A Redditor by the name of /u/antisocialnae describes their ASUS TUF VG258QM 280Hz gaming monitor as "the best $280 [they] ever spent" after it blocked a bullet that passed through the wall of their home, nearly striking them directly as they were playing some "late-night Call of Duty." ASUS has responded to the post with a promise to investigate, though no confirmation of a replacement monitor just yet.
It probably doesn't need explaining that the only reason the plastic-and-plastic monitor was able to stop a bullet is that it had already passed through the exterior wall of the home, and that monitors are generally not ideal for sheltering from gunfire.
But even still, it's a wonderful tale, especially given the TUF branding of the display. TUF technically stands for "The Ultimate Force", but most TUF gear is actually subjected to U.S. Department of Defense MIL-STD-810H testing protocols, including shock & drop tests, vibration tests, high-and-low temperature tests, humidity, sand and dust ingress, and more. That sand and dust ingress protection could be important given the sheetrock powder all over the back of his rig.
What ASUS doesn't test for is bullet ingress, which would be quite a thing. While it wouldn't actually be that hard to build, it's difficult to imagine the circumstances where someone would specifically select for that when buying a display.
Three photos showing a bullet hole on the exterior of the home, the interior wall of the home, and the damage it inflicted to the Redditor's monitor. (Image credit: /u/antisocialnae on Reddit)
While these events don't seem to be all that common, we've previously covered a couple, including an event where a user's gaming PC deflected a bullet that came through the wall earlier this year. A few years ago, another user's Razer headset deflected a bullet, almost assuredly saving their life. For their part, /u/antisocialnae says that they've been meaning to buy a new display anyway, so this makes the perfect excuse. For now, they apparently have two other ASUS monitors to game on.
Incredibly, the monitor actually still works aside from the damaged portion of the LCD. It makes a decent advertisement for ASUS TUF monitors, which mostly miss our selections of the best gaming monitors — beaten by pricier rivals — not because of any problems with the quality. In fact, our last TUF Gaming monitor review scored very well and earned itself an Editor's Choice award. Of course, we also don't test for bullet ingress.
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Zak is a freelance contributor to Tom's Hardware with decades of PC benchmarking experience who has also written for HotHardware and The Tech Report. A modern-day Renaissance man, he may not be an expert on anything, but he knows just a little about nearly everything.
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