Massive Smearing On New 144hz Monitor

Hi Everyone

I got a new 144hz Gaming monitor for Christmas (Acer XZ271 27" LED Curved FreeSync Gaming Monitor) and it works perfectly when gaming on my PC via Display Port!

But I also use it to game on my PS4 via HDMI, and that's where I'm having trouble with Dark objects Smearing! On normal settings stood still it looks amazing but when I pan the camera all the dark objects have this very odd smearing effect on them, if the game is in daylight you can hardly see it but at night or in dark areas its really bad! The quicker I move the camera the worse the smearing is

In the settings I've turned Overdrive off which pretty much gets rid of it but makes the movement kinda glitchy almost like rapid ghosting!

Playing PS4 on my old monitor (Acer k242hl) was no fine and never got this problem but now I've got what I believe is a really good gaming monitor (it's amazing for PC games) its just not right !

any idea's whats going on and how to stop it?

Overdrive should be a balance between ghosting and overshoot. Try some settings in the middle?

If TFTcentral has some advised settings for it, I'd try that first too.

I have the bigger brother, XZ321Q, and I have the smearing, too (I've initially identified it as blurring, though - so not 100% I'm talking about the same thing ). I'm using only DP, haven't tried HDMI with it, at all. Anyway, I wouldn't call the smearing bad, just inconvenient at times. But this is where it gets odd: mine is noticeable ONLY on slowly panning scenes. I don't have any problems with fast movement scenes. And increasing the Overdrive setting actually eliminates the smearing, somewhat. I'm using mine on Extreme, all the time now.

In any case, the smearing is mostly due to the VA panel (VA's pixel response times are bad when compared to TN or IPS). Or so I would have thought. But the fact that you have everything working OK on DP, but problems with HDMI, sounded odd to me. Now I'm afraid to try the HDMI. Then again, I currently have no use for it, either.

Another cause might be that with the PS4, the input signal is limited to 60Hz. Try enabling the OSD FPS counter, see if the monitor operates at 60Hz, or whether it's 144Hz. Although, from what I've understood, at least the FreeSync range with the HDMI is limited to 40-70Hz, in any case. So maybe try setting the refresh rates to 60Hz on PC via DP, and see how that affects the situation? If it smears, then it's indeed the 60Hz that's the problem.

Or based on WantoN's post, is what you're seeing actually the overshoot, from too aggressive Overdrive? In which case we have the opposite problems.

Ps. Here's my review of the XZ321Q, if you're interested.

Thanks for the help

with overdrive off I get no smearing but ghosting

with overdrive on I get no ghosting but really bad smearing of dark colours and the faster I pan the worse it is

Although after testing last night it seems to be different depending on what game I'm playing

Uncharted Collection = Terrible smearing
everyone has gone to the rapture = minimal smearing
Lords of the fallen = no visible smearing

but all had ghosting with overdrive off

do you think setting the refresh rate via PC on DP will set it for the whole monitor? I figured this would just set it for Just PC via DP

Yes indeed, it will only set it for the PC via DP. I just wanted to rule out whether the monitor is just bad at handling 60Hz. Because if it's bad on PC at 60Hz with DP, while 144Hz PC DP is fine, then it's the 60Hz that is the problem, and therefore you probably can't fix that for PS4, as that is hardware locked for 60Hz.

Ar ha, I see

So if it's Crap for my PC at 60hz then its just crap at 60hz overall!

I get ya, I'll check tonight - I think I looked at this and my only options were 144hz or 120hz but I'm not sure

will let you know when I look after work

Thanks for all the help so far

as I thought - I can't set the monitor to 60hz

only options I had were 144hz and 120hz

Wait, what? That would alarm me even more. Just checked mine (XZ321Q), and on Windows 10 I have 25i, 29i, 30i, 50, 59, 60, 119, 120 and 144. Even on ChaletOS (Linux) I have everything upwards from 50.

Does Windows recognize your monitor as Acer XZ271, or does it say something like PnP or Plug and Play monitor? And you have installed the GPU drivers, right? (btw, are you using AMD or nVidia?)

windows picks up the monitor correctly

I'm running a Nvidia GTX 970

I looked at these settings in the Nvidia control panel and not the windows one so maybe that's where I've gone wrong!

Also I've set up my Old monitor and the PS4 works perfectly on that (expect no sound so have to use headphones on the pad) but i would rather be playing it on my lovely 27 inch curved



it may just be that PS4's run rubbish on 144hz monitors

In any case, the monitor should definitely support the most ubiquitous refresh rate (60Hz) natively. And indeed, the refresh rate selection list was taken from Windows' own display settings window.

Also, while I haven't looked into it that much, but if the 144Hz monitors were indeed so bad with consoles (or vice versa, consoles bad with 144Hz monitors), I think there would be a more vocal outcry because of it.

While the smearing can indeed be the cause of VA's own shortcomings (slow pixel response times, Over-drive overshoot), the 60Hz option should still be available in the settings.

The thing that baffled me the most was that games running on my PC had no smearing of ghosting problems what so ever, but switching to PS4 and it was so bad

it was like playing on a difference screen, the only real difference is HDMI vs DP

I know DP is better but I've never had (i don't have with the smaller monitor) these kind of problems with HDMI

P.S. i will check the windows control panel (not the Nvidia one) for refresh rate options when i get home tonight, i just keep forgetting

TFT central has a review of it

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/acer_predator_z271.htm

The screen refresh rate affects the overdrive quite a bit, at 60Hz with normal overdrive the light to dark transitions are pretty slow. Maybe the extreme overdrive option will speed it up more when on 60Hz? (and hopefully not overshoot too much)

That one's not the same as mine

Although I think the only difference is that one has G-Sync and predator branding

With regards to the PS4 at 60hz

The Higher the overdrive the worse the smearing effect

with it off there is no smearing but really bad ghosting

(Perfect when using PC via DP)