SDR Functioning, Response Time, Input Lag

Permit's move into looking at SDR performance, because it's hither where there are a few differences between the Acer and Asus models. In terms of brightness and dissimilarity ratio, everything is still quite similar though: the X27 goes up to a maximum of 317 nits in the SDR mode, with a native contrast ratio around 1100:1. That said, I'd still recommend leaving the dynamic backlight enabled for most SDR content, in which instance yous'll accomplish a dissimilarity ratio effectually 10,000:i at 200 nits, though of course that varies with the effulgence level you gear up the monitor to. Black levels are outstanding for an LCD with the dynamic backlight enabled.

Response times are one surface area where the X27 differs compared to the PG27UQ. Each visitor has the ability to tweak their overdrive controls despite using the same panel, and in the case of the Acer and Asus models, Acer's overdrive controls are little defective.

Our standard examination procedure involves finding the all-time overdrive setting that delivers less than a 5% overshoot, and then using that setting for response time testing. In the case of the Asus monitor, that was the 'normal' mode which produced an average grey to grey response time of 4.18ms. Yet with the Acer X27, their 'normal' overdrive mode (one of two modes, the other being 'extreme') is a bit more aggressive. Information technology produces a quicker response time, but some transitions had up of x% overshoot, which is across our tolerances.

So for the X27, the best setting to use is actually overdrive disabled, a disappointing result every bit it'due south the only way where overshoot is non nowadays. In this mode, boilerplate grey to gray response times are 6.62ms, a few milliseconds slower than the Asus model, and that's with the dynamic backlight enabled, which was also the setting used for testing the PG27UQ.

4.2 to half dozen.6 ms is a noticeable leap in response time, which leaves the X27 with more ghosting and smearing compared to the PG27UQ. I reckon Acer could take tweaked their overdrive algorithm to deliver performance much closer to the PG27UQ, but they didn't. That said, this upshot is still better than a lot of popular VA panels, and the average transition time is yet lower than the refresh window of half-dozen.94 ms.

In better news, the Acer Predator X27 exhibits superior input latency, falling from 15.6ms to xi.4ms. This means that overall, when you factor in the input lag and pixel response time, the X27 is slightly faster than the PG27UQ. I was really expecting to see the same input latency for both monitors so it's a nice surprise that the X27 is faster.

Default Performance

Looking at colour functioning, Acer manufacturing plant calibrates all Predator X27 units to a deltaE accuracy less than i.0 for SDR content, which is an extremely tight, professional person-grade certification. Bizarrely, they don't advertise this on their website anywhere or on their Amazon product folio, despite including a color accurateness sticker on the monitor itself, along with a calibration report in the box. Considering Acer calibrates the X27 to a greater level of accuracy than the PG27UQ (Asus promises a deltaE below 3.0), you'd think Acer might like to advertise this fact.

And default color performance is certainly very impressive. The CCT bend isn't quite every bit tight as you'd become from full scale, simply a deltaE average of 0.76 is excellent as is the near-perfect gamma curve. This operation continues in the saturation and ColorChecker tests, both of which exhibit deltaE averages near 0.five, which is absolutely elite for a gaming monitor. You'd be very happy with this level of manufactory functioning from a professional monitor, although I guess for $2,000 you really should be getting total factory calibration like this.

And the of import thing to notation is the X27 is more than accurate out of the box than the PG27UQ. The Asus model is withal quite good with deltaE averages around 1.3 to 1.5, but the X27 takes things one pace farther.

OSD Tweaked Performance

  • Peak white: 193 nits
  • Colour: Reddish 49, Green 50, Blue 53

And with a few very minor tweaks to colors in the on-screen display, the X27 produces the best colour results I've seen, with an boilerplate deltaE of 0.36 in greyscale, a perfect CCT curve, and a perfect saturation deltaE of just 0.29. This increases the gap between the Acer and Asus models, every bit the Asus model doesn't change significantly with a few OSD tweaks.

This level of functioning from a few OSD tweaks is better than I could achieve with a full calibration pass in CALMAN v and a software profile, so there isn't any reason to run a full calibration. There's really no fashion to describe this level of colour functioning, other than to say it'southward perfect.

To make matters even better, the Predator X27 exhibits fantastic uniformity. At a maximum deltaE of 2.five in the upper right corner, and deltaEs at or below 2.0 for the rest of the monitor, the X27 delivers professional person-grade uniformity. It will be very difficult for whatever typical user to spot unevenness in this panel.

I'm not certain whether information technology'southward simply natural variance in panels or whether Acer are specifically requesting the more compatible panels that come up out of the factory, but the X27 is noticeably more uniform than the PG27UQ, which was a chip uneven along the elevation and lesser edges. I can just get on what I test, and in this instance the X27 is the ameliorate option.