[SOLVED] *UPDATE: Gamma/Black Crush Fixes & Final Verdict/ Solved

[Samuel-212]

Hey everyone,

I recently purchased an ASUS TUF VG34VQL3A Monitor and immediately noticed significant calibration issues out of the box:

• Gamma way off:
  • Default gray gamma measured ~2.05
  • Required NVIDIA/Windows adjustments (Red: 0.94, Green: 0.90, Blue: 1.01) to reach ~2.2 gamma for each channel RGB

• After Calibration:​

  • Gray gamma now ~2.14 (close to target, but not perfect)
  • Black crush in Lagom's test: - Boxes 1-3 completely invisible in center/ boxes 4-5 barely visible/ boxes 6+ clearly visible
    1. Is this normal for this model, or is my unit defective?
    2. Could this be a non-calibrated panel (bad batch or refurbished unit)?
    3. Should I claim warranty?

 

[Samuel-212]

I’ve spent a lot of time battling the VG34VQL3A’s gamma inaccuracies, black crush, and color uniformity issues—and I finally have answers. Here’s what I learned for anyone facing similar problems, I am posting this for anyone who has the same problem.

Avoid attempting to target gamma 2.2. After some extensive tests and side by side comparison with a factory calibrated IPS, I realized that despite failing synthetic tests, the monitor looks almost identical to the IPS panel. Gamma felt like 2.2 even though tests said 2.05. It has better blacks and more vibrant colors [ I know the colors are oversaturated a bit but meet my needs.] ,so it shines where it matters

I don't know how but I think ASUS has used a custom tone curve for this monitor: Shadows (0-20% brightness): Compressed (to prevent crush). Midtones (20-70%): Closer to 2.2 (so gradients look natural). Highlights (70-100%): Slightly boosted (for "pop"). Trust your eyes over test patterns for this monitor, it fails benchmarks but wins where it matters.