The 5 Best HDR Gaming Monitors - Spring 2025

The best HDR gaming monitor that we've tested is the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM. It offers both high-end gaming performance and premium picture quality. It's a 32-inch, 4k monitor that's fantastic for gaming because of its near-instantaneous response time, which results in crystal-clear motion in games with no distracting blur trail. Its 240Hz refresh rate benefits most gamers, and it has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth to take full advantage of both the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

HDR content looks amazing because its QD-OLED panel has a near-infinite contrast ratio, and highlights really pop. It displays perfect blacks in dark rooms, but they look purple in bright rooms as ambient light causes the black levels to rise. Luckily, it even displays an incredibly wide color gamut with remarkable color volume, so your favorite games look stunningly vivid and life-like, and the high resolution makes content appear full of detail. It even supports Dolby Vision after a firmware update and has different modes available in HDR, giving it more customization than other monitors. However, it's expensive, and if you don't need these extra features, you can get very similar picture quality with the cheaper MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED, which doesn't support Dolby Vision.

If you find the 32-inch screen of the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM too big, then look into the 27-inch ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM. It sits alongside the larger PG32UCDM in the ROG Swift lineup, so it performs similarly and has many of the same features, like Dolby Vision. However, the main advantage of getting this over the PG32UCDM is that it has higher pixel density, resulting in sharper text and images. Another advantage of the PG27UCDM is that it has lower input lag with 60Hz and 120Hz signals, which is great for gaming at those refresh rates, like on consoles. It also supports any signal with an Xbox or PS5.

It otherwise performs like the PG32UCDM, with the same sharp motion and 240Hz refresh rate. It even looks the same in HDR with the same deep blacks, bright highlights, and a wide range of colors. It also has very accurate PQ EOTF tracking, which gives it an advantage over other 27-inch, 4k QD-OLEDs, like the Dell Alienware AW2725Q. Even though the Dell costs less, dark scenes are brighter, so it has worse overall HDR picture quality. However, it should still be something you consider if you are on a budget and HDR picture quality isn't as important.

If you don't need a high-end 4k monitor like the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM or the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM, check out the lower-end MSI MPG 271QRX QD-OLED. It has a QD-OLED panel like the higher-end ROG Swift monitors, so the picture quality is nearly the same in HDR with deep blacks and vivid colors, but there are a few trade-offs for getting the cheaper model. It has a lower resolution than the PG27UCDM and PG32UCDM, so images aren't as detailed. It doesn't support Dolby Vision, either.

Besides that, it's still fantastic for gaming as it has a near-instantaneous response time, so fast-moving objects are sharp, and it even has a higher 360Hz refresh rate, ideal for competitive gaming. It also has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth to take advantage of modern graphics cards and gaming consoles. This includes supporting any signal from consoles like downscaled 4k @ 120Hz, which is useful because the Xbox Series X|S only supports HDR with 4k signals. If you can't find this monitor available, a similar alternative is the ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27ACDNG. It performs similarly but can also be harder to find at times.

If you don't need high-end QD-OLEDs like the MSI MPG 271QRX QD-OLED, you can still find the best HDR monitor for gaming in the mid-range price category with the ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG. It's an OLED monitor, but unlike the higher-end monitors, it has a WOLED panel and not QD-OLED, so colors aren't as vivid. That said, it still offers incredible picture quality in HDR with deep blacks in dark rooms, and it also gets bright enough to make small highlights pop.

Aside from those small differences, it provides everything you'd expect from a gaming monitor, like a near-instantaneous response time and support for all common VRR formats. It has a lower 240Hz refresh rate than the MSI, but it's still high enough for most gamers. Unfortunately, it doesn't support HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, so it can't take full advantage of HDMI 2.1 sources like gaming consoles. If that's important to you, the LG 27GS95QE-B is a similar monitor that supports HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, but it doesn't get as bright as the ASUS.

There aren't as many monitors with good HDR performance in the budget category, but some are still ahead of the competition, like the AOC Q27G3XMN. It's a step down from the ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG because it doesn't have an OLED panel, so it doesn't display the same deep and inky blacks without any blooming. Instead, it uses Mini LED backlighting with a good local dimming feature that helps it improve its picture quality in dark scenes with deep blacks next to bright highlights, but there's just a bit more blooming compared to an OLED. On the plus side, it gets very bright in HDR, more than the ASUS, so highlights really pop.

Although it doesn't have a 240Hz refresh rate like the ASUS, its 180Hz refresh rate is still good enough for most gamers. And while its response time isn't near-instantaneous either, it's still fast, but there's some smearing with fast-moving objects. Unfortunately, it doesn't have HDMI 2.1 bandwidth to take full advantage of gaming consoles either, but that's what you have to expect for a budget monitor.