We've heard rumblings about Acer's curved, 34" G-Sync display since January, and now it's official. The XR341CK sports a 21:9 IPS panel with a 3440×1440 resolution, and it'll be available in September for $1,299.
Although the XR341CK supports variable refresh rates, it tops out at 75Hz, probably due to the IPS panel. The upside is that the display is rated to reproduce 100% of the sRGB gamut, which could make it good for both gaming and graphics editing. The G-Sync module is also said to enable "6-axis color adjustment."
In the "hope there's an off switch" department, Acer says there's a red ambient light on the bottom edge of the display that pulses with variations in the G-Sync refresh rate.
As might be expected of a premium monitor like this one, Acer sweetens the deal with integrated 7-watt stereo speakers and an aluminum base with height and tilt adjustment. The display supports both HDMI and DisplayPort input, and the backlight uses flicker-free tech for reduced eye strain. There's also a USB 3.0 hub onboard, and gamers can choose between three reticle overlays.
It does if you want to take advantage of ULMB.
It’s a requirement of HDMI, I believe.
I both disagree and agree with the included speakers being a negative, but it depends on the design. If they are analog only speakers, and require a separate audio cable, then yes they are a negative and I’m not interested. However, if they include a DAC so that you can make use of the sound coming over HDMI or DisplayPort, even just for troubleshooting purposes I’m ok with it. Some even include audio outputs from the HDMI/DP sound that will let you utilize your own speakers but plugged into the monitor instead of the computer. Giving you options for reducing the number of cables in a given sitatuation is definitely not a negative.
The release date supposedly has been moved up to July from September.
[url<]http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/news_archive/33.htm[/url<] [quote<]Production of the new screens has actually been brought forward somewhat and are expected to be available within retail channels in early July.[/quote<] I'm kinda excited about this screen.
Yes, 100% sRGB isn’t particularly special, and a pro will be looking for Adobe RGB coverage.
Claiming every single monitor covers 100% sRGB is not quite accurate, however. Most will simply say something like “standard gamut”, which is close to sRGB, but may be less than 100%.
[quote<]Although the XR341CK supports variable refresh rates, it tops out at 75Hz[/quote<]
OK, it bends, but does it blend?
What is the refresh rate of this monitor?
Hm – not clear why a work monitor would need G-Sync.
Also, for real work I would expect 2 or 3 2560×1440 monitors would be more productive and more cost effective. (And for the “I hate bezels” crowd – suck it up, princess, and get back to work 🙂
YOU’RE SILLY.
[quote<]"Even if they included speakers that were better than my current speakers"[/quote<] You can usually get better sound quality than integrated speakers by hiring a drunk to shout profanity every time you click something.
It is for real work.
Ultra-wide screens are silly for media consumption.
They’re the dream for space and flight sims! Though you know some crazy person is going to set up a rig with at least 3 of these for even moar FOV. :p
Could just be me, but I consider integrated speakers an outright negative. I know I’ll never want to use them and they add cost to the display for no reason. Even if they included speakers that were better than my current speakers I prefer the ability to upgrade the sound system separately from the visuals. I’d honestly rather have a TV without speakers as well.
Quote:
“The upside is that the display is rated to reproduce 100% of the sRGB gamut”
Every single monitor released in the last 3 years – including TN crap – covers sRGB.
sRGB coverage = normal any monitor
Adobe RGB coverage or higher = good color monitor
Welcome to tech journalism, Jeff.
I’d rather see higher resolution options. My current monitor is 3440×1440 and I frequently downsample from 5160×2160 or 6880×2880. 3440×1440 is extremely easy to run really.
You’ll be waiting for a while. Neither 3440×1440 nor 2560×1080 is 7:3.
Inclusion of integrated speakers does not make for a “premium” monitor.
That’s pretty steep for what’s basically 60% of a UHD 4k display that tops out at 75 Hz.
At some point it becomes a better option to just throw more money at GPUs so that you can reach your fps cap rather than to spend more money on a display that mitigates problems when you drop below the cap.
You can get 40″+ UHD@60Hz TVs with 4:4:4 chroma this year for $800, and you can just play games in a 21:9 letterboxed mode if you can’t reach 60Hz or just like wide/short-screen modes.
Huh! What do they call it 21:9?
An alleged Asus rep has claimed that the ASUS MG279Q can enable both FreeSync and Overdrive (TraceFree) [b<]at the same time[/b<]. Now for their next trick, I would like Asus to knock about $100 or so off the rumored $599 MSRP for this thing. [url<]http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=27941631[/url<]
Keep in mind a good monitor will probably be with you much longer than any graphics card. My 1920×1200 monitors are ~8 years old now. Given that, I would be hesitant to buy a low res monitor from here out. Getting something that is a little higher res than your GPU can handle isn’t that big a problem, as your next GPU will almost certainly be able to handle it.
Having said that, the price tag on this one is way higher than I would be comfortable spending – makes most 4K monitors and other G-Sync monitors look positively frugal by comparison.
I’ll wait for a 7:3 ratio. 😛
It also is VESA 100m compliant (take note Samsung and others. Every flat panel should have VESA mounting provisions).
It’s launch looks perfectly timed for a Black Friday/Boxing Day sale.
To add to the above, think of it as doing a form of ‘surround-view’ without having bezels or the limitations imparted by stitching multiple monitors together.
Yeah. Can’t turn them both on simultaneously.
no you are
I *^* AGREE *>*
They’re just not compatible. Can only run one at a time. You need fixed refresh for ULMB right now
GTX980 and 1080 don’t belong in the same sentence. The 21:9 1440p res is a good compromise on the way to 4K. I would be buying this if not for the price tag and the lack of 3D vision support.
2560×1600 = 4.1M pixels
3440×1440 = 5.0M pixels
Still not worth $1300, but if someone offered me either monitor for free, I definitely wouldn’t choose your Dell
The price makes it easier to settle on the ROG Swift at <$800 for 1440p and 144Hz.
wider FOV without wasting gpu power on vertical pixels, useful in most games especially driving and FPS; also less likely to run into tiny UIs and text
I must admit I am a little puzzled about the attraction of these ultra-wide monitors. What makes this better than a 16:9 4K monitor, for example? </curious>
MRSP of $1299, street price will probably fall into the $1000 -1100 range. I would expect that one could probably pick one up for about 1200 CAD from NCIX when it is available.
[quote<]go for a more modern resolution height of 1600[/quote<] 1600 horizontal resolutions have been around a lot longer than 1440.
There’s supposed to be a 35″ 2560×1080 144Hz IPS option but details are not confirmed that I know…
BTW, this is also supposedly sporting G-Sync v2 which is what allows for the additional inputs. Basically no other info on what the v2 spec includes…
Yeah, I gotta say the premium isn’t as much as it could have been. Technically though the G-Sync model is the XR341CK[b<]A[/b<] so maybe the Freesync XR341CK will be less...?
Naw, I’d rather have the resolution and drop a few settings, with how much depending on what each game needs to be playable, so more for FPS, less for RPGs etc.
Right now I’m good with BF4 at 2560×1600 and a single 2GB GTX670. It ain’t as pretty as it could be, but those SOB’s still die in droves!
…and this Acer probably has the same panel.
Given the grim realities of OLED production today?
Yes.
It’s either AHVA, PLS or actual IPS – all of which are near-identical technology – and all of which have real-world *average* response times of around 9ms, but via overdrive. This means that there are plenty of high-contrast pixel changes that will take longer.
TFTcentral 3D-graphs the response times against pixel changes and most IPS panels have some transitions that are well over 10ms – even the Acer Predator XB270HU has some 12.1ms changes, and 1s/12.1ms = 83Hz.
I personally think that 75Hz is a realistic upper limit for IPS at the moment. I’m looking to see if anything comes of OLED in the desktop space, otherwise there’s AMVA which is VA-based rather than plane-switching like the others and comes with better peak transition times. They’re rated at 4ms but whilst average real-world response times are likely to be similar to IPS-like technology at 8-9ms, the worst-case transitions should be faster, enabling at least 120Hz, if not higher as the panel tech improves.
All I want is a consumer-level, G-Sync-infused OLED monitor… is that so much to ask?
Insanely low or insanely high? And compared to what? LG’s curved 34″ 21:9 3440×1440 IPS monitor is the same price, and doesn’t have GSync.
Nobody makes a 21:9 1600p (or 2160p) panel yet, so the manufacturers are unable to do that just yet.
The vertical height of this should be the same as a standard 27″ 1440p panel; they’re just expanding the width.
I’d definitely be up for a 21:9 2160p version of this in the future. I may pick up the non-curved $999 LG monitor; I don’t need it curved – not for $300, anyway.
the xb270hu is ips and does 144hz, with the same bandwidth you’d expect this to be at least over 100hz, maybe it’s because of the higher color accuracy?
This is the one I’ve been waiting for. I thought it was coming a little sooner but oh well.
I guess it’s better than 16:9 4K from a gaming perspective, as fewer pixels means higher framerates.
Given the 30fps-ish performance of the GTX980 in even last year’s games at 4K though, I think I’d rather see a 2560×1080 option. Screen megapixels are coming to market much faster than GPU horsepower can keep up, IMO.
If it has GSync it has ULMB.
you might be on to something here:
3840x2160x60 = 497,664,000 pixels per second
3440x1440x75 = 371,520,000 pixels per second
I guess in theory you could get upwards of 100Hz before you were doing the same pixels per second and apparently bumping up against the limits of DP 1.2a.
this price is insane.
lol
Let me do the math fo the CND price
1300*1.2(exchange) = $1560
shipping if you have no store about $20
eco fee in ontario
Display Devices – 30″ – 45″ $39.50
[url<]http://ontarioelectronicstewardship.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ehf_consumer_brochure_en_grey-may1-2014.pdf[/url<] for a before tax total of $1619.50 plus 13% HST for a Grand total of $1830.04 [url<]https://chicgeekspeaks.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/i_5f7ac3_918696.jpg[/url<]
Their 27″ 2560×1440 IPS panel has ULMB.
[url<]http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/acer_xb270hu.htm[/url<] Now, at some point I read that all G-Sync monitors supported ULMB. That said, ULMB seems like a 100+Hz kind of thing to me; 75Hz seems like a marginal refresh rate to be strobing the backlight, so maybe they didn't implement it here for a reason.
it’s nice, but not $1,299 nice
It *looks* really good.
with that aspect ratio shouldn’t it be a larger diagonal and shouldn’t they go for a more modern resolution height of 1600 so then it would be a full 4k panel???
The idea of a panel like this is always exciting, but the price to quality ratio is always slightly off. I’d rather have a little more size and little more density for that money. I’m more inclined to do a 40″ 4K TV than pick this up.
But I will tip my hat to their industrial design its amazing and the rest of their features are great. Just not trading my Dell 30″ 1600p graphics monitor for this any time soon.
I don’t game all that much, this would be a pretty neat programming monitor. I don’t much care for the dual and triple monitor setups
For that price I’d want some kind of lightboost\ULMB like feature to eliminate any motion blur.
Have there been any IPS screens with this feature yet? I know there’s an Eizo MVA panel that does, but that’s the only non-TN I know of that has attempted it.
Pretty much the exact monitor I want except for that whole expensive as hell part.
Is the 75Hz really due to the panel? I thought at these resolutions you become more constrained by DisplayPort bandwidth.
Then again “IPS” is so ambiguous these days you never know what the panel’s response time is underneath.
Now that is one sweet monitor.