ocaholic - Displays > Acer Predator X34 - 34'' Curved Gaming 21:9 Review

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Specifications

Screen Size	34''
Resolution	3440 x 1440 Pixel
Aspect Ratio	21:9
Panel Type	IPS
Colors	1.07b
Lighting	LED
Brightness	300 cd/m²
Contrast	3000:1
Response Time	4ms (Grey-to-Grey)
Viewing Angle (H / V)	178° / 178°
Tilt	Yes
Height Adjustment	100 mm
Connecitiy	2 x HDMI 1 x DisplayPort 1 x Power 1 x Audio Out 1 x USB3.0 In 4 x USB3.0 Out
Dimensions (W x H x D)	825.1 x 455.9 - 585.9 x 309 mm
Weight	9.9 kg

Features
VESA Mount Design Curved Panel Picture by picture with two input sources Picture in picture Mega Dynamic Contrast Ratio

Delivery
1 x HDMI Cable 1 x DisplayPort Cable 1 x USB Cable 1 x Mini DisplayPort - DisplayPort Adapter

Page 2 - Specifications

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Gallery

Page 3 - Gallery

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Design / Ergonomics

These days gaming displays or generally gaming components feature a visually striking looks. The Predator X34 is certainly no exception in this regard. There are lots of edges and corners and very little round shapes, which makes the design look aggressive to a certain extent. It’s great to see that Acer was able to create a uniform design language for all tis Predator products. In the case of the X34 display there is a frameless design. As long as the monitor is turned off there is virtually impossible to distinguish the frame from the panel. Turned on there is a black frame, approximately 1cm thick next to the left, the right and the top edge. The bottom edge has been equipped with an anthracite colored bezel, which prominently displays the Predator logo. Having a look at the back shows a curved, plastic surface covered with a glossy lacquer. We would have liked to find a surface with a matte finish, which would not only help with finger prints but also blend in with all the other matte surfaces. Another design element in the case of this display is its foot. The filigree shape, which has been combined with a solid metal is striking, offering good stability and a very safe stand on any table.

The Predator X34 is very comfortable to use. As we already mentioned there is a solid foot making it stand safely on any table. Apart from that there is the weight of 9.9 kilogram, which is not particularly high, but enough to make gravity do a good job and in combination with a well thought weight distribution the Predator X34 can be tilted by up to 20 degrees. We also like the fact that the panel can be adjusted in height by up to 100mm and there is even pivot functionality on board.

Page 4 - Design / Ergonomics

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Image Quality

Working

In the beginning one might think, that it will take quite some time until you're used to working with this curved display. Having put the X34 on a desk and after a few hours we've forgotten, that we're have a curved panel in front of us. What actually takes a little longer to get used to is the sheer size of this thing. 34 inch is really big. When you place a window in the left corner and another one in the right and you focus on the left one, you won't notice changes on the right. What's a very good compromise in our opinion is the resolution of 3440 x 1440 pixel combined with 34 inch diagonal. If you sit one meter away from the X34 written text is well readable. This display really shines if you do excessive multi taksing. If you have to keep lots of different programs open and visible at work you will love the space this monitor offers.

Games

Diablo 3

Starting Diablo III, the first thing we notice is that the displays native resolution is not supported in normal fullscreen mode. In order to play using all 3440 x 1440 pixels natively, you have to switch to Windows Fullscreen mode. In this case the game is going to use the desktop resolution. In the beginning it feels like you're playing on a TV. Sitting one meter away from the panel you will notice your eyes glanceing from one side to the other. Although this is a curved panel, the display is so big, you won't have everything in your field of view. Overall we find ourselves focussing on the center of the display and rather sooner than later we stop checking what's happening on the edges.
Despite the fact, that IPS panels have a rather high response time we didn't notice any striation even with very fast effects occuring. Apart from that we also didn't notice any stuttering, which could have been attributed to the response time. As soon as Vsync is active movements are perfectly smooth.

Battlefield 4

The game is capable of automatically recognizing the X34's native resolution and all settings are correct from the beginning. If we start playing we again notice immediately, that this is an ultra wide displays. Also in Battlefiled 4 we're under the impression that our peripheral view is limited. Again this is the case, despite the fact, that we're dealing with a curved display. Apparently, if there was no curvature, the field of view would be even more limited. On the other hand, cut sceens are highly immersive and sometimes it really feels like the display is sucking you into the game.
Apparently FPS gamers have high expectations when it comes to response times. Lots of fast mouse movements could possibly result in striation. The X34 is capable of displaying pictures fast in enough, which means you won't notice stuttering or striation. If we again activate Vsync the image is perfectly smooth.

Movies

As we already mentioned when playing Diablo, it feels more like you're sitting in front of a TV instead of a computer display. If we watch a movie this feeling becomes even more present. Therefore it's no surprise, that watching movies is a lot of fun and highly immersive thanks to the 21:9 aspect ratio and the curvature.

Speakers

When our test system first booted into Window we were rather surprise how much noise the pictures can make. With 7 Watts both speakers are powerful enough to make a lot of noise. Watching a YouTube video every now and then is therefore children play for these speakers. Apparently a comparison with standard desktop speakers cannot be made, since there is no resonance space.

Image Quality

Acer decided to use a high-quality IPS panel for its Predator X34 display, featuring 3440 x 1440 pixel resolution. Apart from that there is NVIDIA G-sync on board in combination with up to 100Hz refresh rate. This effectively eliminates tearing. “Unfortunately”, since the latest DisplayPort standard doesn’t allow for higher refresh rates than 100Hz. If you’re looking for a display with even higher refresh rate then you have to look for a display with lower resolution, otherwise the standards is simply not capable of providing the bandwidth necessary.

A closer look at the panel itself shows that maximum brightness is at a measured 321cd/m2 and in the case of the contrast ratio we measured 888:1. Both values are on a very reasonable level, play in the top league and they’re more than adequate for gaming and multimedia applications. We also like the fact that the backlight is rather homogenous hitting a measurement value of 85 percent, which in other words means that between the darkest and the brightest point on the panel there is a 15% difference. Color reproduction is reasonably well again, making this an overall good panel.

Page 5 - Image Quality