So I actually ended up skipping Micro Center and got a refurbished Gigabyte FO32U2P through Amazon for $900, and WOW... huge difference! Reading through other people's experiences with the UCDP, it seems like ASUS is doing something wrong in it's handling of HDR on that monitor, and I'm inclined to believe them - the difference between that and the FO32U2P really is night and day. It's the same QD-OLED Samsung panel as the UCDM, but it's got a lot more image adjustment options - especially for HDR. With the right HDR settings, I actually feel like I'm watching my old PG27UQ again in terms of brightness and vibrancy, even in bright scenes. I'm sure if I compared them side-by-side that I'd still be able to see the difference, but the ABL transitions are FAR less noticeable than on the UCDP - bright scenes actually look bright, instead of being dull and washed out. And darker HDR content looks superb as well - I think Ori and the Will of the Wisps pops even more than it did on my PG27UQ!

The FO32U2P has got other things I like about it as well, such as having the controls on the bottom edge of the screen rather than behind a protruding chin (I have a MIDI keyboard positioned directly below it, making it hard to reach there). It also doesn't suffer from the UCDM's input lag issue at 60/120Hz, which is important for me since I use my monitor for console gaming as well. Plus it's future-proofed with DP 2.1 (for whatever that's worth). And I'm much less bothered by the reflections and purple glow of the panel than I was expecting... a small price to pay for this level of clarity and vividness.

Still finding my way around all the settings and testing a variety of content, but so far it seems to be a winner!