HDR Performance

Moving into performance and nosotros'll start with HDR because it's the key characteristic of the Predator X27. Naught hither is really all that different to the PG27UQ, then if y'all're interested in a more detailed set of thoughts on how this monitor fares in terms of HDR, I'd advise going dorsum and reading the HDR section of that review. But I will summarize the key points here.

The Predator X27 ticks basically every box in my HDR monitor checklist, including keen brightness support of 600 nits sustained and over 1000 nits meridian. Brightness accuracy is decent, and so when content requests say 700 nits be displayed, the X27 gets pretty close to that mark with its default settings. I also accomplished around 1100 nits maximum from a ten% window or smaller, which is swell.

Contrast is excellent thanks to a full array local dimming backlight with 384 zones, which is fast and produces no visible afterglow after brilliant objects disappear from view. Each zone is small enough that you won't notice glow around the edges of brilliant objects in typical movies or games, information technology'south only in desktop usage that you lot might meet those artefacts. With local dimming enabled, the contrast ratio is as high every bit 52,000:1 though that varies depending on the brightness of the content. Maximum sustained contrast ratio is around thirty,600:1 in the HDR style, with black levels significantly lower than any other LCD monitor without local dimming.

Acer provides several backlight speeds but for most users I'd recommend leaving it on the default 'gaming' mode, which is the fastest. There is a reference white slider but for some reason information technology's disabled, non sure why that'south the case when the same characteristic is accessible with the Asus monitor. That said, brightness accurateness is skilful and so you wouldn't have needed to adjust the reference white anyway, while whatsoever SDR brightness adjustments can be made in Windows 10'south now functional HDR and WCG settings, which allows up to 500 nits of effulgence for SDR content, well to a higher place what most people would actually use.

As for wide gamut back up, once more the X27 ticks all the correct boxes hither, providing 93% DCI-P3 coverage, 99% Adobe RGB coverage, and 150% sRGB coverage. The panel is 8-bit+FRC, not that yous'd be able to observe the deviation compared to a true 10-scrap panel in almost every situation, only of course information technology supports 10-bit color processing. All of this means you're getting a much wider array of colors in the HDR mode.

Again, every bit far as monitors go, the X27 provides the best HDR feel yous can get correct now and games that support HDR well really do expect significantly ameliorate in the HDR mode on this monitor, with brighter highlights, a wider range of colors, and spectacular contrast. In fact this snippet from my PG27UQ review sums information technology up pretty well:

"In games similar Far Weep 5 that support HDR actually well, yous're not just getting a more vibrant image as the panel can really display more colors, but at that place's so much more particular visible particularly in loftier-dissimilarity scenes. Take an outdoor sunny scene with heavy shadowing. This monitor has the ability to dazzle you with a sun burning at 1000 nits, while simultaneously providing plenty of visible detail in a dark shadowy expanse. Neither of these elements are blown out, because the monitor's dynamic range far exceeds a regular SDR brandish, and information technology more closely simulates how the scene would await in real life."

So yeah, HDR on the Acer Predator X27 is a lot better than any ho-hum former regular SDR brandish. Whether that's worth $2000 is another question which I'll touch on at the end.

Of course, like with the PG27UQ there is the outcome of refresh charge per unit and chroma subsampling. Once again I go into a lot more than item in my PG27UQ review, merely the basic issue boils down to DisplayPort bandwidth: there'due south simply not plenty for HDR or SDR content at 4K 144 Hz. Instead, full 4:4:iv RGB is only possible at 4K 120 Hz in the SDR mode, and 4K 98 Hz in the HDR mode.

If yous want to run at higher than those refresh rates, such every bit at the monitor's maximum 144 Hz refresh rate, you'll have to put up with iv:two:2 chroma subsampling, which reduces the chroma resolution and tin innovate artefacts in some situations. Chroma subsampling is extremely difficult to spot in video content and in games, but it'due south noticeable in desktop apps with artefacts around solid edges and text.

I'd still class the issue every bit minor, but it'due south disappointing DisplayPort is limiting these displays from reaching their full potential, hopefully that'due south resolved with futurity tech. I'd propose people using the display in the desktop SDR mode to cap the monitor to 120 Hz or even 98 Hz, and for HDR gaming, run at 98 Hz unless you have powerful plenty hardware to exceed 100 FPS at 4K.