[sblantipodi]

@ PCM2, did you noticed if putting the monitor at 60Hz disables overdrive (leave alone what the OSD says, I don’t trust it) :D?
I tend to believe that at 60Hz you have a better behaviour at 60FPS over the monitor at 160Hz at 60FPS with VRR just because the monitor disables the OverDrive when setting it to 60Hz.

[PCM2]

I’ve tested this much more extensively and should clarify that the AMD GPU provides a similar experience to the Nvidia GPU, unless ‘FreeSync Premium Pro’ is enabled on the AMD GPU. For some reason it activated a weird ICC profile (something I was messing around with before) which caused some odd behaviour even with ‘FreeSync Premium Pro’ disabled. Regardless of that, with ‘FreeSync Premium Pro’ enabled on my RX 580 things were definitely messed up as I described with a lot of over-brightening and a generally flooded look under HDR. And very clearly raised black depth (as in, pure black measured at > 0.7 nits).

@ sblantipodi

It doesn’t disable overdrive as the settings are all distinct from one another. It just tones down the ‘Normal’ (or locked due to Adaptive-Sync) setting a lot with the monitor set to 60Hz (rather than just running there due to VRR).

[sblantipodi]

I’ll receive a beta next week that will fix the following:
– HDR Auto
– HDR on, settings can be adjustable
– FreeSync on, OD can be adjustable
– Variable overdrive

I’m moved. A company that does this when writing to the right person is a company that deserves my respect.

[PCM2]

That really is impressive… I wonder when they plan to release that firmware officially? Unfortunately it’s a bit late for me to test it properly in the review, but it would be nice to at least note there that certain annoying things are fixed. I’ll be on holiday next week and plan to wrap up the X32 FP review when I return.

[sblantipodi]

do you generally add a note to your reviews when you discover that some annoyance are fixed later ?

[PCM2]

I can’t re-check all models and update reviews, but if I know something is being worked on or something is released shortly after publication I’d mention it. I’ll get in contact with my Acer people and see what the official status of the firmware is and what could perhaps be incorporated or tested for the review. 🙂

[4KGalaxy]

That’s great news. If it fixes those issues I’ll be really impressed with Acer’s response. I would like to see them offer a mode that doesn’t over darken mid-to-low shades too, but otherwise I think that would have taken care of all the concerns I had with the X32 FP.

The X32 FP I had did have bad dynamic interlacing artifacts at 60 Hz but I’m starting to think I just had a bad unit as no one else has mentioned it. I would have tried another one but unfortunately the store was out of stock at the time.

[PCM2]

That’s a panel characteristic from what I understand, not a unit-specific one. I’m sensitive to those artifacts (helps as a reviewer) and can clearly see them on this model at 60Hz as well. Also evident above that, but becoming increasingly faint as refresh rate increases. I suspect most others in this thread don’t notice them or didn’t comment on them because they don’t tend to have the screen running at such low refresh rates. And some people are naturally less sensitive to them so they won’t jump out in the same way. I agree it would be difficult not to spot from a ‘normal’ viewing distance at 60Hz based on how they appear on my unit, however.

[spiroh]

Them adding auto-hdr would be huge. I would love that.

[sblantipodi]

I’ll keep you posted as soon as I’ll receive the BETA, can’t wait to try it 🙂

I played Hogwarts Legacy and Cyberpunk on this monitor and it looks amazing, I sincerely never suffered the dark bias, HDR was pretty amazing.

I’m now playing The Last of Us and the dark bias forced me to higher the in game brightness more than what I generally used to.
All in all a very good HDR experience imho.

[4KGalaxy]

I am glad I wasn’t imagining things with the interlacing artifacts. I recall it being pretty noticeable at 60Hz but much much less at >120Hz, I’m not sure I’d even spot it at >144Hz (maybe if I looked really close, I can’t recall). I might also be very sensitive to it. I didn’t go looking for it at first but kept seeing these weird lines in games at 60Hz (especially games with big solid colors). I thought I was imagining it. Thankful sites and forums like this helped me learn about it so I could track down what I was seeing.

I am glad Acer is talking about some meaningful updates. Even though I don’t have the monitor anymore I think that’s great and would actually make me consider them again in the future!

[sblantipodi]

I have tried the beta.
Final firmware Will be released on May 25th.

Auto HDR works well now.
Overdrive can be set even when freesync Is enabled.
Every settings are now unlocked when HDR Is on.

This are the Major differences.

[PCM2]

That’s great! I’m glad it’s working as promised. I’ve decided to delay the X32 FP review (Acer was happy for me to do this) so I can do a bit of testing with the new firmware. Even if it’s just to remove complaints with respect to a lack of Auto HDR and overdrive control with FreeSync Premium Pro / Adaptive-Sync. 😉

[spiroh]

Wow! Incredible news! Also, good call on the delay considering the firmware will be available soon. Awesome work guys!

[GroundReaper94]

That is great news!

What about HDR brightness? Is it still dark with HDR enabled in some games or is it now working?

I am currently using the Cooler Master GP27U and the HDR works without flaws and it gets very bright. I still prefer 32 inch monitors for 4K and the X32FP is the only option right now for acceptable (shooters) motion performance and a bright HDR experience. It is a shame that the real potential is locked out due to a faulty/awkward software implementation… 🙁

[sblantipodi]

I don’t think that HDR is bad.
In all the titles I have tried It worked great, the only title where I needed ti increase the brightness was the last of us, but I don’t know if It was a problem of the game or if it was monitors fault.

All in all I think that HDR works great on this monitor, are there better HDR monitors?
Sure. You simply need to choose what is best for you. The perfect monitor does not exist yet.

[Degrader]

But the question was: Do you see any differences in the HDR PQ curve between the new firmware and the latest official version (v010 or an older one as you mentioned that settings in HDR are not locked anymore while this was already the case with v010)?

But a very nice update indeed as it solves a few annoying issues.

[PCM2]

They wouldn’t just need to re-tune the PQ curve as a single entity, they’d need to re-tune the algorithm which would coincide with PQ curve changes and brightness level changes for specific shade combinations. So it’s not a simple change to make nor one they’d passively make without mentioning in the change log. I’ve also independently received confirmation of the changes made and as sblantipodi has shared they’re just focused on flexibility with settings and more user-friendly HDR switching, rather than on changing performance characteristics or tuning.

[Degrader]

@PCM2, did you already receive the new firmware? It is still not available on the support sites (Taiwan and Dutch) of Acer.

[PCM2]

Not yet, I’ve been told by Acer it is undergoing final testing and approval and should be posted on their website in ~1 week or so “all going well”. I’m focusing on finishing off my review of the 27GR95QE in the meantime, will focus attention back on the X32 FP when the firmware is available. 🙂

[Author]

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