A monitor is an essential part of any professional and gaming system. The fast sensor and high resolution can positively impact the results in fast-paced and responsive games. But in order to achieve a high screen refresh rate, many manufacturers use TN-type matrices, which have poor viewing angles and often completely unacceptable color quality. If to improve the results in the same Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or League of legends professionals can make such sacrifices, but ordinary people still want something more universal. Moreover, if a person is fond of not only games, but also photography or other things in which color reproduction is important, then monitors with a TN matrix are not at all suitable for this. Such users often choose IPS screens, which are considered slower, but outperform TN competitors in other aspects. However, in recent years, these matrices have learned to “speed up” well. Company engineers Acer developed a monitor Predator XB273UGS with a fast IPS matrix capable of outputting up to 165Hz in WQHD (2560 x 1440) resolution. Not so long ago, this 27-inch “predator” came to our editorial office, we tested it and now we will share our impressions.
PACKAGING AND APPEARANCE
The Predator XB273UGS comes in a huge dark box with various logos such as NVIDIA G-SYNC, VESA Certified, DCI-P3, BluelightShield, 165 Hz and 0.5 ms. We will analyze the meaning of these logos a little later, but for now let’s get acquainted with the package bundle. Inside the box, in addition to the monitor itself, the parts of the stand, a weighty power supply unit, its cable, as well as documents and wires are neatly located. The last point is worth paying attention to in more detail. In addition to the usual HDMI, a DisplayPort cable can be found in the kit. The monitor itself has two inputs for HDMI and one for DisplayPort, which allows you to output images at 165 Hz. The maximum frequency of the device when connected via HDMI is 144 Hz, so the presence of two different cables in the box at once pleases.
The weight of the device is quite small – 5.85 kg. It even seems light compared to some of Acer’s competitors. During assembly, the screen is attached to the stand with special latches, and it is not very convenient to install the device on the stand alone, although it is possible if you act slowly and carefully. The stand itself looks stylish. It provides a hole for cables, as well as the ability to adjust the position of the screen in height and slightly turn to the right, left, up and down along the entire axis. The monitor can work in portrait mode.
From the front side, the screen pleases with thin frames on the sides and on top – their width is only 7 mm. The bottom edge is much thicker and protrudes slightly forward. Its size is 22 mm. In addition to the Predator logo, it has two LEDs that shimmer with a rainbow by default, but in the monitor settings you can adjust this element by choosing the desired color and one of several effects. Having admired the iridescent LED strips a little, I decided to just turn them off. I am sure that most users will do the same, because extra light can distract from the game.
The speakers are located on the sides on the bottom edge. The sound is not very loud and the bass is not felt at all. Some manufacturers of such devices often integrate more advanced audio systems into their solutions, but here the engineers decided not to pay attention to this. In my opinion, for a good immersion in a game or movie, it is better to use headphones, but for users who do not want unnecessary problems with sound, the speakers in the Acer Predator XB273UGS will be a minimalist solution.
There are two USB Type-A inputs on the left edge of the monitor. They can be used to charge various gadgets, even when the monitor is turned off, but remains connected to the network. On the opposite side of the device there are control buttons and a small navigation stick. Calling up the monitor menu, you can adjust various parameters, such as HDR operation or image output mode.
SETTINGS AND MODES
As a separate item in the menu, you can select different color profiles. In addition to the HDR mode, there are also “standard”, “action”, “sports”, “racing”, “eco” and “custom”, where you can adjust many parameters yourself. In addition to standard items that change brightness, contrast and color gamut, you can enable high sharpness. This option creates a small, barely noticeable halo around some light and dark elements, which allows you to distinguish the outlines of very small details. There is also an option to filter out harmful “blue light”.
A separate tab in the menu is dedicated to purely game settings. There you can turn on the display of the number of frames per second and Adaptive-Sync. The monitor supports both dynamic refresh rate standards and automatically activates G-Sync or Freesync depending on the device connected to it.
Many other parameters can also be adjusted, including response time. The last point is very important for games. By default, the response time is designated as “normal”, which is more than enough for most dynamic games. However, if you want more, you can turn on the “limit mode”, in which, according to the manufacturer, the response time is reduced to an incredible value of 0.5 ms (from gray to gray). Of course, such acceleration does not happen without sacrifice. In this case, after turning on the “limit mode”, some active objects in the frame may leave loops. Also, the monitor provides the ability to place one of three sight options in the center of the screen. This can be useful in cases with those games where the function to shoot offhand is provided. Many experienced shooter fans will probably remember how, when playing Counter-Strike, some snipers would draw a dot on the screen in order to be able to shoot without aiming.
TESTS
The main thing in a monitor is image quality. Acer Predator XB273UGS pleases with bright and vibrant colors. The monitor supports HDR (including HDR 400) and also uses the DCI-P3 color space, which encompasses most natural colors and tints. This format is often used in digital cinemas. Thanks to these technologies, the picture in games is pleasing to the eye and allows you to enjoy your favorite projects even more. As for the color depth and other characteristics, the contrast declared by the manufacturer is 1000: 1, and the brightness is 400 cd / m². In the DisplayHDR Test program, we saw the maximum effective value at 662 (382.163788 nits) and the minimum at 103 (0.333433 nits).
Another important aspect for the game screen is the input lag. Subjectively, it is very comfortable to play dynamic games with a strong connection to timings. Moreover, enabling and disabling HDR mode had almost no effect on the response.
USE IN GAMES
I have tested the monitor with PC and PS4 Pro at the games Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s avengers, Ghost of tsushima, For Honor and Mortal kombat 11… Even though the monitor has a resolution limit of 2560 x 1440, the console allows you to set it to 3840 x 2160. The image is upscaled from 4K to WQHD and thus the picture retains a higher definition compared to 1080p, and also receives a slight anti-aliasing effect.
Despite the fact that the resolution is almost half that of the 4K output from the console, I really liked using the monitor in conjunction with the PS4 Pro. High details are clearly visible even at WQHD-resolution, and thanks to accurate scaling, the picture on the screen gets additional anti-aliasing. After several days of playing on this monitor, somehow I didn’t want to go back to my obsolete 1080p TV.
However, the full potential of the Predator XB273UGS is used on the computer. When connected via DisplayPort in the system settings, you can activate the 165 Hz mode, and the naked eye will see how much smoother any movement in the frame becomes. Even just moving the mouse around the desktop is more enjoyable, not to mention games.
Due to the fact that the developers used an IPS matrix, the monitor has good viewing angles (178 °), and the color is distorted only if you look at the screen from the side. It is also worth noting the almost complete uniformity of the backlight, although a slight glare is still present in the lower right corner. This is noticeable in dark scenes or in games with cinematic inserts that come with black bars at the top and bottom.
TOTAL
The Acer Predator XB273UGS is a good WQHD monitor for gaming. It has an excellent response time, a fast matrix accelerating up to 165 Hz, a pleasant and bright picture, and a comfortable stand that allows you to easily adjust the position of the screen in space. This device is well suited not only for PC, but also for working together with PS4 Pro or Xbox One X. It is a great choice for those who want to use a computer and consoles together in one small space.
Author: Azamat Tegaev (Azzy)
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