Acer Predator XB323QK Video Review by TotallydubbedHD
date : 2023-02-22 19:00:27
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Titre Original: An Exclusive HDMI Gaming Monitor?? Acer Predator XB323QKNV Review
Text of the video
Hey buddy oh hi how can I help was wondering if you could come up with a name for our latest 4K 144hz gaming monitor with HDMI 2.1 ports oh sure no problem I've got this it's the Acer Predator xb323 y q NV you're taking too long you're fired wait what actually I quite like that name write Jokes Aside I'm not really sure how they came up with this monitor name but we're going to be looking at to see if it's actually worth this price tag as in the UK can be found for 700 pounds and in the US around 1 200
now to kick off this video I do want to talk about its inputs and here it's got DisplayPort 1.4 and 2 HDMI 2.1 ports which of course will be of relevance to console Gamers but it is very important for PC Gamers as well and I'll touch upon why phone down in this video
now a few things I'd like to point out is that I was able to run 4K 144hz at up to 12 bits although it's worth noting that is with FRC because it has a native eight bits panel at least according to Asus specification and as for me running it at the different refresh rates at 144hz or at 60 hertz had no problems while running it on the Nvidia control panel while connected over DisplayPort or HDMI to my RTX 3080 although for some reason at 120 hertz on its default Nvidia settings it would go to The Limited dynamic range which didn't really make all that much sense this of course can be easily bypassed by going onto the custom setting but it did cause a little bit of concern as to for some people who might not be aware of it and running at 120 hertz for some given reason even for those people who are running it on Console you might want to think about how it's actually being outputted and if you're getting the full RGB range and also the dynamic range that can be on offer with this monitor so with that out of the way let's jump into its gaming performance and first off I have to talk about its input lag
now here I had it objectively tested at 2.6 milliseconds which is actually pretty good for a 4K 144hz IPS panel furthermore you can see here how it compares to other 4K panels that I've tested and therefore actually being pretty fast in the grand scheme of things
now subjectively I will say that the monitor's performance was Stellar indeed over here I had no sorts of problems when it came to registering my input and furthermore when it came to playing a game such as Counter-Strike Global Offensive which does require quite low input lag for you to get the best out of it as it is a competitive FPS game I felt that the small letter wasn't hindering my performance if anything it was just the fact that I was playing on a 31.5 inch 4K panel and therefore I felt quite uneasy while playing with such a large format and indeed at a higher resolution
now aside from its input lag what about when it comes to response time well the Herod monitor actually does fare very well there's a few different overdrive modes that you can select of course the higher you go the worst visual experience you'll get due to inverse ghosting but then equally you'll get a faster response time
now to give you some objective numbers I'm using the osrtt tool and here with the overdrive mode set to off I recorded a pretty impressive 6.79 average initial time which is the equivalent of average G2G time
now if we switch it to my recommended presets which is the normal mode overdrive you can see this drops even further down to 5.12 milliseconds now notice this was tested at 144 Hertz now do bear in mind the RGB overshoot where at the moment you can see it's pretty much all green and this is to towards the middle of your screen
now as we switch over to the extreme suddenly it becomes extremely red and it's so much so that it's so bad in terms of the amount of error that's popping out with the osrtt tool and indeed that's the same sort of experience that you will get in terms of the real life experience now on the flip side the average initial time does drop all the way down
now putting further context to that you'll be able to see here the UFO ghosting test and indeed on the off and normal mode presets it's perfectly acceptable but on the extreme mode preset you can see a lot of inverse ghosting specifically towards the lighter Shades
now we'll talk about vrr very shortly and discuss quite intriguing but you can see also on vrb mode there's also the ability to switch between the overdrive modes whereby you've got normal and extreme and indeed here it does clear up the UFO and therefore reduces the motion blur it is where worth noting that in vrb mode you will also get a very limited brightness which I'll touch upon further down in this video
now this is where things get a little bit interesting see here I did point out that there was a separate UFO ghosting test for vrr and for those who are not aware vrr stands for variable refresh rate and this is the technology that is used when it comes to being used with AMD freesync or for example Nvidia g-sync in my case I'm able to test a latter because I've got an RTX 3080.
now intriguingly well connected over DisplayPort only I was not able to control the overdrive mode and therefore it was locked out but yet when I was running HDMI in other words the 2.1 standard and connected over to my HDMI 2.1 ports of my RTX 3080 I had no problems in terms of adjusting the overdrive modes I found this quite intriguing as to why Acer are locking out their users of the overdrive mode preset while connected over DisplayPort and this will be potentially concern for PC Gamers out there
now thankfully I did test it in terms of the different refresh rates and I can safely say that it's running on the normal mode preset in terms of its overdrive modes as a result means it's the recommended preset that I would suggest and potentially what Acer wants you to use anyway because you don't want to get a terrible visual experience and as such it's not exactly too much course for concern
now while that's not overly problematic given the fact that the monitor is running in terms of its optimal condition it is worth pointing out that while connected over DisplayPort I was not able to run Nvidia g-sync be it through the Nvidia pendulum demo properly or indeed via Destiny 2 whereby I encode a lot of stuttering
now this suddenly disappeared as soon as I disabled Nvidia g-sync while connected over DisplayPort leading me to believe that this monitor would not run Nvidia g-sync and therefore would be limited to potentially running over an AMD graphics card instead because of course here the monitor is not certified by Nvidia and does not have their native g-sync module thus not getting the full VR range however things all change when I connected over HDMI so yet again I've got the HDMI 2.1 port on my RTX 3080 and so does the Monitor and suddenly well connected over HDMI not only did I have the access to the overdrive modes but I also had no stuttering problems while running 4K simultaneously at 144hz with Nvidia g-sync and HDR yes indeed I was able to run all of those in tandem over HDMI yet over DisplayPort I was not able to
now this for me is quite a mind-boggling thing because I've never experienced this ever before on any monitor that I've reviewed bearing in mind I've tested over 200 different panels
now I appreciate not every monitor has to run Nvidia g-sync but in this modern era you would expect it to all run over display ports given the fact that it can actually run over HDMI now doing some brainstorming with Adam from PC monitors and shout out for him for actually giving me the pointers is that it could be because it's running the HDMI 2.1 VR Technologies and thus being aimed towards console Gamers that do want to benefit from that tear-free gaming experience well connected over to their AMD gpus
now after the countless amount of tests I put through this monitor I wanted to look at how its HDR performance would fare
now unfortunately the overall experience was pretty subdued and that's namely due to the fact that this monitor
now furthermore it doesn't have any sort of local dimming technology and as a result won't give you those deeper blacks on an IPS panel and furthermore won't give you that sort of lifelike feel like you'd get on those monitors that have HDR and full array local dimming
now on the flip side I should give some kudos to Acer for tuning the overall HDR color performance because here when looking at Destiny 2 I didn't feel that my image was overly washed out or grayed out like you'd find on some other HDR 400 certified monitors indeed over here the Acer monitor dealt well with the HDR signal and therefore produced a pretty color accurate tone one that wasn't overly saturated such as like you'd get on an SDR image so next up we get onto console gaming and here you will be able to run 4K 120hz with VR Technologies using the full bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports which are provided on this Acer monitor
now as for the overall response time the same sort of applies to the 144hz results but nonetheless I tested it to 120 hertz and 60 hertz here on your screen you'll be able to see the 120 hertz results whereby I would recommend running on terms of its normal mode presets due to getting a better visual experience and equally at 60hz the same sort of applies the overall average initial time both at 60 hertz and 120 hertz are seriously impressive now to emphasize the overall visual experience that you'll attain you can see here the UFO ghosting test at 120 hertz and here you can see that the extreme mode preset doesn't give you a good visual experience due to the amount of inverse ghostingness present
now note very much like it's 144hz while connected over DisplayPort and using VR Technologies it will be locked to the normal mode overdrive
now as for vrb you can enable or disable it at 120 hertz but again do bear in mind it will limit the peak brightness quite severely but it's worth noting that vrb is no longer available at 60 hertz and yes over here you can see the performance at 60hz in terms of the UFO ghosting test and yes there is a lot of blur that does occur so it's just worth considering equally there's a lot of inverse ghosting on terms of its extreme mode presets but hopefully that's pretty clear right
now that that is not the overdrive mode that you'd want to be running if you do get this monitor so with the gaming section out of the way what about when it comes to image quality well this monitor Sports a flat 31.5 inch IPS panel and it does have some matte coating on it of course it runs 4K at up to 144 Hertz
now it's worth noting that 3D monitors OSD you can enable an srgb emulation mode which thankfully doesn't limit the peak brightness which is very good because a lot of Manufacturers do limit the peak brightness for some given reason
now through said mode and using my calibrators I notice a gamut coverage at 98.1 percent and again a volume of 107.6 percent in comparison to the srgb standard you can see below how it Compares as for the average delte it sits at 1.29 and a maximum of 3.45 which isn't too shabby as for the tested contrast ratio it sat at a pretty low 856 to 1 and as for the measured white point it's not too far off at 6059 Kelvin at 100 in comparison to the 6504 Kelvin targets
now as for the gamma curve it's very close to the 2.2 standard and in this respect Acer should really be commended
now if you're not an image editor or video grader or indeed you're just a gamer and you just want a little bit extra saturation or pop from your monitor then you might want to run it in terms of one of the other mode presets and in this respect when tested on its warm mode presets I compared it to the srgb standard and unsurprisingly it became less color accurate with an average delti of 2.25 whereby a higher is worse and a
now as for the tested contrast ratio it doesn't shift but the measured white Point does shift slightly positively at 6102 Kelvin at a hundred percent and as for the gamma curve it does sit pretty close to the 2.2 standard although isn't as refined as the srgb modes
now as for its brightness I had it tested at 383 nits both both in HDR and SDR and that is a little bit shy of the HDR 400 certification requirements nonetheless in terms of its minimum brightness it gets to 64 nits and as for vrb you can see here in terms of the normal and extreme mode presets it gets down all the way to 59 and 28 nits respectively now aside from Peak luminous what about when it comes to brightness uniformity now this is somewhat panel Lottery but on my tested panel I was left a little bit unimpressed towards the left hand corner of the monitor equally in terms of backlight bleeds I did notice quite a bit towards the top half of the pedal they didn't overly bother me but if you are playing a lot of games that have quite a bit of dark scenes or indeed watching movies that have them then you might want to consider getting a VA or TN panel or better still one that has full array local dimming in order to get true black colors
now moving past all these tests I would like to have a quick word about its build quality
now the monitor's design is very snazzy due to its three side borderless design and also due to the bottom bezel being ready relatively thin and also having the Predator logo slapped on it as for the monitor stand it's very sturdy made out of metal and provides you height tilt and pivot adjustment although it's worth noting it cannot be rotated if you want further degree of customization or simply if the stand itself does not fit properly on your desk you can replace it via a monitor arm and therefore this monitor has got a Visa compatibility
now on the note of design I would like to point out that this monster has got some fancy RGB lights positioned behind it and therefore if you're in a completely pitch black room it does actually get pretty bright and can be utilized
now I don't personally see the point of it so therefore I actually completely disable it you can enable disable or indeed customize it 3D monitors OSD speaking of which the monitor settings can be accessed through a set of physical buttons found at the bottom right hand side of it they're not exactly intuitively laid out but once you get your head around it you'll find a plethora of different options and indeed allows you to customize the monitor to your heart's content
now aside from all of this the monitor has got two USB be Taipei pause which can be handy for plugging in your peripherals and also has got a 3.5 millimeter audio jack with two built-in speakers I would certainly suggest getting a set of bookshelf speakers a DAC headphones or a headset but of course if you do want some convenience then you have the ability to play back audio directly from the monitor so in all that in mind it brings me onto my verdict and model name aside the monitor is actually pretty impressive see here you have got 4K that runs up to 144 Hertz you have got HDR while it is a little bit of a subdued experience and you've also got a very good input lag and response time in the appropriate overdrive mode of course that gives you a good overall gaming experience as a result it gets my performance Awards although it's worth noting that I can't wholeheartedly recommend it given the price point it comes in at and furthermore given the fact that it emits any sort of local dimming technology and also has got a few different quirks specifically when it comes to Nvidia g-sync running over display ports
now I'd be curious to know what you make of this monitor down in the comments section below and of course if you liked us independent detail review definitely do consider dropping like subscribing and hitting that Bell notification all of
The Acer Predator XB323QK NVbmiiphuzx is a 31.5" 144Hz 4K gaming monitor with HDR, Adaptive Sync and HDMI 2.1. Find out how it performs by watching my review!
Buy the Acer XB323QKNV from Amazon: https://locally.link/w3si
Buy the XB323QKNV from Acer UK: https://fave.co/3E8PxMF
Buy the XB323QKNV from Acer USA: https://fave.co/410vNo4
Special thanks to Adam from PC Monitors for the HDMI pointers: https://pcmonitors.info/
4K alternatives:
HP Omen 27u: Another HDMI 2.1 4K monitor but higher input lag
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Opp0aFUt0
Buy the HP Omen 27u from Amazon: https://locally.link/3SDq
Buy the Omen 27u from HP UK: https://fave.co/3DS2la3
Buy the Omen 27u from HP USA: https://fave.co/3YyZU43
Asus PG32UQ: HDMI 2.1 capabilities with HDR600
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ruVBiYDxfU
Buy the Asus PG32UQ from Amazon: https://locally.link/O5jP
ViewSonic XG321UG: My favourite 144Hz 4K gaming monitor
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXleObb5q9s
Buy the ViewSonic XG321UG from Amazon: https://locally.link/blID
AOC PD32M: Similar to ViewSonic but not flicker-free
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TUEogjsEp8
Buy the AOC PD32M from Amazon: https://locally.link/pWOg
Samsung Odyssey Neo G8: Impressive 240Hz 4K gaming monitor
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ-g_629wKc
Buy the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 from Amazon: https://locally.link/nCY8
Buy the Odyssey Neo G8 from Samsung UK: https://fave.co/3XcjdAw
Buy the Odyssey Neo G8 from Samsung USA: https://fave.co/3hPK4Ce
AOC U28G2XU: 'Cheap' 28" 144Hz 4K but only HDR400 and HDMI 2.0
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABlrtzyVNA8
Buy the AOC U28G2XU from Amazon: https://locally.link/xNO1
1440p alternatives:
Asus ROG Strix XG27AQM: Best 270Hz 1440p monitor for motion clarity
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7tYVAkKM8Y
Buy the Asus XG27AQM from Amazon: https://locally.link/KSrX
AOC AG274QS: Best 1440p eSports monitor (300Hz IPS)
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VodvPZCumOA
Buy the AOC AG274QS from Amazon: https://locally.link/FUaG
AOC AG274QG: AG274QS sibling with more local dimming zones & a G-Sync module
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzuHn2Y8Ahw
Buy the AOC AG274QG from Amazon: https://locally.link/FRg0
Alienware AW2721D: An excellent 240Hz 1440p IPS
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZmFFyfuRzM
Buy the Alienware AW2721D from Amazon: https://locally.link/pGhg
Samsung Odyssey G7: Best 240Hz 1440p VA monitor
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq8wxUt50XU
Buy the Samsung Odyssey G7 from Amazon: https://locally.link/C4Tr
My suggestion for 1440p PC/console gaming on a budget: Acer Nitro VG271UP
My review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R68gNt0WV2E
Buy the Acer Nitro VG271UP from Amazon: https://locally.link/K2MC
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Buy the Datacolor SpyderX Elite calibrator on Amazon: https://locally.link/dpJS
Buy the Calibrite CC Display Plus calibrator on Amazon: https://locally.link/9IrU
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Explainers:
My favourite gaming monitors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGH3SJpoOAQ
PlayStation & Xbox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAIIwqUNflo
Monitor refresh rates & resolutions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daHrqIFieBU
Are 144Hz+ monitors worth it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-kdB496GHE
UFO ghosting tests: https://www.testufo.com/ghosting
TechteamGB's OSRTT: https://youtu.be/pZjya0h7pgQ
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Video timestamps:
Specs & connectivity: 00:00
Gaming performance: 01:49
Locked VRR: 04:30
G-Sync & HDR: 05:47
Console gaming: 08:21
Image quality: 10:21
Brightness & uniformity: 12:19
Design & features: 13:12
Verdict: 14:41
#acer
#hdmi
#4k
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