Acer Predator XB270HU - New king of gaming monitors(?)

I've had money set aside for this for some time, and apparently it'll be available mid-April. I just read the TFTCentral review, which is the only written one I've found, and according to them "Move over Asus ROG Swift PG278Q, in our opinion we've got a new king of gaming monitors! ...when you combine the high 2560 x 1440 resolution, fast response times, freedom from overshoot, 144Hz refresh rate support, ULMB blur reduction mode, G-sync support and very low lag you have one hell of a gaming monitor. We feel that this screen pips the excellent Asus ROG Swift PG278Q thanks to its IPS panel, bringing with it a lighter, clearer AG coating and improvements in image quality and viewing angles compared with TN Film offerings. You're combining the best of both World's really here."

On response times.. "The fastest TN Film models like the Asus ROG Swift PG278Q might have had slightly faster pixel transitions by a few ms, but their overshoot was at moderate levels. We actually preferred the artifact-free fluidity of the panel here and response times were low enough to be able to cope with the high frame rates offered."

Basically, it's everything that some of us have been waiting for - now I can hop on the G-Sync bandwagon.

There's also a video review from Linus here, which he also supposedly boasts it to be the best yet. Unfortunately you have sign into some service to watch it and I don't really care about Linus much (though I know some of you do which is why I mentioned it).

So, is anyone else planning on picking it up? I'm not sure about the cost, I think it's around $750.

Edit: For anyone interested in picking this monitor up, you can put in a backorder at Newegg right now.

Bought a new monitor at the beginning of this year so nope. Is this a monitor with the best of both worlds?

It has the contrast ratio and viewing angles of a decent IPS panel, as well as the responsiveness of the ROG Swift. So pretty much. It's not like the best IPS panel or anything, but it's undoubtedly really good and better than TN in picture quality. The contrast ratio is 29% better than the ROG Swift. The Swift's response time is a few ms better, but has slightly less stability in its images at 144Hz (less stability = visual artifacts I guess).

I was worried this monitor would be poor performing for an IPS panel in picture quality or poor performing in regards to refresh rate and input lag, but the monitor actually delivers on all fronts. The only thing is that it doesn't support 3D Vision.

Still waiting for the Acer Predator XR341CK.

@KHAndAnime: Sounds interesting. I can do without the 3D vision. Linus also has a video showing an upcoming monitor almost identical to the ROG swift, but an IPS panel and slightly slower response time 3-5ms I think. I've never used an Acer monitor. Have had 2 Asus monitors and they worked perfectly. I will probably wait till Asus releases that monitor. Unless there is a big price gap then I might go with this Acer.

I'm not a fan of curved screens but it looks like it'd be a good monitor for sure.

I bought an Asus 24" 144 Mhz last year. I don't wanna buy a new monitor for 1000 years - even though this one....maybe...doesn't have the best color. It's not really something I notice in games anyway.

Whatever I buy next will be 3840x2160 though :)

@KHAndAnime: The Rog Swift is a PLS panel, which is actually pretty similar to an IPS panel in a lot of ways. The main reason I didn't switch over from IPS panels is because non of the gaming monitors came close to what an IPS could do in terms of overall picture quality, color accuracy, viewing angle, etc. My Rog Swift replaced one of my three Dell U2711s and is running inbetween the two I didn't replace and literally comparing them side by side the PLS panel is very good and is way better than any TN panel I have ever seen. The viewing angle is maybe 5 or so degrees less than the Dells and the color is pretty close, although I had to use a calibrator to get it there.

That said, I haven't seen this monitor and it may indeed be better, but the article snippet makes it sound like it's the difference between an IPS and normal TN panel when it is not.

And yes, I agree that Nvidia 3D vision isn't really a big selling point since almost nothing supports it.

-Byshop

I'm 99% sure the ROG Swift is a TN panel.

I really want the Acer monitor, but I don't have any money for it. Nothing wrong with my current vg248qe at the moment though, so I can't complain.

I don't think my gtx 670 would have issues running csgo at 200fps constant at 2560x1440. I get around 60% gpu utilization at 1080p, so it should be able to do it if I upgraded.

Maybe down the road. I'm running a Dell ultrasharp 27" 1440p now that I don't intend to upgrade any time soon.

But I'll have to keep my eye on this....

EDIT: I have to say after watching the video it's pretty tempting.

Swifty is TN, not PLS. The Acer is pretty nice. I hear the free-sync monitors have ghosting issues and struggle with low framerates.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2015/03/23/nvidia-explains-why-their-g-sync-display-tech-is-superior-to-amds-freesync/2/

@JigglyWiggly_: You might be right. It looks like the site I bought it from had it mislisted. All the review sites say TN. Still, for a TN it's damned impressive. The only gripe I have is a reduced viewing angle but again it's not by much. It's good enough that once I have the cash I plan on replacing all three of my monitors with Rogs.

-Byshop

The Swift is TN but after configuring it, it easily matches my previous Korean IPS panel I had before.

Any reports you see of swift looking washed out or crap will be from people who are using it at factory defaults which are rubbish.

@Byshop: The ROG swift is a TN panel with true 8bit color instead of those TN panels with 6bit plus that fake extra 2bit of color. So it is better than normal TN panel monitors. I still think my Asus vg248qe looks fantastic for a TN panel in theater mode. So will probably only upgrade to a 1440p monitor when I sli my 980.

Link to Linus video without any subscribing jizzle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGY-a3AEmbc

144hz + ips + 4ms response time... sounds like the monitor I've been waiting for, and I'm sure many others have as well. Now they need to make a 4k version preferably 24 ich because I don't have a lot of space in my room.

Dat price tag though.

Why on earth would you want a 4K screen that is only 24"? The pixel density would be so high that it would just be silly. You would be rendering all those extra pixels (and killing your framerate) for added detail that would be very hard to see.

Price tag is what keeps me away. Especially with not having a job atm. :P I'm happy with my current and I managed to get it to OC to 130hz, so I'm good for now. :P

The price tag is pretty nice actually, it appears to be cheaper than the ROG Swift. No reason to not get it if you're in the market for an upgrade.

Because I think 27 inch might be too big for my desk. Tbh I've never actually seen a 4k monitor irl (only big tv's) but I don't think a 24 inch one would be a waste. You'd get higher ppi so things will look sharper when sitting in front of it.

For what you're getting it is a pretty nice price I guess but it's just too much for me lol.

I hope we'll start seeing more monitors like this.

Had I known I might not have gotten it, but I bought one as a "test" to see if it was worth replacing my IPS panels and while I'd call it a lateral move overall (I lose like 8 different inputs in addition to the viewing angle decrease) I'd say it's worth it for me as a gamer. I haven't been using my projector much since getting it because games look so good at 144hz and with g-sync.

I am running SLIed 980s and depending on the game in some cases I run three 1440p monitors. Other games chug with just one.

-Byshop

Did I miss something?

I remember when anything ACER was the crap of the market you could buy.

I guess they got their shit together. Or who knows - maybe these monitors will start dying out in a couple years.

Regardless, for those interested in purchasing, it went up on Acer's store for a brief amount of time today before selling out, for $720 with a coupon. I had no idea it was going to appear for sale so soon so I completely missed that opportunity. Hopefully this isn't another case where they barely make enough supply to meet the demand.

That's only true of their low-end models of anything, as soon as you look at the high-end, the quality improves a lot.

Acer Ferrari laptops/notebooks are brilliant, a bit like Toshiba in 2002-06, their satellite series sucked but the Qosmio was the best thing ever.

I have the 1080p version of this monitor. Its great except it has developed a good deal of edge bleeding after 2 months of use. Very noticable when the screen is showing a lot of black.

In this particular case we won't know for sure until a year has passed.

Since the ROG Swift has come out, a portion of people have experienced a wealth of issues due to very poor quality control on ASUS' behalf. Often when I buy products, I find myself experiencing the typical issues that come with them, so it's good to keep an eye on worst-case scenarios that people have been experiencing. I hope some of these issues aren't due to the G-Sync technology itself - here's a quote from that link

"G-Sync issues, while not directly ASUS's fault, are extremely annoying and you should know before you purchase expecting it to just work. Using my 2 GTX980s in SLI results in an inconsistent framerate in BF4. I haven't tried it only a single card, I don't know of any single card that can even run BF4 in 1440p/ultra at a steady 144hz. With G-sync off my PC can stay above 144Hz no problem, but with it on frames constantly flutter between 144 and 137-ish fps. It's like an engine hitting the rev limiter.

When it drops frames down to the 130s it causes stutters, making the game unplayable. Limiting the game in engine to 140fps solved the issues and it will hold those frames consistently without stuttering."

I'm really curious what this guy is talking about? A game shouldn't be stuttering at 130 FPS, so if G-Sync is making 130 FPS appear like it's stuttering, then that sounds like a serious issue.

i've never owned an Acer monitor before i may just wait till LG or Samsung make a similar monitor to this... but if they don't soon ill likely get this because it looks really nice. 1440p seems like a great res for this size, 4k seems a bit overkill unless your running at least 40 inches or more.

I was hoping OLED pc monitors would be widely produced by now but there really isn't much spread yet in this area yet... this should be the next big step in picture quality and response times.

That's great, just need the power to run at 1440p and 144Hz now then. ;) That will take a fair bit of grunt as I can't always hit a consistent 60 with a 980. Still, would have considered this if it was available when I made my new monitor purchase earlier this year. Looks like it will be a winner! I do like my 32" beast though, the extra size is nice at 1440p.

From what I've heard OLED monitors might not even happen soon - I've heard a different monitor technology is more likely to go mainstream before OLED does, if it does at all. I think they might be too expensive for the mainstream market.

Those LG 4K OLED TVs sure are sexy though.

I bet. Is 4k still limited to 30 FPS and 30 Hz or has that been fixed awhile ago? I don't even keep up with 4k, it's marketed primarily towards people with extra money and less tech-savvy. The idea that they're trying to push resolution while the whole world is still in the process of catching up to 720p and 1080P is preposterous to me. Five years ago people would mostly argue that the differences between a 720P and 1080P TV are so small that it would be much smarter to get a better-looking 720P set than a worse-looking 1080P set, and now we're in an age where people want twice the resolution of what 1080P provided, regardless if it looks better or not, and they don't even care about the million caveats that go with it. People seem to just crave higher numbers because they sound better and more boast-worthy, regardless how diminished or practical those higher numbers are.

Even talking about 4k right now seems silly. I'm guessing that by the time 4k content is even available and resembles any sort of standard - the 4k TVs out now will be junk in comparison to the high-end 4k models available at that point.

This monitor does seem to be getting great reviews, but I just can't justify spending that much on a monitor. How much would the price come down without g-sync? The fact that this is 1440p is great, but I would be satisfied with this monitor at 1080p. I just want the great color and black levels of IPS with a good response time.

No clue if they are selling a similar monitor without G-Sync, but G-Sync jacks the price up $200 at least (up to Acer, NVIDIA says the chip costs ~$175 or something like that, but encourages manufacturers to charge a premium for the exclusive technology). Not sure if this is a satisfactory solution, If you wanted 1080P IPS with fast response times, I heard you could buy one of those Korean IPS monitors and overclock those.

@KHAndAnime: 4K TVs can now support 60 fps. So, if you got a beastly rig, they are amazing to hook up to. I will upgrade to a 4K OLED TV when they have some form of adaptive sync and are lower in price. The content isn't really there yet. There is very limited mainstream video content available in 4K. PC is the only thing that you can use that will fully take advantage of it.

The drop. The moment when the FPS drop. It might be that 10-20 frames takes longer and uneven time to produce, hence why he notices it even though he is still in 130fps range.

From my understanding the very reason G-Sync was created was to create smooth transitions when FPS drops occur and eliminate any stutter associated with FPS fluctuations - so that shouldn't be happening.

I should be able to have a fiddle or a gaming session on one of these, my post-grad university is getting 12 of these for a few of their courses, and just maybe I can play something for a few hours late at night.

Curious - what courses would need to order these monitors?

And an update - I've had no luck picking one of these up so far. Since I made this thread they've went up for sale on Acer's store and a couple of other sites - but each time sold out within a couple hours. To find one of these you pretty much have to be glued to every forum, as well as actively checking e-stores as well. It'll probably be months before everyone who wants one can get theirs.

My Acer monitor is the first Acer I've ever owned and to be honest.. I'm not disappointed one bit. The colors are beautiful.

Game design/development will let you use these monitors, but I just took an intro to game design as an elective so I got to use one.

I did another course in IT but some elective classes can get you using them.

I don't doubt if the art students got to use the Apple 5k displays.

at low frame rates. Between 25 - 50fps. G-Sync and FreeSync's effects aren't as effective at high frames per second.

The issue the guy you mention has is that G-Sync disables and switches to V-Sync mode when the GPU is pumping more frames per second than the monitor can produce. G-Sync is only active when the GPU is rendering at frames at a level that is between the min and max of a monitor's refresh rate.

He gets constant stutter because the drivers are constantly switching between G-Sync Mode and V-Sync Only Mode when his FPS starts varying. And we know V-Sync cause shutter when the GPU and display timings are off. The issue is resolved when he caps the game at 140fps, which is below the monitor's max refresh rate. In this case, V-Sync Only is never enabled. G-Sync Mode is always ON.

I don't think GSync activates until 30 FPS or above. And I also don't think it's marketed to correct stuttering only at low frame rates but all frame rates within the Hz range (at least that's what they're advertising). And all the frame fluctuations he's talking about occurs within the G-Sync FPS window so I don't understand why it would switch to regular V-sync.

For anyone interested in picking this monitor up, you can put in a backorder at Newegg right now. It was in stock for an hour this morning (I overslept, missed my opportunity + Newegg's auto-notify was slow). You'll likely get it within the month if you put your order in before the option goes away. There might be other places you can order it from soon, but you want a trusted retailer in case you have to RMA. Just for this I got Newegg Premier and 1-day shipping so I can quickly exchange it if my model arrives with a few dead pixels or really bad backlight bleeding. Apparently the QC on the first batch of monitors is relatively poor - lots of dirt stuck in panels, chipped coating, dead pixels, bad backlight bleeding, etc. - though there are also many people who got perfect monitors. Perhaps we'll get luckier on these 3rd and 4th waves and the QC will tighten up a bit.

I did have an order in with TigerDirect a week ago and they screwed me over. They fulfilled people who placed their orders at later dates and then cancelled the orders that people placed sooner (which was mine), saying the product is discontinued. I had to wait a week before they told me that. Pretty screwed up. Stay away from Tiger Direct :P

I wouldn't really go with Newegg for expensive purchases. Only amazon really, advanced 1 day shipping, etc.

Newegg is a much bigger hassle for RMAs. Amazon also gives partial refunds for things that are past warranty a lot of the time, I've never had newegg do that for me.

Amazon charges me sales tax - so no go there. Also, Newegg Premier guarantees no hassles, no questions asked returns (through their special customer service line) as well as free return shipping. If I wanted to I could supposedly return the monitor multiple times just because I don't like the specific amount of IPS glow or backlight bleed. Amazon might deny you if you try to do that. Honestly I'm hoping I don't have to return it at all.

And I've generally had a great experience with Newegg. For example, they gave me an Ubisoft free-game promo code despite me buying my card 3 months before their window. And I could get cheap next-day shipping with Premier. I just hope I don't have to wait too long.

My next goal is getting a colorimeter to calibrate. Considering a ColorMunki.

@KHAndAnime: My mate has a colorMunki, swears by it.

Any idea if he has the Smile or the Display? Not sure if it's worth forking over twice as much for one over the other. One apparently has a ambient light sensor but I'm not sure if I need that if my lighting situation is always static. But I don't know how to do any of that calibration stuff yet anyways so I won't pretend like I know if that might be vital or not.

The Display, I don't know the difference

Thanks, I think I'll save up for it, I've already heard a few good things about that one. Could be awhile before Newegg ships these backorders out anyways. Amazon isn't getting more of their stock until a week into May. These slow launches are annoying. I've missed two opportunities to grab it in-stock by a hair, and I've been unhealthily huddled by my computer for a couple of weeks. It's best to just wait for it to come in stock with someone reputable and trustworthy. If anyone on here is thinking about grabbing it from a random Ebay seller or something - might want to think twice.