Acer and ASUS Delay Their 4K 144 Hz G-Sync HDR Displays to 2018
by Anton Shilov on August 9, 2017 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Monitors
- Acer
- Asus
- Predator X27
- ROG Swift PG27UQ
- G-Sync HDR
In a bit of a surprising move, Acer last week announced that its 4K HDR Predator X27 gaming display would be delayed to Q1 2018, missing the important holiday sales season. The monitor, based around an NVIDIA reference design for a G-Sync HDR display that was in turn revealed back at CES 2017, has been eagerly anticipated, and until now was expected by the end of this year. Meanwhile, ASUS's ROG Swift PG27UQ, which features virtually the same specifications, has also been delayed to 2018.
The Acer Predator X27 and the ASUS ROG Swift PG27UQ are based on AU Optronics’ M270QAN02.2 AHVA panel, which offers a 3840×2160 resolution and can reach a 144 Hz refresh rate. Combined with a direct LED backlighting system with 384 zones, and monitors based on the M270QAN02.2 panel have been shaping up to be the gaming monitors to get, as they would offer a second-to-none feature set list.
So far, only Acer and ASUS have announced displays based on this panel, with both being fairly straightforward implementations of NVIDIA’s reference design. Neither Acer nor ASUS have disclosed the reason for the delay, but two specific possibilities come to mind: either the reference design needs to be further polished, or mass production of the panel was delayed by AUO. The latter was expected to start volume production of the M270QAN02.2 AHVA panel in July, but it's rare that we ever see public confirmation of panel mass production.
Unfortunately for NVIDIA, this ultimately serves as a de-facto delay for their G-Sync HDR platform, as these displays are the flagship of the line. No other 4K G-Sync HDR displays have been announced, and there are precious few panels set to be released this year that would even meet NVIDIA's needs. Otherwise, in the opposing AMD camp, while none of AMD's partners have announced similar FreeSync displays, any potential products using the AUO panel should be similarly impacted. So FreeSync users looking for a flagship-quality FreeSync 2 HDR display will find themselves waiting into 2018 as well.
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rynomuncher - Wednesday, August 9, 2017 - link
I am unbelievably excited for these displays... just have to decide who to go with!dishayu - Wednesday, August 9, 2017 - link
I wonder if this has anything to do with nVidia needing to use DP 1.4 for 2160p@144Hz, which includes Freesync in its spec (1.3 and onwards, actually). But that still wouldn't explain why there are no freesync displays in the pipeline that can do 2160p@144Hz.nathanddrews - Thursday, August 10, 2017 - link
HDMI 2.1 to rule them all...Scrotum_Monster - Saturday, November 18, 2017 - link
DP 1.4 and HDMi 2.1 will reign equally supreme. 8K @ 120hz is not realistic to expect unless you are playing on a 36"+ screen and playing Baldur's Gate era games. If you want to play 4K @ 120 fps (which is perfect for performance and incredible quality) then it doesn't matter what if you use DP 1.4 or HDMi 2.1. They perform the same.JoeyJoJo123 - Thursday, August 10, 2017 - link
What are you talking about?http://www.anandtech.com/show/8533/vesa-releases-d...
"Meanwhile to no surprise (but always good for clarification), DisplayPort Active-Sync REMAINS AN OPTIONAL PART of the specification, so Adaptive-Sync availability will continue to be on a monitor-by-monitor basis as a premium feature."
These displays, nor any DisplayPort 1.3 or 1.4 displays are required by VESA to have adaptive sync (otherwise known as AMD FreeSync) support.
EnzoLT - Wednesday, August 9, 2017 - link
I guess I'll postpone my upgrade to next year then!madwolfa - Wednesday, August 9, 2017 - link
Welp, gotta stick to my crappy 22" TN for a little while longer.Destoya - Wednesday, August 9, 2017 - link
Not the only announced G-Sync HDR monitors; the Asus PG35VQ and Acer Z35 (21:9, 1440p200) were both announced at Computex this year. Targeted at Q4 release.jstein - Wednesday, August 9, 2017 - link
Yeah, I'd be interested in knowing where these stand since I am leaning towards getting one of those. I have been using a 1440p144 for a few years and I tried one of the 21:9 1440p100 displays but found the refresh rate to be too low for my taste. However, I'd rather have 21:9 200hz than 4k144 since the 21:9 experience was amazing in the games that support it. Also, the 4k displays are still 27in, which seems a tad smallbleomycin - Wednesday, August 9, 2017 - link
Also far more interested in what is going on with the PG35VQ & Acer Z35. Are they affected by this as well?