Acer X32 FP, all problems and firmware issues recap.

sblantipodi · March 2023

Hi all,
I open this thread to recap all the problems and firmware issues that plagues this monitor.

I use a colorimeter i1 Display Pro for color accurate work,
I love the monitor, the panel is extremely color accurate, it's incredibly fast, no ghosting/blur during games,
HDR is super bright with no major blooming or aloing when adaptive dimming is enabled, games looks WOW!
it's not a 1000+ zones monitor but FALD works flawlessly with its 512 zone, much better than what I excpected.

For this reasons I choosed to not return the monitor even if it has some flaws that I hope that Acer will address with a firmware update (using latest 010 firmware here).

HDR does not kick in automatically when enabling HDR in Windows, you need to enable HDR on OSD too.
Adaptive dimming darken greyscales a bit too much on SDR contents, it's not something that bad but it is a bit too aggressive.
Overdrive can't be disabled when Variable Refresh Rate is Active (Freesync Premium PRO), this is a non sense. Overdrive even in normal mode creates a bit of overshoot on white background with black text, this is annoying so I prefer to disable it when working. To disable overdrive I need to disable Freesync too.
If I enable “Refresh Rate Num” while playing a game in HDR, the monitor reset to user mode.
Acer Display Widget software lacks the ability to enable/disable adaptive dimming.
Acer Display Widget is broken when working on RGB Gain, For example, if I set R=50,G=49,B=49 in Acer Display Widget, monitor uses R=49,G=48,B=46.
Acer Display Widget lacks the ability to set the RGB Bias.

For all this reasons, to fully enjoy the monitor

I prefer to work with this settings:
- “User mode” with a calibrated profile
- “Overdrive” disabled, I don't want overshoot on whitebackground with black text while working.
- “Adaptive dimming” disabled, I prefer better uniformity while doing color accurate work and local dimming darken SDR contents too much.

and I prefer to consume video contents and videogames with this settings:
- “HDR mode”
- “Overdrive” enabled, in games there is no visible overshoot so overdrive is welcome here.
- “Adaptive dimming” enabled, in games and videos Adaptive dimming is simply super uber awesome.

With all this issues switching from my “work settings” to my “game settings” requires a very boring process.
To switch from “work settings” to “game settings” I need to do the following.

- Enable HDR in Windows
- Enable HDR in monitor's OSD
- Enable Adaptive Dimming in OSD
- Enable Freesync (that automatically enables overdrive) in OSD

to switch to work settings I need to do the inverse process.

All this things should be controllable with Acer Display Widget with one click but it's not possible at the moment.

I hope that Acer will fix all this issues. Monitor is awesome and all this issue are not a real deal breaker for me but I would prefer if such an expensive monitor would be more “refined”.

I hope that someone in Acer will read this.

sblantipodi · March 2023

Another issue. At default settings the user mode is way too dark even at 100% brightness, settings HDR and then swithing the “Color temp” to “User” fix this problem. This is a obvious firmware issue.

Yonich · March 2023

Thanks for the write up. all pretty accurate comments.

Ive had the monitor for about a week now. I don't consider myself that "techy" but it seems as if even with HDR on, the screen is still darker than when I have it in user mode.

The other bigger thing im experiencing, is that when the monitor its turned off via the button at the back, when I turn it back on in the morning, the display will get no signal, and my second monitor will have no signal either. It's as if it bricks the computer somehow. powering the monitor off, removing the DP cable, swapping ports on the GPU..nothing seems to bring the displays back up and the only fix is to hard reset my PC.

The firmware has been updated to the latest from the Acer website successfully. Very frustrating.

BurntPockets · March 2023

My biggest issue is the lack of Deep Sleep settings in the OSD menu for the input ports. I use the Acer X32 FP as a secondary monitor. It is pretty frustrating that every time you power down the monitor, put the monitor to sleep, or change inputs away from the PC then change inputs back to the PC, Windows thinks that you are unplugging and reconnecting the monitor; this causes all monitors to go black for a few seconds, refreshes all inputs, and then resizes most of your windows and forces them onto your primary monitor. Numerous times, this refreshing has caused my PC to lock up, forcing me to do a hard reboot.

Both my Viewsonic XG321UG and my Acer Predator X35 do not have this issue; both have options to disable Deep Sleep in the OSD. It is disappointing that such a high end monitor would be lacking such important options.

Do most of the new HDMI 2.1 high end monitors lack the Deep Sleep settings to deal with the Hot Plug Detection issue with Windows? I hope there is a firmware update to fix this for the Acer X32 FP. In the meantime, I am looking for hardware that can keep the signal active during input changes.

spiroh · April 2023

I really hope Acer engineers see this thread. The monitor on the desktop in HDR mode looks so washed out and lacks contrast. The monitor looks amazing in SDR mode. Also, the adaptive dimming is broken on this monitor. It's even more dark with it on and unusable in desktop mode. HDR looks great in gaming but it shouldn't look this washed out when using the desktop. I called in support right now and I told them that others and myself are running into issues. They offered to repair the monitor but this is clearly an issue affecting all of them. I have two predators and they both exhibit the same issue. The panel is amazing on this monitor but it clearly needs firmware updates to make it better. Things are just not working how they should in HDR and adaptive dimming.

billsey · April 2023

Please note that Acer engineers do not monitor this forum at all. If you have suggestions for Acer you are much better off to actually contact them than just post here…

sblantipodi · April 2023

I add a major issue I noticed by using the monitor.

Differently from Asus and other brands, Acer does not use variable overdrive. This means that the overdrive is LOCKED when using Variable Refresh Rate (in this case FreeSync Premium PRO).

When VRR is enabled, you can't disable overdrive, you can't change it to low, standard or extreme.

This means that you use the same overdrive at 160Hz and at 60Hz.

This results in a major issue, when going under 120FPS you start see overshoot,
at 60FPS the overshoot is extreme and clearly visible.

This is a major flaw for me as it completely ruins the benefits of having Variable Refresh Rate active.

All in all, Acer is able to get it good with a decent firmware.

sblantipodi · April 2023

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1192498#Comment_1192498

Acer told me that they will release a new firmware that will fix the "over drive" locked in the near future.

Yonich · April 2023

Is anyone having issues with this monitor not waking up from sleep?

I currently have to unplug the power from the monitor, plug it back in, just for it to recognise the input and bring the display back up. I've updated the firmware with the latest version.

sblantipodi · June 2023

iissuesissues fixed with latest firmware

RoosterX · June 2023

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1208204#Comment_1208204

From what I see overdrive and VRR are not locked together, and Auto HDR now works. But I haven't figure out how to keep my settings on 'user', I want to keep overdrive off, sRGB colour space and super sharpness off. But every time I switch HDR on and off again the settings are lost. Any ideas how to move forward?

I kind of had hopes Display Fusion would be able to set this through som DDC commands, but havent found any way for that either.

How do you change in between profiles?