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HDR Performance

When you play HDR content, the X35 automatically switches into its HDR picture mode. Most image controls will be grayed out, but you can change the color temp if you wish.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

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Acer claims the X35 will hit up to 1,000 nits brightness with HDR content, and we hit 1,060 nits by using a 10% window pattern. Most HDR displays won’t reach their full brightness when showing a full-coverage white field. This is one seriously-bright group of panels though. Until you’ve experienced it, you can’t imagine how intense 1,000 nits is. We could barely look at it for more than a few seconds at a time.

HDR black levels proved difficult to measure. A full black field pattern shut off the backlight entirely, making a measurement impossible. By turning on a small info icon at the bottom of the screen, we were able to measure an impressive 0.0142 nit. That makes the X35’s HDR contrast higher than any screen we’ve measured except the mini-LED PA32UCX and the AW5520QF, whose black levels can’t be measured in any way due to its OLED tech. With contrast like this, the X35's picture quality is simply stunning.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

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The X35 allows for grayscale adjustments in HDR mode, but those settings carry over to SDR content. Fortunately, this is just fine, as our sample measured to near-perfection. There are no visible errors on either side of the clip point, which is extremely high at 75%. You can thank the super-low black level for that. The luminance curve detailed by our EOTF tracking is almost spot on. It’s a tad darker than spec at the bottom and a tad brighter between 60-75%. Yep, we’re splitting hairs again. Acer has pretty much nailed its HDR implementation here.

HDR color tracks nicely with good accuracy at all points of the DCI-P3 gamut. The results are similar to SDR mode but with slightly more over-saturation. Since a lot of 4K content and games are mastered to Rec.2020, we recorded that measurement as well. The X35 tracks the inner targets will until it runs of available color. This is the way it should be until all monitors can render the full Rec.2020 gamut. There is no question that the Predator X35 brings the goods when it comes to HDR.

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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.