Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response & Lag
Viewing Angles
The PE320QK offers typical off-axis performance that competes favorably with other IPS panels. The side view is decidedly green, with a 40% brightness reduction, while the top view goes a bit blue and loses some detail. All the steps are visible, though, which is a good thing. At normal viewing distances and angles, the monitor looks superb.
Screen Uniformity
To learn how we measure screen uniformity, please click here.
The PE320QK is one of the few professional displays not to offer uniformity compensation. We’re glad that Acer has not wasted its time. We’ve measured the effects of that feature on dozens of monitors and in every case, found it to reduce contrast far more than it improved uniformity. Our Acer sample looks visually perfect with no hotspots, bleed, or glow. The 80% field pattern has no color shifts, either, just a smooth tone from edge to edge.
Pixel Response & Input Lag
Please click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.
Despite Acer’s excellent FreeSync implementation in the PE320QK, it is not up to the speed standards set by today’s gaming displays. When hampered by a 60Hz refresh rate, motion quality reaches a limit that only more hertz can overcome. Response and lag are on the faster side of this group, however. Those who value pixel density over framerates will be very happy with this monitor.
Gaming With FreeSync
In a professional monitor, one might speculate that FreeSync is simply added as an afterthought; a feature designed to attract buyers rather than add true value. Happily, that is not the case with the PE320QK. It stays in FreeSync mode all the way down to 24Hz, which means LFC is in play. It’s one of the only Ultra HD monitors we’ve seen that does this.
How much does that 60Hz limit matter? In our case, it doesn’t because we’re still testing FreeSync with a Radeon R9 285 card. It can manage 50-60 FPS if we turn the detail down to mid-levels. And here’s a surprise: When we upped the detail in Tomb Raider to Ultra, framerates dropped to between 25 and 35 FPS, and the game was still playable.
Clearly, LFC really makes a difference when speeds are low. It doesn’t seem to be a factor in monitors with lower resolution, but we’d say don’t buy an Ultra HD display without it if gaming performance is a priority. The only negative we observed is that overdrive is locked to Normal in FreeSync mode. However, motion quality does not seem to be affected. Our response test shows a reasonably fast panel, and blur just wasn’t an issue during gameplay. The PE320QK is a better gaming screen than one might think, and it certainly exceeds our expectations for a professional monitor.
MORE: Best Gaming Monitors
MORE: Best Professional Monitors
MORE: How We Test Monitors
MORE: How To Choose A Monitor
MORE: All Monitor Content