New XB273K S owner with questions

craby

Hi, I finally managed to source one of these monitors after upgrading from my 12 year old Samsung, and I must say its a big improvement.  That said, its quite a different from what I'm used to, so I'm hoping for some guidance as the instructions are pretty light on.

1.  On the back of the stand there was a flap with a sticker over it that said 'remove before use'.  I opened the flap, but there's nothing inside.  I don't see any mention of what its for in the instructions.  

2.  The default monitor brightness is pretty powerful.  I know I can manually dim it down, but I noticed when I set HDR in windows 10, it reduced the brightness to 80 nits.  Is it a good idea to just set that and leave it on, or do I have to switch it off everytime I want to play a game that's not HDR, or will it adjust by itself?  It seems to vary the brightness by itself, but its hard to tell.  It has turned off the variable SDR backlight, so perhaps it does.  

3.  Is there any point to turning the auto black level if I don't run the HDR setting in windows?  


If anyone has any other configuration tips, or recommended settings, I'd appreciate hearing about them.

Thanks

craby

Hi, I ended up emailing Acer directly, and was told that the flap at the back is to allow you to hang headphones off it.  

I've ended up working out brightness settings, so that was all good.  The main issue I've had with the monitor is the cooling fan being way too fast and loud.  That said, its possible to manually configure its speed (although it doesn't remember it unfortunately), so it keeps the monitor cool without it being loud and obtrusive.  You may not have this issue, but if you do, you can go into the service menu by pressing the three buttons above the joystick twice each in quick succession i.e. press the button above the joystick twice, then the next one up twice, and then the third button twice.  Just manually dial the fan speed down to say 51% and its essentially silent.  For some reason when the temp climbs a little it sets the fan speed to 90 or 100% so it sounds like a hairdryer going which is quite irritating.  

Other than the fan issue, its working perfectly.  I had to get another display port cable as I kept getting sync dropouts with the graphics card, but the new cable effectively solved that.  Its blinks every now and then still, whereas before it was a real issue.

As you've probably found out, if you max the colour settings the highest refresh is like 98hz.  That's plenty for me, but you have to go to a lower colour setting to get the full 144hz.  I can't tell the difference anyway, it just looks fantastic compared to my old monitor.

Anyway, enjoy.

regards,

craby

BR_RadPro

1. I just got my my monitor today 4/19/2021, and have the same question. What is the flap for? Why do you need to "remove before use"?  Maybe you have found out since posting! 

I did get a 27"-32" padded case to transport the monitor and replaced the 4 screws holding the stand to the monitor with thumb-screws. 

craby

Hi, I ended up emailing Acer directly, and was told that the flap at the back is to allow you to hang headphones off it.  

I've ended up working out brightness settings, so that was all good.  The main issue I've had with the monitor is the cooling fan being way too fast and loud.  That said, its possible to manually configure its speed (although it doesn't remember it unfortunately), so it keeps the monitor cool without it being loud and obtrusive.  You may not have this issue, but if you do, you can go into the service menu by pressing the three buttons above the joystick twice each in quick succession i.e. press the button above the joystick twice, then the next one up twice, and then the third button twice.  Just manually dial the fan speed down to say 51% and its essentially silent.  For some reason when the temp climbs a little it sets the fan speed to 90 or 100% so it sounds like a hairdryer going which is quite irritating.  

Other than the fan issue, its working perfectly.  I had to get another display port cable as I kept getting sync dropouts with the graphics card, but the new cable effectively solved that.  Its blinks every now and then still, whereas before it was a real issue.

As you've probably found out, if you max the colour settings the highest refresh is like 98hz.  That's plenty for me, but you have to go to a lower colour setting to get the full 144hz.  I can't tell the difference anyway, it just looks fantastic compared to my old monitor.

Anyway, enjoy.

regards,

craby