[EsaT]

Don’t remember if A-TW polarizer/equivalent (feature of LCD panel, not backlight) was advertised for Asus PG32UQX and its panel.
And with no A-TW in 27″ panel CoolerMaster of course has IPS glow unless backlight is completely out.

As for flicker in Fast local dimming couldn’t care about it for as long as other modes don’t have it.
Because instead of “need welder’s mask to avoid face burn” brightness i’m more interested of increased contrast and better black from FALD.
But overdrive modes are more question mark.

[PCM2]

No advertised A-TW on the ASUS, but I wouldn’t consider it in-line with models that do have one. ‘IPS glow’ was somewhat reduced on it, but not to the extent I’d expect to see with an A-TW polariser. And whilst the A-TW polariser would be part of the panel, the CELLS don’t always match the panel version’s feature set (even beyond things purely related to the BLU).

[EsaT]

I wonder how good response times/overshoot behaviour really are in locked Normal mode in VRR operation…
Acer should definitely make overdrive mode selectable with VRR enabled.
Worst case would be LCD panel being practically same as previous, outdated tech when released AUO in for example BenQ EX3210U with just FALD backlight replacing edge illumination.

There’s now availability for not so egregious 1400€, so considering pulling the trigger on Acer to finally replace 9 year 1½ month old U3014 Dell.

27″ CoolerMaster would be known case with fully modern response times with good modes/options…
But size would be downgrade needing shorter viewing distance with little tolerance for leaning back in chair. And certainly could do without IPS-glow, which has been one of the “not like” things in Dell.
Well, at least wouldn’t be playing competitive reflex shooters and prefer “tactical approach” in single player fps games.

[PCM2]

It’s annoying not being able to lower the overdrive setting to reduce or eliminate overshoot if you’re frequently at much lower refresh rates, especially into the double digits. But I wouldn’t worry about the X32 FP underperforming with VRR enabled vs. disabled. Usually Acer monitors under VRR with their locked overdrive perform very similarly to having it set to ‘Normal’ outside of VRR. This is really the setting you’d want to use for the maximum or anywhere close to maximum refresh rate. The ‘Extreme’ setting is always just the pointless extreme overshoot at any refresh rate setting so they can mislead with specified response times.

[Degrader]

Maybe you can have a look at this Japanese review to get an impression of the response times: https://jisakuhibi.jp/review/acer-predator-x32-fp
Or do you already know this review?

[PCM2]

Yes, the OG review for the monitor! 😀 I read through that last summer and this started to highlight concerns about overshoot under VRR at reduced refresh rates (and possibly higher refresh rates). Those results are a bit tricky to interpret as they aren’t pursuit photographs – plus that unit will have had very old firmware. But it confirms ‘Normal’ and VRR on (locked) performs very similarly in terms of pixel overdrive. That’s typical behaviour and I doubt any firmware update would change that, however. It also suggests superior native panel or ‘overdrive disabled’ pixel response performance to the older and slower AUO panels (EX3210U and PG32UQ shown in that review for comparison).

[EsaT]

That original review and overshoots in Normal mode starting already from 160Hz are concern, if Acer hasn’t corrected that overdrive in firmware.
Kinda eats badly whole purpose of VRR, if overshoots become significant the moment fps starts dropping and are that bad at 60Hz.
That overshoot literally makes actual reponse time far worser than without overdrive!

Whoever decided those overdrive modes should be given cognitive recalibration using fine adjuster.

[EsaT]

Ordered Acer in Wednesday, but because of strike caused those already having good salaries probably takes well into next week before I’ll get it.
So any hints/tips for how to best/most easily check overdrive behaviour at different frame/refresh rates?
Guess VRR enabled and capping fps in GPU drivers should do it for UFO test?

[PCM2]

Awesome! I look forward to your thoughts on it, when it finally arrives. Strikes are causing a lot of disruption to various services here in the UK as well.

If you observe Test UFO with the monitor set to 60Hz with VRR enabled, that should really give you a good indication of things. The frame rate cap will only apply to fullscreen 3D applications if I’m not mistaken. You could use something called ‘Smooth Frog‘ developed by Aperture Grille (a5hun) which works correctly under VRR. It’s quite neat as you can control the frame rate using a slider to smoothly decrease the refresh rate and see at what point overshoot starts kicking in noticeably. It shows a good range of pixel transitions, too.

[Degrader]

Yesterday I saw that when VRR is enabled and the framerate is between the 60-80 fps that there’s some noticeable overshoot present. At 160 fps no issues.

As I was ill I was not able to test it earlier.

I think we should ask Acer to unlock the OD setting with VRR enabled. The oldest firmware I could found was 008 and with that version the bug was already solved so it not possible to force another setting like it could with older releases.

@ esat I’m curious if you will experience the flickering with local dimming too. Which graphics card do you have, AMD or Nvidia?

[EsaT]

Hopefully there’s no strikes on UK parcel shipping/”logistics” to add possible delay to getting Orion Optics VX10 250mm f/4.8 Dobsonian, which should be ready for shipping next week.

That Smooth Frog sounds like the way best test (and consistent/repeatable unlike games) with that fps control.
While pursuit camera system is out of question, could try taking also some test images, if there’s more basic way.
OM-1 camera I have is “decently” capable with 240 fps 1080p video and up to 120 fps burst speed for full res stills…

I have AMD card.
Serious of overshoot below 100fps is precise that possible problem.
For slower paced games those frame rates would be good for maximizing eyecandy and 3840×2160 isn’t exactly good for pushing high frame rates in general.
Have you asked Acer’s support about making overdrive selectable with VRR enabled?
If they can’t make overdrive modes well chosen and tune middle mode for reasonably small overshoot down to 60 fps, then user should be at least able to choose better mode for lower fps.

Guess some custom “resolution” set for say 60Hz could be used to avoid no-VRR issues, but that would be just backwards.

[PCM2]

I haven’t spoken with Acer in general for a few months, but I have already made it clear to them they should add in overdrive control as an option not just on the X32 FP but more generally. If you’ve got a decent camera (or even take a video with a smartphone) it’s possible to get good pursuit results just by hand. People often find some useable stills from a video good enough to use with just a few ‘waves’ of tracking across the screen. Especially for simply showing overshoot levels and giving a general impression of pixel response behaviour. No need for a fancy rail or tracking system and the results are easier to interpret and more relatable to ‘real life’ than high speed video capture.

[EsaT]

Even with overdrive selectable under VRR, modes should be really reworked with at least one extra option, unless giving user adjustable mode like in Coolermaster.
Though selecting from well chosen preset modes would be always faster than trying to customize value depending on game.

If fastest frame rate isn’t needed, I guess 50/60 4K could be easier than stills.
Though can take bursts of full resolution stills at same speed…

Have also true macro lens for 1:1 capture from sensor sized (17,3 x 13 mm) area, so can try to take image of AR coating’s effect.
Though seems to be closer to glossy than matte basing on Prad.de’s image.

[PCM2]

Acer should have a review sample of the X32 FP ready to give me soonish.

[Degrader]

That would be nice!

Yesterday I did a direct comparison between the X32 FP and my HP Z27xs (DisplayHDR 600). The whole image which the Z27xs is rendering in HDR is much brighter than that of the Acer. Also smaller highlights stand more out on the HP. The HP can go as high as 900 nits full screen and 850 nits for smaller highlights.

When I measured in the official Vesa DisplayHDR app the boxes with different levels of brightness, ranging from 0 nits to 10000 nits, I saw that the Acer displays everything below the 1000 nis boxes too dark. For example a box with 10 nits is displayed with only 6 nits, and a box with 640 is only shown with 420 nits. So Acer is not following the PQ curve very well unfortunately which makes the overall image a little dimm. The HP on the other hand does a perfect job in the boxes test. That is quite disappointing that a DisplayHDR 600 monitor can beat a DisplayHDR 1000 monitor as it comes to bright images (dark images ofcourse not due to edge lit local dimming).

[PCM2]

It’s not unusual to have various shades ‘dragged down’ on Mini LED backlight solutions due to dark biasing. There’s always a compromise that needs to be made where you have ‘good’ but still far from per-pixel dimming precision. This helps the monitor maintain strong depth and atmosphere for darker shades rather than inviting an excessive amount of ‘haloing’ and darker shades being dragged up or potentially flooded by even small areas of bright shade. Artificially constrained environments such as the VESA test can reveal such behaviour quite readily as it includes solid black backgrounds – but some scenes in games can also do this. No doubt you’ll find the ‘atmospheric look’ and depth of darker shades (with brighter shades mixed in) a lot more impressive under HDR on the Acer compared to the HP? It would’ve been good if Acer included more local dimming settings, including some that more heavily bright bias. But in my experience the way they’ve done it (heavier dark biasing) tends to work better overall.

[EsaT]

Darn Acer comes in fat box for flat screen… Do they ship it mount already attached?
*Possibly so based on manual which can be found from Acer’s US site.
But what the heck is that part of data/signal cables being “optional” items?

Will be opening it tonight, but taking it into use will go to tomorrow.

Unless there’s user controllable setting, far better to have dark biasing to mitigate the biggest problem of LCDs, lack of black, than just even worser black/dark shades.

[Degrader]

It’s indeed already preinstalled, just take it out the box and remove the security strap and you’re good to go!

All cables are included: DisplayPort, certified Ultra High Speed HDMI, USB C, USB B and power cord.

[4KGalaxy]

I just picked up the X32FP and I am having the same issue with HDR being dark. I immediately noticed regular scenes in HDR are much darker than other monitors. It isn’t unusable, but in non-highlighted areas everything is too dark. Menus and UI elements in some games are very obviously under illuminated. At first I thought it was broken and I was going to try an exchange, but then I saw posts here describing the same issue. It seems like the monitor is not close to following the correct brightness levels for most HDR. Peaks are still good, and dark areas are good, but everything in the mid-brightness range feels much darker than it should be.

It’s too bad because otherwise I really like the local dimming. And I’m fine with it leaning a bit toward being darker but this is noticeably off.

I’ll keep trying it though. Maybe I’m missing something.

[PCM2]

Whilst I don’t doubt it’s partly the dark biasing in play here, you also have to be aware that how you’ve seen HDR represented on other screens isn’t necessarily accurate either. Is it the first Mini LED model you’ve used? Most LCD monitors under HDR (with edge-lit local dimming) will actually over brighten medium shades significantly, so if you’re used to the representation there it may even give an exaggerated feeling of depth ‘overly dim’ on the Acer.

[Author]

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