Acer Predator X34P 34" Gaming Monitor Review: Overclocked Curves
Why you can trust Tom's Hardware
Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response & Lag
Viewing Angles
The Predator X34P has better off-axis image quality than many IPS panels, curved or flat. In our photos, you can see a 40% light falloff with almost no color shift in the horizontal plane. From the top, things become decidedly green with a 60% loss in brightness. Obviously, the extra curvature has affected the X34P for the better. This is some of the best performance we’ve seen of late.
Screen Uniformity
To learn how we measure screen uniformity, please click here.
Both Acer screens are at or near the top of the numbers in our field uniformity tests. Measured values show slightly less brightness along the bottom of the screen, but we couldn’t see that with the naked eye. The black field is visually perfect with no glow or bleed present. Samples will vary of course, but we don’t expect users to see a problem here. Color uniformity is also excellent with no visible shifts anywhere on the screen.
Pixel Response & Input Lag
Please click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.
Gamers will appreciate the speed upgrade that comes the Predator X34P. An 8ms improvement in input lag will likely be perceived by the most skilled players. Screen response remains the same at a quick 9ms. Both monitors are good candidates for high-speed first-person shooters, but the newer display offers a little smoother presentation courtesy of higher refresh rates. Our sample had no trouble maintaining 120fps with the overclock engaged. While it won’t quite match the experience of a 240Hz competition screen, the difference between 120 and 240Hz isn't as different as the numbers indicate.
Gaming With G-Sync
First off, we love the pixel density of a 34” ultra-wide at 3440x1440 pixels. It’s not quite Ultra HD, but speed is a higher priority for us and the Predator X34P, and our GeForce GTX 1080 Ti allowed us to play Tomb Raider at 120 fps no matter how intense the action became. It’s quickly apparent that the Extreme overdrive setting is too much. Ghosting is obvious and distracting at that setting. Normal works just fine and keeps motion blur to almost non-existent levels. And you won’t care that ULMB has been left out, as it just isn’t necessary at these frame rates.
Far Cry 4 also spends a lot of time over 100fps in our testing, though some scenes with fine shading dropped into the 70-80 range. That didn’t diminish the gameplay experience in any way, even when detail was set to Ultra. With V-sync turned off, the fps count sometimes jumped as high as 140. Pixel density appeared ideal here too as the finest details and textures popped right out. Despite sporting only average contrast, the X34P’s superior gamma implementation gives it an edge over many other displays. If you’re considering buying the older X34 for its lower price, we think the X34P is worth the extra cost. It is a superior monitor.
MORE: Best Gaming Monitors
MORE: How We Test Monitors
MORE: All Monitor Content
Current page: Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response & Lag
Prev Page Grayscale, Gamma & Color Next Page ConclusionStay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
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.
-
feelinfroggy777 If I did not already have the x34, I would get this monitor in a heartbeat. But for now, I guess I will just wait till the 200hz panel is released.Reply -
Ninjawithagun Acer copied Dell Alienware's AW3418DW, but failed to match the much better quality of the AW unit. And the Acer has an external power brick (similar to that of a laptop). NO THANK YOU! I prefer the integrated power unit within the AW unit. Also, the price for the Acer X34P is too high. I bought both of my AW3418DW units for $930/each with a 4-year free replacement warranties ;-)Reply -
adambomb13 DO NOT BUY ACER MONITORS at least the one with GSync capable, I bought a xb321hk for $1000.00 and got the famous artifacting and screen blanking issue.Reply
Below link for Acer's community forum regarding this issue
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/441879/xb321hk-weird-artifact/p1
I have reached the END of Acers customer service line, They only offered me $400 refund LOL. After 5 returns, 3 different xb321hk monitors, I have worked with Corporate Customer service and "Elite" technical support and wasted 3-4 months for $400.00 refund.... Unbelievable. I will continue to post my personal experience on websites and I'll update my Youtube video warning people NOT to buy ACER?, -
adambomb13 DO NOT BUY ACER MONITORS at least the one with GSync capable, I bought a xb321hk for $1000.00 and got the famous artifacting and screen blanking issue.Reply
Below link for Acer's community forum regarding this issue
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/441879/xb321hk-weird-artifact/p1
I have reached the END of Acers customer service line, They only offered me $400 refund LOL. After 5 returns, 3 different xb321hk monitors, I have worked with Corporate Customer service and "Elite" technical support and wasted 3-4 months for $400.00 refund.... Unbelievable. I will continue to post my personal experience on websites and I'll update my Youtube video warning people NOT to buy ACER?, -
Ninjawithagun 21070004 said:DO NOT BUY ACER MONITORS at least the one with GSync capable, I bought a xb321hk for $1000.00 and got the famous artifacting and screen blanking issue.
Below link for Acer's community forum regarding this issue
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/441879/xb321hk-weird-artifact/p1
I have reached the END of Acers customer service line, They only offered me $400 refund LOL. After 5 returns, 3 different xb321hk monitors, I have worked with Corporate Customer service and "Elite" technical support and wasted 3-4 months for $400.00 refund.... Unbelievable. I will continue to post my personal experience on websites and I'll update my Youtube video warning people NOT to buy ACER?,
The flicker issue is caused by cheap DisplayPort cables being used by consumers. I had a similar issue with my Acer XB321HK unit. I replaced the stock cable with a high quality DP 1.4 certified cable and the issue disappeared. Yes, I know the XB31HK comes with only a DP 1.2 port, but the high quality DP 1.4 cable has extra shielding, which apparently eliminates the flicker issue due to signal degradation from the graphics card to the monitor. -
Kahless01 21069959 said:Acer copied Dell Alienware's AW3418DW, but failed to match the much better quality of the AW unit. And the Acer has an external power brick (similar to that of a laptop). NO THANK YOU! I prefer the integrated power unit within the AW unit. Also, the price for the Acer X34P is too high. I bought both of my AW3418DW units for $930/each with a 4-year free replacement warranties ;-)
they didnt copy anyone. only one company makes the panels so everyone takes them and designs products from them. you wont see much more than packaging differences. and what you got the monitors for and their msrp arent the same thing. i can get the acer for $830. your aw with the build in power supply is also 4.5lbs heavier. i move my monitor around alot. that makes a difference.
and other dude. why the hell are you playing diablo 3 on an expensive 4k monitor? seems like wasted money. the problems youre describing are as much an nvidia problem as an acer problem. all you need to do is change your search from acer artifacting to gsync artifacting and youll see its pretty widespread. i can guarantee you that your monitor isnt being tested like you think it is. its being put on a big rack not being watched. its checked on to see if its failed after a few hours and if it hasnt its shipped on. they sure as hell arent going to give techs gaming computers to dink around on your one monitor playing a 6 year old hack n slash game. -
AcesB Many gamers buy G-Sync monitors to have ULMB (me included). Sync is not a real issue in high refresh games powered by GXT 1070/1080 and higher, as they run steady and stable at 100Hz/120Hz, a typical fixed refresh rate with ULMB.Reply
If you don't know, G-Sync and ULMB can not work at same time. If you game already runs fine in +100/120 fps there is no reason to enable GSync. BUT the crystal clear images produced by ULMB are out of this word. ( At least in my Dell S2716 DGR) -
rhysiam Am I the only one who's pretty disappointed at the lack of progress in gaming monitors over the last few years? I mean, the original X34 released at $1300. So nearly 3 years later we get a very similar product with a few improvements at 15% less. It's a little better and a little cheaper, sure, but it's really just an iterative upgrade.Reply
If you compare that to TVs, take a look at what you can get for your money at just about any price bracket today vs 3 years ago and the difference is massive. We just don't seem to be seeing the same level of progress in gaming monitors. Am I missing something?? -
adambomb13 KAHLESS01 I play other games too LOL, but anyways I'll never buy another Acer productReply