere Pro, the PA32UCDM gave me a clearer sense of what was working—and what wasn’t—early in the process.

Playback at 240Hz felt smooth and responsive, making it easier to spot stutters, motion cadence issues, or dropped frames that might be missed at 60Hz. Cuts felt more intentional and transitions tighter. It sounds subtle, but it adds up when editing for pace or rhythm.

The QD-OLED panel also made small issues more visible—banding in gradients, compression artifacts, uneven lighting, or mismatched skin tones. Case in point: while playing back test footage for this review, I caught some of the gradient banding mentioned above that wasn’t visible on my older monitor. 

C. HDR content review

HDR10 playback maintained balance and clarity across tricky scenes, with stable contrast and color throughout. Contrast transitions were smooth, even in scenes with bright practicals against shadowed backgrounds.

The HDR presets felt stable and accurate across different footage types—no manual tweaks needed, which speaks to how well ASUS dialed them in.

Even without Dolby Vision active yet, HDR delivery checks felt reliable, making this a solid foundation for current workflows and a future-proof choice.

D. Game development & 3D art

This isn’t my core area, but testing Blender scenes showed no issues. Contrast and color depth helped highlight lighting and reflection problems easily. 240Hz playback felt fluid, and color space support made previewing final outputs more predictable.

E. Gaming (playing)

It’s not sold as a gaming monitor, but it held up just fine for a casual player like me. In both cinematic solo and fast-paced competitive games, the VRR kept things smooth without ghosting or tearing, and the OLED contrast brought real depth to the visuals.

UI text on macOS was a little soft (due to Apple’s subpixel rendering), but it didn’t impact gameplay and was quickly fixed with BetterDisplay.

How it compares

Several monitors now use the same excellent 32-inch QD-OLED panel as the PA32UCDM—and to be fair, most are capable displays. But as always, it’s not just about the panel. It’s about what the manufacturer builds around it.

Take the MSI MPG 321URX. It’s a strong performer for gaming and casual content work, but it lacks key pro features like HDR handling, factory calibration, Uniform Brightness, Dolby Vision support, and internal LUT storage. For professional workflows, those gaps can mean extra steps—or extra gear—to get consistent results.

At the other end is the Dell UP3225Q. It brings back many of those features—factory calibration, wide color support, proper HDR—but costs significantly more, often over $3,000. It’s built for enterprise buyers and high-end studios and priced accordingly.

That’s what makes the PA32UCDM so compelling. It hits a rare middle ground: true 10-bit color, full coverage of DCI-P3, Adobe RGB, and sRGB, factory calibration (ΔE < 1), multiple HDR formats (including Dolby Vision), internal LUTs, Thunderbolt 4, and Uniform Brightness all for under $2,000.

It’s not the cheapest or the most premium. But it might be the most complete. If you’re doing serious creative work—or growing into that space—it’s a standout value.

Final verdict

The ASUS ProArt PA32UCDM is one of the most capable and well-balanced professional monitors I’ve used. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t try to dazzle you with gimmicks or overwhelm you with tech jargon. It just quietly gets on with the job and gets it right.

Everything feels intentionally designed and genuinely helpful. It’s the kind of tool that blends perfectly into your workflows and lets your work take center stage.

For creative professionals who value color accuracy, simplicity, and serious capability, this might just be the best monitor under $2,000—full stop.