Acer Predator XB271HK 27-inch UHD G-Sync Monitor Review
Gamers seeking Ultra HD resolution have few choices but an excellent new G-Sync monitor has just appeared from Acer, the XB271HK sporting a 27-inch AHVA screen. We’re checking it out in our lab today.
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Color Gamut And Performance
For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, please click here.
The biggest effect of the gamma and contrast errors we discovered is shown here in the gamut and luminance charts. In the top CIE graph you can see that the 100-percent saturation targets are almost spot-on but the lower levels, 40-80 percent, are over-saturated. Because most content relies on these mid-tones for a natural representation, you might see some loss of detail and shades that appear unnatural. Fortunately simple adjustments can take care of these errors.
We’re still seeing slight over-saturations in red and blue but the errors are so small that they fall below the 3dE threshold. Color luminance is also within a hair’s breadth of perfect. We’ve seen professional displays that can’t generate a chart this good. The XB271HK has seriously good color.
Now we return to the comparison group.
The top four displays are exceptionally accurate when compared to gaming monitors as a whole. It seems that premium Ultra HD panels like this have received a little more attention in their design and manufacture. It should be noted however that the fourth-place AOC U2879VF is priced well below the rest of the screens here.
Gamut Volume: Adobe RGB 1998 And sRGB
Slight over-saturation of all three primary colors results in a little bonus gamut volume. This has a positive impact on image quality because it adds a bit more punch without going too far. Since lower saturation targets are also a little over, color remains balanced and no picture detail is lost.
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Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.