Acer Predator X27 and Asus PG27UQ evaluate: fingers on with Nvidia’s wonderful G-Sync HDR displays

HDR, or excessive dynamic vary, has been round for some time, and also you’ve most likely heard numerous barks out of your console field mates about how wonderful that new Dad of War seems on their big OLED telly, or how they will by no means return to a ‘normal’ display screen after experiencing the wondrous glory of Final Fantasy Toast (even we’re a bit responsible of that final one, Alec and I, so please settle for our belated apologies for all our Ignis-related meals ramblings). PC displays, then again, have been a lot slower on the uptake.

Now, nonetheless, Nvidia have lastly obtained their butts in gear and are about to launch two of their long-awaited G-Sync HDR displays: the Acer Predator X27 and the Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ. I went to see them earlier this week and I’m pleased to report that they’re each bloody wonderful. HDR on PC is lastly right here.

Until now, anything I’ve seen has been underwhelming. There was a flurry of pleasure when Nvidia introduced their very first crop of correct HDR displays again in January 2017 (which included the X27 and PG27UQ), however then all of it went a bit quiet. I obtained maintain of BenQ’s EL2870U, which whereas not majorly costly was a bit disappointing, and even when Alec tried his luck with the a lot fancier BenQ SW320, the quantity of faff concerned attempting to get HDR to play ball with Windows 10 simply wasn’t definitely worth the tiny enchancment he noticed in general picture high quality.

But, on first evaluation, the Acer Predator X27 and Asus PG27UQ do very a lot appear like they’ll be each definitely worth the wait and their respective weights in gold. I’ll be upfront: you’ll must fork out a good wodge of money for both monitor when each of them launch over the subsequent 4 weeks or so. Nvidia wouldn’t be drawn on precise pricing, however admitted that each would value “at least $1000” every, making them as huge an funding as a flowery Ultra HD Premium-certified HDR TV.

That’s some huge cash to spend on a 27in show, even whether it is 4K, has 384 dynamic backlight zones, 1000cd/m2 of brightness and a 144Hz refresh charge. No matter which means you slice it, we count on $1000 to equate to one thing a lot larger, like all these big 55in TVs everybody retains raving about.

But in the event you’ve ever upgraded your TV for a brand new console (as my husband Matthew and I did lately for the Xbox One X), it’s not too a lot of a leap to use the identical form of pondering to a brand new PC monitor, particularly in the event you’re within the midst of constructing a brand new system now that costs for right this moment’s best graphics cards have lastly dropped all the way down to one thing vaguely palatable.

Specs-wise, there’s not rather a lot to decide on between them. As a lot talked about above, each have 27in panels with 3480×2160 (4K) resolutions, 144Hz refresh charges, and also you get the identical 384 dynamic backlight zones on every monitor. The latter is especially key for impactful HDR. The extra backlight zones a monitor has, the more adept it’s at exhibiting mild and darkish bits of a picture concurrently with out both affecting the standard or influence of the opposite, permitting for deeper blacks, brighter, extra eye-popping highlights and higher distinction than a display screen with fewer backlight zones.

If that every one sounds a bit summary, consider it like this. You’re enjoying Final Fantasy XV, and Noctis and his friends discover themselves operating round Lucis after darkish once you see the flashlights on their jackets burst into motion. On non-HDR screens (let’s go along with ‘standard dynamic range’ or SDR for the sake of acronyms), that are usually ‘edge-lit’ across the sides of the show and solely have a most brightness of round 300-400cd/m2 in the event you’re fortunate, these flashlights would definitely pack a good quantity of punch, however the surrounding shadows wouldn’t essentially be as darkish as you would possibly count on, maybe showing as a barely murky gray or simply wanting a bit washed out.

With HDR, a most peak brightness of 1000cd/m2 and 384 backlight zones at your disposal, nonetheless, that very same scene turns into reworked – as Nvidia have been eager to indicate me in my demo session. Noctis’ flashlight become a veritable beacon of sunshine in opposition to the evening’s pitch black hue on the Acer Predator X27, and different reflections on shiny highway indicators morphed from (what folks within the imaging biz name) ‘clipped‘ patches of dim milky white into smaller, extra refined orbs that shot out of the darkness. No mild bleed, no haloing; simply eye-searing torch mild in opposition to the inky midnight sky.

Admittedly, I’m undecided what sort of long-term impact all this excessive luminescence could have on my eyes after I ultimately get spherical to testing them, however I’m hoping that as a result of a lot of the brightest spots are simply that – spots – and never all the display screen scorching my face at 1000cd/m2, that it needs to be just about enterprise as traditional when it comes to how lengthy I can sit at my desk and keep on enjoying with out feeling like I must go and sit in a darkish room for the remainder of the afternoon.

HDR isn’t nearly an elevated vary of white to black, nonetheless, as inside that vary you’re additionally considerably extra shades of color, too. As I discussed briefly yesterday in my put up concerning the upcoming BenQ EX3203R FreeSync 2 monitor, the variety of colors (and by extension the quantity of luminance, or white to black) you get on an SDR display screen is just like the lengthy, skinny little bit of a funnel. HDR, then again, is just like the vast, outer rim bit, providing you with many, many extra colors than you had earlier than.

As a outcome, elements of a picture that have been as soon as misplaced to clipping at the moment are nearly totally restored in all their pretty detailed glory. This consists of small issues like with the ability to see additional into these solar flares and reflection spots at the beginning turns white, and larger issues just like the white-hot warmth of an Iron Giant’s huge sword – which simply seemed ‘white’ on the SDR display screen, however when seen in HDR instantly burned with the identical intense shade of vibrant, fluorescent orange you would possibly see on a toaster filament. It sounds foolish, however that sword on the X27 nearly seemed it was really giving off its personal warmth, it was that convincing.

Colours usually have been extra vibrant and vivid on the X27 as nicely, with the crimson and yellow decals adorning Noctis’ monster Regalia automobile showing a lot richer than they did on the SDR comparability display screen. Again, simply because the darker areas would possibly seem washed out on an SDR show, so too do its colors – which is one thing you’ve most likely by no means thought an excessive amount of about earlier than as a result of, to your eyes, they nonetheless look completely tremendous.

But ‘fine’ isn’t adequate for Nvidia, which is why each the Predator X27 and Asus PG27UQ are focusing on the DCI-P3 color gamut as an alternative of the atypical sRGB gamut. Now, that is one thing AMD’s FreeSync 2 displays are going after as nicely, and it’s additionally the gamut getting used all these high-end TVs, too, by which each licensed Ultra HD Premium TV should cowl at the very least 90% of it.

Without getting too technical about it and bombarding you with gamut charts and all that jazz, sRGB covers a reasonably respectable portion of the identified visible spectrum – about 35% if you wish to put a quantity on it. It’s the usual that all the pieces’s used up till now, and for essentially the most half, it’s been simply that – tremendous. DCI-P3, then again, covers round 54% of what the human eye can see, and is 25% bigger than sRGB – therefore that funnel metaphor earlier.

Neither Acer or Asus are placing a quantity on their proposed DCI-P3 gamut protection in the mean time (Acer, in truth, ignores it fully and refers back to the in-between Adobe RGB gamut on its website as an alternative), however even with out having my calibrator handy to check it myself, it was clear the X27 was leagues forward of the adjoining SDR show, providing extra life-like colors that elevated my complete gaming expertise. Our collective RPS dream (all proper, simply mine and Alec’s) of seeing Ignis’ scrumptious foodstuffs realised in all their drool-worthy 4K HDR glory is lastly at our fingertips.

The cause I haven’t talked concerning the Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ very a lot is as a result of, out of the 2 displays, it was the one operating a demo of Destiny 2 sans comparability monitor. Maybe it’s as a result of I don’t know Destiny 2 in addition to I do know Final Fantasy XV, however right here the impact didn’t appear fairly as pronounced. Yes, Destiny 2 seemed pretty, with all its vibrant lasers and pew pew weapons piercing the alien gloom in a dizzying spectacle of sunshine and color, but it surely was exhausting to inform precisely how pretty it was after I didn’t have an SDR display screen subsequent to it to level and snicker at.

I don’t imply this as a slight on the PG27UQ – I think about Final Fantasy XV will look simply as fairly on that because it does the X27 after I get it in for testing. But it means that some video games would possibly look higher than others in HDR – and when there are currently less than 40 games that truly assist HDR on PC, which may not be sufficient for some to justify dropping over $1000 on a brand new display screen proper this second (even when they do include all the identical benefits G-Sync has all the time delivered to PC displays, comparable to Nvidia’s variable body charge tech for smoother, stutter and tear-free gaming and low enter lag).

Limited sport assist apart, although, seeing each the X27 and PG27UQ has genuinely made me really feel much more excited concerning the rise of PC HDR. So far, considered one of my key complaints concerning the different HDR displays I’ve examined, whether or not it’s the BenQ EL2870U and even the FreeSync 2-enabled Samsung CHG90, is that their peak brightness is simply too low. It lessens HDR’s influence and simply doesn’t examine to what you’d get on a high-end TV.

Colour accuracy and DCI-P3 protection alone simply isn’t sufficient to provide worthwhile HDR in my books. Your eyes adapt too shortly to fairly colors onscreen, and after a few weeks you’ll most likely surprise why you spent such a lot of cash on a monitor that would possibly look a bit higher than your previous one however not sufficient which you could actually inform the distinction. Really, it’s the display screen’s brightness that counts on this area – though having all these dynamic backlight zones actually helps – which is why the X27 and PG27UQ’s peak measurement of 1000cd/m2 make them such engaging prospects.

This is HDR on PC correctly – Windows 10 faffing be damned. Our console sofa mates have been having fun with this sort of HDR for years, so it’s excessive time us PC peeps had our personal model of Ultra HD Premium TVs that we will really placed on our beloved desks – and from what I’ve seen up to now, the X27 and PG27UQ appear like they’ll ship simply that. Stay tuned for my full opinions over the approaching weeks.