X35 flickering(Acer X35 monitor)

I've noticed some flickering when playing games with my new X35 monitor. The flickering only happens in certain spots of certain games. If I turn off overdrive or cap the frame rate at 60 FPS, the flickering issue goes away completely, but I'm left with lots of black smearing with overdrive turned off and using this monitor at 60 Hz is not what I want to do either. I initially contacted Acer tech support and they said I probably have a bad monitor and wanted me to send it in for replacement, which of course means that I have to be without a monitor for 2+ weeks because Acer does not offer any form of cross shipping ... (really Acer, you can't just charge my credit card for another monitor and I pay for both monitors if I don't send back the first monitor??)

So I was almost ready to send it back when I read the X35 review from PC Monitors (https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/acer-x35/) and they described the exact problem I was seeing and they noted that they were in contact with Acer about the issue and the issue will be fixed in the next Nvidia driver update.

" ... some obvious flickering and strong interlace pattern artifacts (thick ‘dancing lines’ with textures breaking up into a heavily interlaced pattern). This is likely an inversion artifact issue related to imperfect voltage regulation on the monitor. It occurred if the monitor was running beyond ~80Hz when certain textures were displayed. It wasn’t particularly widespread in general, although BFV seemed to have various scenes which caused the issue in a particularly obvious way. It was very rare on Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Mass Effect Andromeda, although there were some isolated instances on those titles. And there were some notable instances on Fallout 76, particularly during foggy weather. It is particularly noticeable if the refresh rate is fluctuating, so with G-SYNC active and the frame rate between 80 – 200fps. It doesn’t matter what static refresh rate is selected (except 60Hz, of course). Disabling ‘Over Drive’ rather than using ‘Normal’ or ‘Extreme’ fixes this issue, but obviously that’s an unattractive solution. This section of video highlights the issue and discusses the conditions under which it occurs.

As noted in the video we’ve been in communication with Acer regarding the obvious flickering and heavy interlace pattern artifact issue. They’ve told us that Nvidia are aware of the issue and will fix it in their next driver release (after 431.60, which we used in the review). Newer drivers will include optimisations for the 35” G-SYNC Ultimate models. It affects all models which share the same PCB as this one, including the ASUS PG35VQ. We won’t be able to test this driver ourselves as it wasn’t available during the review period, but we’ll take their word for it that it will be fixed. We expect the release notes for the driver and user feedback to confirm this."

I then contacted Acer tech support and they said they were not aware of this issue... I have to say I was very surprised if this was a known issue and the tech support team didn't know about it. However, I have worked in tech support before and I know that the tech support team are not briefed on all the issues and they are not familiar with current internal matters all the time.

So, could somebody in Acer's product management team comment about this issue? I'd rather not send back a perfectly good monitor if there's nothing wrong with it. Especially if I'm very likely to have the same problem with a new monitor.

Accepted answers

Manny-Acer_Retired

Hi all,

Great news! We have the firmware update available, please follow the instructions here: https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/65552

Note: If you have HDR enable in Windows, please turn it off while performing the update.

Thank you,
Acer-Manny

All comments

spoonermcgee

Wanted follow up here guys after returning my x35 to microcenter about 3-4 weeks:

- switched back to x34P and thought I would be missing the x35, but honestly was a huge relief and instantly fell back in love with the IPS panel and the reliable motion it supports. No flash/flicker/scanlines, to me the x34P is better and I'm glad to have that monitor and not something incomplete and overpriced!

-bought an LG C9 oled tv instead and it's been amazing, not a single flaw so far with the display and it makes current high-end monitors look insignificant. With Nvidia adding GSYNC support to the current LG OLED lineup I don't see how anyone could recommend not getting one for gaming both console and PC. My experience has been amazing and again makes me very relieved to have taken the x35 back. The C9 can be found so much cheaper as well, I got mine from Rakuten.com for 1179 from vendor "ielectrica", they run great discounts regularly on new OLED's.

If you have an x35 and are happy with it then I am very glad for that too. I know a lot of us are disappointed and expected more, to those people I would recommend looking into the current LG OLED tv lineup with hdmi 2.1 support + GSYNC

SpazAu

I had to make an account as I think I might have found the issue with the flickering and a possible solution.

I had the same issue with flickering with the Predator X35 in multiple games and this seem to have fixed it.

In windows goto Start|Settings|System|Display then scroll down to "Graphics Settings". There you will find a setting called "Variable refresh rate" go to "Optimize games for variable refresh rate" and turn it off.

Mine was on, possibly by default as I'm sure I didn't turn it on, but as soon as I turned it off I'm no longer getting flickering.

antych

SpazAu said:

In windows goto Start|Settings|System|Display then scroll down to "Graphics Settings". There you will find a setting called "Variable refresh rate" go to "Optimize games for variable refresh rate" and turn it off.

Mine was on, possibly by default as I'm sure I didn't turn it on, but as soon as I turned it off I'm no longer getting flickering.

I've tried it, doesn't change anything. Vertical lines and flickering are still present.

SpazAu

antych said:
I've tried it, doesn't change anything. Vertical lines and flickering are still present.

That's a shame. It's has definitely worked on mine. I'm assumed it was due to a conflict with Windows attempting to override g-sync or interfering with it somehow.

Edit: I should note that I wasn't getting the vertical lines when pulling up the OSD or anywhere for that matter.

antych

I've tested it with the image https://pcmonitors.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/snowy-village.jpg
Open it either in full screen (lines visible), or open it on half of the screen and drag the browser size between 50% and 100% = lines + flickering. Mine doesn't show lines when OSD opens, but it often depends on what's on the screen behind it, so your wallpaper or color theme can affect it.

SpazAu

antych said:

I've tested it with the image https://pcmonitors.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/snowy-village.jpg
Open it either in full screen (lines visible), or open it on half of the screen and drag the browser size between 50% and 100% = lines + flickering. Mine doesn't show lines when OSD opens, but it often depends on what's on the screen behind it, so your wallpaper or color theme can affect it.

I spent all day trying to replicate what you're getting with snowy-village.jpg and the only time I was able to get very slight lines visible is when I switched off HDR in windows but that was on an Icon on the task bar and there was still no flickering even when I moved the image around.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/9q/euw2pvl0a410.jpg

HDR On

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ym/vpvco21acc0a.jpg

HDR Off

The lines were noticeable but only really on that icon.

antych

Maybe not all of them are exactly the same, and you got a better one. Those lines are very faint and barely noticeable on some backgrounds. This is what it looks like on mine.

SpazAu

antych said:

Maybe not all of them are exactly the same, and you got a better one. Those lines are very faint and barely noticeable on some backgrounds. This is what it looks like on mine.

Ok. I managed to get the same result as you when I turned down "Digital Vibrance" in the Nvidia control panel. (I have it set to 60%)

I then turned it up to 75% and it was gone completely, even when I had HDR off.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/1u/eu9t6zq351rz.jpg

HDR On @ 75% Digital Vibrance

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/b4/bg433llh2v9m.jpg

HDR Off @ 75% Digital Vibrance

Try that and see if it helps you.

antych

It doesn't make a difference. It's wouldn't be much of a fix anyway. Those lines appear depending on overall brightness/contrast/color etc. You can make them go away in one scene, they will appear in another. Even playing a youtube clip in a small window with the right content can trigger them. There doesn't seem to be any evidence of a proper fix or even a workaround for it. We'll have to wait for a revised model or a new batch.

SpazAu

antych said:

I've tested it with the image https://pcmonitors.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/snowy-village.jpg
Open it either in full screen (lines visible), or open it on half of the screen and drag the browser size between 50% and 100% = lines + flickering. Mine doesn't show lines when OSD opens, but it often depends on what's on the screen behind it, so your wallpaper or color theme can affect it.

I spent all day trying to replicate what you're getting with snowy-village.jpg and the only time I was able to get very slight lines visible is when I switched off HDR in windows but that was on an Icon on the task bar and there was still no flickering even when I moved the image around.

HDR On

HDR Off

The lines were noticeable but only really on that icon. Weird.

antych

I've tested it with the image https://pcmonitors.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/snowy-village.jpg
Open it either in full screen (lines visible), or open it on half of the screen and drag the browser size between 50% and 100% = lines + flickering. Mine doesn't show lines when OSD opens, but it often depends on what's on the screen behind it, so your wallpaper or colour theme can affect it.

scottba

Try see if below can fix your flickering

In NVIDIA Control Panel Display setting
Resolution: 3440x1440 (native)
refresh rate: 144hz
Use NVIDIA color settings:
Desktop color depth: highest (32 bit)
Output color depth:10 bpc
Output color format: RGB
Output dynamic range: Full

If you think monitor too bright, in Window Display setting,
Turn off "play HDR games and apps"

kot0005

SpazAu said:

antych said:

I've tested it with the image https://pcmonitors.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/snowy-village.jpg
Open it either in full screen (lines visible), or open it on half of the screen and drag the browser size between 50% and 100% = lines + flickering. Mine doesn't show lines when OSD opens, but it often depends on what's on the screen behind it, so your wallpaper or color theme can affect it.

I spent all day trying to replicate what you're getting with snowy-village.jpg and the only time I was able to get very slight lines visible is when I switched off HDR in windows but that was on an Icon on the task bar and there was still no flickering even when I moved the image around.

HDR On

HDR Off

The lines were noticeable but only really on that icon.

yes those are scanline, they are on the whole screen, not just the icon. Badluck you paid $4000 for a faulty monitor.

its funny seeing people attempting fixes when they actually dont fix the issue because its firmware level.

KingFisher

kot0005 said:

SpazAu said:

antych said:

I've tested it with the image https://pcmonitors.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/snowy-village.jpg
Open it either in full screen (lines visible), or open it on half of the screen and drag the browser size between 50% and 100% = lines + flickering. Mine doesn't show lines when OSD opens, but it often depends on what's on the screen behind it, so your wallpaper or color theme can affect it.

I spent all day trying to replicate what you're getting with snowy-village.jpg and the only time I was able to get very slight lines visible is when I switched off HDR in windows but that was on an Icon on the task bar and there was still no flickering even when I moved the image around.

HDR On

HDR Off

The lines were noticeable but only really on that icon.

yes those are scanline, they are on the whole screen, not just the icon. Badluck you paid $4000 for a faulty monitor.

its funny seeing people attempting fixes when they actually dont fix the issue because its firmware level.

Its funny people know nothing about VA monitor, spam the false information and still hopes his $4000 can be returned.

Dirkscooby

https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1041768

antych

Dirkscooby said:

https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1041768

That's great news. I've sent mine back. I'll buy it again once Acer fixes it too.

DrZ

Thanks @Dirkscooby I'm happy you caught this. Perhaps I should of gotten the ASUS model instead of the X35 Predator. Hopefully Acer will be on top of this as well. If they do I'll stay with Acer for my next monitor purchase if not I'll definitely start looking elsewhere.

kot0005

Official announcement from Asus https://www.reddit.com/r/ultrawidemasterrace/comments/e3ysgy/asus_pg35vq_issues_are_finally_getting_fixed/

Aldur67

@Acer-Manny

Can you let us know of any information with regards to this issue? The radio silence is crazy here. And to think that ASUS has identified the issue on their PG35VQ monitor and we've not heard a peep out of Acer about this problem...

Feklar

+1. I can't believe Asus found the issue and will remedy it while Acer says nothing. Times like this make me wish I had dismissed my Acer monitor loyalty and went with Asus for this model. How frustrating.

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