[TFTCentral - Review] Acer XB270HU - 27" 144Hz IPS G-Sync

[Annisman*]

That's lame, I pre-ordered mine and it's not expected to get here until mid to late April

 

[imaheadcase]

lol already out of stock. also full msrp :x

Its +or - $50 no matter where you buy it right now. Some charge like $30 shipping and tax as well. So might as well pick whatever one is in stock or wait a long time.

Someone posted newegg will have 150 in stock...April 16.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Honestly as long as I get it before Witcher 3 is out I'll be happy.

 

[imaheadcase]

Mine shipped from newegg today. woot!

Finally i will have a monitor better for my 780Ti. heh

 

[Gryz]

When you guys get your monitors, can you check something for me, and post the result here (positive or negative).

I have the XB270HU since Saturday. Great monitor, in every respect. Except for one flaw. Mine has a yellow tint in the right lower bottom. On the desktop, or in bright games, it is not visible. But when playing dark games, with little ambient lighting in the room, it becomes quite apparent. I think it's a combination of blacklight-bleeding and a little IPS-glow.

A few people have that problem (including me). Other people don't seem to have it. Or don't seem to be bothered. Could you please report ?

Some people have reported dead or stuck pixels. But many (including myself) don't have any dead or stuck pixels. Only the bleeding/glow problem is a problem.

 

[imaheadcase]

Yah i let you know when i get it, did you get it direct from acer or someplace else?

 

[Granseth]

http://www.sweclockers.com/recensio...aserad-gamingskarm-i-144-hz-med-nvidia-g-sync

The test is in swedish, but you can use google translate. Sweclockers i very favourable of the monitor as it is a gaming screen that can do everything else as well.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Is a single GTX 970 enough to take proper advantage of the XB270HU?

If not, I think I need to wait for R9390X and get an XG270HU or XL2730z -

 

[xorbe]

Is a single GTX 970 enough to take proper advantage of the XB270HU?

If not, I think I need to wait for R9390X and get an XG270HU or XL2730z -

You realize XB is ahva/ips, and the XG is TN right? I think the 970 can make use of 5-6ms response, ahva/ips, gsync, and more than 60 fps at least some times! You'll be set for a more powerful video card 12-18 months later

 

[Gryz]

Yah i let you know when i get it, did you get it direct from acer or someplace else?

I'm in Europe. I got mine from a webshop in my country. They started selling and shipping last week Thursday.

 

[imaheadcase]

I'm in Europe. I got mine from a webshop in my country. They started selling and shipping last week Thursday.

ah i see. Well it comes in Friday i let you know.

 

[chadashcroft22]

They are in stock at amazon right now with a hefty markup to $1085.71

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-UM-HB0AA-001-27IN-2560-XB270HU/dp/B00UPVXDA8/

 

[Muadib]

They are in stock at amazon right now with a hefty markup to $1085.71

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-UM-HB0AA-001-27IN-2560-XB270HU/dp/B00UPVXDA8/

That's a third-party seller, not Amazon itself.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

You realize XB is ahva/ips, and the XG is TN right? I think the 970 can make use of 5-6ms response, ahva/ips, gsync, and more than 60 fps at least some times! You'll be set for a more powerful video card 12-18 months later

Well, I use BF4 as my benchmark, and 970 will be able to get over 60 fps (depending on settings, I'd probably do ultra with some things I don't need turned down, like AA; I mean for some reason I just never see jaggies). But I mean, will 70-75 FPS be a meaningful increase over 60 or do I really need to hit 80-90-100 to make use of that higher refresh rate?

Also - I'm using 1080p HDTVs right now, not sure how that factors into the AHVA-IPS-TN thing-

 

[chadashcroft22]

That's a third-party seller, not Amazon itself.

Three more up on Amazon at a much better price of $818. By a 3rd party seller like most stuff on Amazon now a days.

 

[Gryz]

But I mean, will 70-75 FPS be a meaningful increase over 60 or do I really need to hit 80-90-100 to make use of that higher refresh rate?

There are 2 things you can do.

1) You run your game with G-Sync. That means that inter-frame gaps need to be between 33ms (=30 fps) and 7ms (=144fps). Anything between those two will be pretty smooth with G-Sync.
Note, people bought 120Hz monitors before G-Sync. Because a 120fps game on a 120Hz screen is smoother than a 60fps game on a 60Hz screen. If you can run your game at 70-75fps on a G-Sync monitor, it will feel (slightly) smoother than 60fps @ 60Hz.

2) If you can run your game at 85+ fps, then you can choose to use ULMB (Ultra Low Motion Blur). ULMB works at 85Hz or 100Hz. With ULMB the motion blur in fast games get significantly reduced. But if fps drops under 85, you will notice a little stuttering.

Also - I'm using 1080p HDTVs right now, not sure how that factors into the AHVA-IPS-TN thing-

I bought a XB270HU for G-Sync and maybe ULMB. And because I wanted a 8-bit panel (less color banding). I didn't care much for 1440p. And I didn't care much for better colors and view-angles.
Today I sent back my XB270HU. Because of backlight bleeding. I hope my replacement arrives on Friday. I just put back my 3-year old Asus 27" TN 1080p monitor. Holy moly ! What a difference. I can't live with 1080p anymore. The screen is all pixelated. 1080p is not good anymore. Also, the colors are so more worse. Before I had the XB270HU, I just didn't know better. But now that I've had the XB270HU for 3 days, I know what a good screen looks like. I'm sure your HDTV is nice as a tv. But as a computer monitor, I don't think it can be even close to a monitor like XB270HU.

When I ordered my XB270HU, I was wondering if I should buy an Acer XB270HA. That's another monitor. That one is 1080p, TN, but still 8-bit and with G-Sync and 144Hz and ULMB. But today I know for sure, the XB270HU (with IPS screen and 1440p) was the right choice.

You just don't know the difference until you've seen it with your own eyes. I was a skeptic, but now I am a believer.

Too bad I'll probably buy a new videocard to push 1440p, when new games are released. Like GTAV and The Witcher 3. That's another 600 euros for a gtx980 to replace my gtx680. And 110 euros for a waterblock. My current gtx680 is good enough for G-Sync with most games. But I'm not sure about newer games.

 

[imaheadcase]

My thoughts are kinda different, while im interested in the Gsync and maybe ULMB like you, i been waiting for the IPS vs TN panel 144Hz monitor for a long time since i can see a difference between the two. But like you, i do been on 1080p for so long i hope the slight upgrade is a good change, since i get so high FPS as it is.

 

[Annisman*]

Just got an update, panel is shipping tonight !

 

[QuantumPion]

I got my panel yesterday. No dead pixels or blacklight bleed. Color and gamma calibration is excellent as well. The panel quality is great, however my main complaint is that this panel suffers from rather bad IPS glow. Now if I was coming from a lower grade monitor I would say this thing is awesome, however my previous monitor is a X-star/Qnix, which is known for having just about perfect image quality and contrast. That being the case, I'm not really satisfied with the Acer for its price and will probably be sending it back. YMMV, and it depends on what games you play. Lately I've been playing Elite Dangerous and it looks pretty bad, the IPS glow actually washes out the starfield on the edges of the screen. If you play primarily shooters or games that generally don't have dark areas though it may not be a problem.

 

[Eymar]

Thanks QP that is great subjective feedback. I haven't used an IPS monitor in a while and I imagine most gamers coming from existing 120-144hz monitors haven't either so good to know about IPS glow.

 

[Annisman*]

QP, you've got no stuck or dead pixels, might be worth it to try and live with a little glow, surely you don't just play elite ?

 

[GoodRevrnd]

If you can't send it back I'll give you $700 for it. :awe:

 

[Cloudfire777]

If you can't send it back I'll give you $700 for it. :awe:

Or he could try to rip people off like this fellow
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00UPVXDA8/ref=dp_olp_used_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=used

 

[Grooveriding]

Can't find this anywhere in Canada :'(

 

[xorbe]

I got my panel yesterday. No dead pixels or blacklight bleed. Color and gamma calibration is excellent as well. The panel quality is great, however my main complaint is that this panel suffers from rather bad IPS glow. Now if I was coming from a lower grade monitor I would say this thing is awesome, however my previous monitor is a X-star/Qnix, which is known for having just about perfect image quality and contrast. That being the case, I'm not really satisfied with the Acer for its price and will probably be sending it back. YMMV, and it depends on what games you play. Lately I've been playing Elite Dangerous and it looks pretty bad, the IPS glow actually washes out the starfield on the edges of the screen. If you play primarily shooters or games that generally don't have dark areas though it may not be a problem.

The glow was noted in the TFTCentral review, so no surprise there. I hope it is somewhere between my NEC2490 (no glow) and NEC3090 (pretty bad glow). Mine arrived and is waiting at home.