Acer has announced a slew of new gaming monitors for CES, including a 57-inch dual-4K monster. Other models include 34-inch and 39-inch OLEDs, plus a 34-inch mini-LED panel.
But let's kick off with the beast, the Acer Predator Z57. Acer isn't saying it, but we very much suspect this is based on the very same 57-inch as the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 G95NC , which we reviewed late last year.
The headline specs look near enough identical and include a 57-inch 32:9 aspect panel using VA technology. There can't be too many panel suppliers offering such a beast.
There are a few details differences, however. Samsung quotes 2,392 zones for its mini-LED backlight, while Acer puts its at 2,304. The two panels may still share identical hardware, just implemented slightly differently.
The Acer monitor is also limited to 120Hz, where Samsung gives you the full 240Hz. However, that is arguably an academic distinction. Given the dual 4K resolution on both monitors, so that's fully 7,680 by 2,160 and therefore 16.5 million pixels, good luck hitting 240fps-plus with any currently available GPU in any vaguely modern game.
And remember, you need DisplayPort 2.0 to run at 240Hz on the dual-4K monitor, which excludes all existing Nvidia graphics card. Anyway, our main reservation with the Acer is pricing. It's being pitched at the same $2,499 MSRP as the Samsung panel, despite the lower refresh rate spec, which doesn't make much sense. We'd like to see the Z57 slip well below $2,000 to make it interesting.
Next up are Acer's new 34-inch and 39-inch OLEDs. They both run the same 3,440 by 1,440 resolution and 240Hz refresh rate, but the smaller 34-inch model will obviously offer more pixel density. You also get DisplayHDR 400 True Black certification and 0.01ms claimed response.
Acer isn't quoting any further specs, but we understand both the Acer Predator X39 and Acer Predator X34 X use LG WOLED rather than Samsung QD-OLED panels. LG's latest WOLED panels have closed to gap slightly to Samsung for full screen brightness, so these could be pretty sweet gaming monitors, albeit pretty pricey at $1,499 and $1,299 respectively.
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The latter looks particularly expensive given the you can grab the cheaper of Alienware's two 34-inch OLED monitors for $800 with QD-OLED tech. OK, the Alienware 34 AW3423DWF only runs at 165Hz, but still, is 240Hz worth an extra $500?
Finally, the Acer predator Predator X34 V3 is another 34-inch ultrawide, but this time with LCD tech and a mini-LED backlight. It also sports 2,304 zones (which has us wondering how Acer counts its zones, given its the same figure as the 57-inch Z57 monster), runs at 180Hz and has DisplayHDR 1000 certification, so should be pretty punchy. Acer hasn't priced this particular panel up, but based on the other models, it's not going to be cheap.
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PC Gamer's CES 2024 coverage is being published in association with Asus Republic of Gamers.
