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In the gaming monitor market, it’s hard to see traditional LCD formats through the onslaught of OLEDs that seem to come out almost weekly. This is great, of course, but prices are still in the premium range. If you’re talking about 34-inch ultra-wides, the base category for 21:9 screens, a QD OLED display with fast refresh can cost $1,000.
Acer has put a lot of eggs into the Predator X34 X0 basket. The price stays down at $600 because it’s based on a VA panel. But everything else that makes a monitor great is there, Quantum Dot color, fast refresh, smooth motion processing and low input lag. And it boasts one advantage, extreme brightness. The X34 X0 can top 1,000 nits showing a full white screen. No OLED computer monitor I’m aware of can do that. And there’s the 1,152 zone FALD Mini LED backlight. When dimming is engaged, black levels are incredibly low. And none of this goodness comes at the expense of accuracy. The X34 X0 is factory calibrated and can be enjoyed right out of the box.
My only gripes were the inability to run Adaptive-Sync and overdrive together. And there was no backlight strobe. If you have a fast video card, these issues aren’t relevant. But the X34 X0 is best paired with a high-performance PC. Slower machines won’t realize its full potential.
If you’re desirous of a 34-inch 21:9 WQHD gaming monitor with wide gamut color, fast refresh and high brightness, but can’t quite swing an OLED, the Acer Predator X34 X0 is well worth checking out.
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