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OSD Setup & Calibration
The Predator X34P’s OSD is simple and efficient. It is summoned by two presses of the joystick and is divided into six sub-menus. As stated earlier, you won'tfind ULMB here. But you will need to visit the Gaming menu to engage the 120Hz overclock.
The Picture menu has basic luminance sliders, plus a Blue Light toggle, Dark Boost for low-end gamma, and Adaptive Contrast which we recommend you avoiding due to its clipping of detail. The Blue Light is handy when working on white screens for long periods. The warmer color temp is easier on the eyes. Make sure to turn it off for games or movies though.
There are four gamma presets, 1.9, 2.2, 2.5, and Gaming which is super-dark. The labels bear no resemblance to reality, however. 2.2 is closer to 2.5, and we settled on 1.9, which tracks to 2.4 almost perfectly. You’ll want to check out our findings on page four, because they have a significant effect on color quality. Color Temp presets number four and include a user mode with RGB sliders that start at center range. This is handy because balanced settings mean higher contrast. Indeed, we turned down the Contrast slider ten clicks and only lost a tiny bit of dynamic range. Again, you'll find more info on page four. The X34P also includes a global color saturation slider and 6-axis Color for luminance and hue adjustments. We didn’t need to change these at all.
Audio just has a volume control that affects the internal speakers and the 3.5mm output. Gaming has a two-level Overdrive (plus off), of which the Normal setting is best. Extreme produces obvious ghosting, which can be seen when scrolling text in Windows. To engage the overclock, make sure you’re set to 3440x1440 resolution, then turn it on. The X34P will reboot and 120Hz will become available in Nvidia control panel. You can vary the amount of speed increase if you like. Novice gamers will appreciate the Aim Point, which places one of three reticles at the center of the screen.
OSD settings include language, timeout (up to 120 seconds), and transparency. Also here is a frame counter that appears in the top-right corner of the screen in a small yellow font. The System menu has the input selector, control key options, sleep mode for each input, quick start, and power options for the USB ports. Ambient Light refers to the LEDs across the panel’s bottom edge. They can be set to multiple brightness levels or turned off. By default, they glow red for G-Sync (a strange color choice) and white for normal mode. You can change the color and have them breathe or flash if you wish.
Wide Mode has just two settings, 1:1 and Aspect. Neither will stretch a lower-res image to fit the screen. When we tried to display a 1920x1080 pixel pattern, it was shown with bars on the sides. The final screen lets you save all settings to one of the three gaming modes. This, like the top handle, is a feature we’d like to see in every computer monitor.
Calibration
The Predator X34P’s only adjustable mode is User. Making a change in any other preset switches the monitor to User automatically. Calibrating means unraveling the gamma mystery. The default preset says 2.2, but our measurements showed it was closer to 2.5, with a large dip at 90% brightness-- the usual sign of a too-high contrast slider. We’re reticent to lower this with IPS screens because their dynamic range is small to begin with. But even with a reduction from 50 to 40, only a small amount was lost. Changing gamma to 1.9 and making carefully balanced changes to the RGB slider helped us achieve excellent accuracy and picture quality with no real sacrifices. Gamma tracks at 2.4 and color is nearly perfect. Check out our settings if you want to dial in your Predator X34P.
| Acer Predator X34P Calibration Settings | |
| Picture Mode | User |
| Brightness 200 nits | 59 |
| Brightness 120 nits | 28 |
| Brightness 100 nits | 20 |
| Brightness 80 nits | 14 |
| Brightness 50 nits | 4 |
| Contrast | 40 |
| Gamma | 1.9 |
| Color Temp User | Red 48, Green 47, Blue 52 |
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