FEBRUARY 2021 PCWorld 39more quickly after a long, late-night gaming
session.
The most interesting display actually rocks
the lowest resolution. The 27-inch Predator
XB273U NX features a 2560x1440-resolution
IPS display—PC gaming’s sweet spot—but
pushed to insane speeds. It hums along at a
blistering 265Hz when overclocked, with a
0.5-millisecond grey-to-grey response time.
Acer said the monitor is “HDR capable”
without offering more detailed specifics
(don’t expect true 1000-nit HDR visuals) and
says the screen covers 95 percent of the
DCI-P3 spectrum.
This sort of monitor is built for
no-compromises twitch gaming, and as such,
Acer baked in Nvidia’s new Reflex Latency
Analyzer technology. Reflex Latency Analyzer
measures how much latency is being added
from the various parts of your system—from
mouse click to the final frame being drawn—
to help you identify hardware that could be
holding you back, or just help you evaluate
how responsive your games become when
tinkering with various graphics settings.
We covered the Latency Analyzer
technology in-depth in our look at the Nvidia
Reflex suite (see page 75). Previously, you
could only find the Reflex Latency Analyzer
in 360Hz, 1080p monitors, and it’s great to
see the technology spreading to other types
of panels. As an RLA display, Acer’s
monitor also includes Nvidia’s G-Sync
adaptive sync feature.
The Acer Predator XB273U NX will be
available in May for prices starting at $1,100.
This sort of cutting-edge display tech doesn’t
come cheap.
If you’ve moved beyond 1440p, Acer also
unveiled a pair of 4K displays with speedy
144Hz refresh rates. Both include AMD’s
FreeSync adaptive sync technology.
The 31.5-inch Acer Predator XB323QK
NV display features an IPS panel that covers
90 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut and
comes with a VESA DisplayHDR 400
certification. Those 400 nits don’t offer the
sort of contrast ratio you’d expect from a
proper HDR television, where 1000 nits is the
standard, but it should be a pleasurably bright
display—and 1000-nit PC displays are very
rare and tend to be significantly more
expensive. This monitor is also certified by
Nvidia as being G-Sync Compatible. That
essentially means it’s a FreeSync panel that
has passed Nvidia’s more stringent
evaluation. The adaptive sync will work with
GeForce graphics cards out of the box rather
than needing to be enabled manually.
The Acer Predator XB323QK NV will cost
$1,200 when it launches in May.
Finally, the Acer Nitro XV282K KV opts for
FreeSync Premium instead. It also comes with
an HDMI 2.1 port to easily allow next-gen
gaming consoles to connect to the IPS display
and still enjoy the buttery smoothness of
variable refresh rates. It’ll start at $900 when it
launches in May.