Bottom Line
The Acer XB283K KV is one of the best 4K 144Hz gaming monitors thanks to its alluring price tag, excellent image quality, smooth performance and plethora of features, such as FreeSync, MBR, KVM, ergonomic stand and USB-C with 65W PD.
4K 144Hz monitors are very popular as they appeal to console gamers as well as PC users who need a display for both work and play.
The Acer Predator XB283K KVbmiipruzx (Acer XB283KKV for short) is the latest addition to the 28″ 4K 144Hz HDMI 2.1 line-up; here’s how it performs.
Image Quality
Based on an IPS panel by Innolux, the Acer XB283K KV monitor delivers almost identical image quality and performance as the popular Gigabyte M28U and Samsung S28AG70 that use the same panel.
This means that you get 178° wide viewing angles that ensure flawless image quality regardless of the angle you’re looking at the screen. Further, the colors are consistent, accurate and vibrant with 90% DCI-P3 gamut coverage (~125% sRGB gamut size).
Alternatively, you can set the ‘Color Space’ option in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu to ‘sRGB’ in order to clamp the display’s native gamut down to ~100% sRGB for less saturated but more precise SDR colors; the sRGB mode has adjustable brightness.
What’s more, the Acer XB283K KV is factory-calibrated at Delta E < 1, ensuring professional-grade color accuracy out of the box.
With a peak brightness of 300-nits, the screen can get more than bright enough under normal lighting conditions. When playing HDR content, the brightness gets a little boost to 400-nits for a bit punchier highlights.
Additionally, there are 8 dimming zones that can dim parts of the screen where the image is supposed to be dark without greatly affecting parts that are supposed to remain bright. However, as there are over 8 million pixels on the screen and only 8 zones, the local dimming solution is not very effective.
Still, in some HDR scenes with dark and bright objects far apart, you get a noteworthy improvement in image quality. On the other hand, in some demanding HDR scenes, the local dimming can make the image worse, so you might want to just disable HDR.
This type of HDR support is expected at this price range as implementing a proper local dimming solution would greatly increase the monitor’s price. Overall, the SDR image quality of the XB283K KV is excellent and you shouldn’t buy it for the sake of HDR.
As with all IPS monitors, the main weakness of the panel is a mediocre contrast ratio of 1,000:1. You won’t get as deep blacks as that of VA technology (~3,000:1), but VA panels have other disadvantages, such as narrower viewing angles. Besides, there are no 4K 144Hz VA monitors available at this screen size.
IPS glow affects all IPS monitors. It’s characterized as visible glowing around the corners of the screen that’s mostly noticeable when playing dark content in a dark room with high brightness settings. The amount of glow varies from unit to unit, but in most cases, it’s manageable.
Finally, the 4K UHD resolution offers a high pixel density of 157 PPI (pixels per inch) on the 28″ sized screen of the Acer Predator XB283K KV. As a result, you get plenty of screen space with crystal-clear details and text. It’s quite taxing on GPU/CPU, so make sure your PC will be able to handle your favorite games at a satisfactory frame rate.
Performance
We were pleasantly surprised by the monitor’s pixel response time speed performance. Acer has another model based on the same panel, the Acer Nitro XV282K KV, which has noticeable overshoot at low refresh rates.
The Acer XB283K KV, on the other hand, has a much better optimized overdrive implementation that prevents ghosting at 144Hz without adding overshoot at low refresh rates!
While it’s not quite as fast as the XV282K KV at 144Hz in terms of pixel transitions, it’s fast enough as there’s no noticeable ghosting, and more importantly, it allows for an enjoyable gaming experience even at low frame rates when using VRR (variable refresh rate).
There are three response time overdrive modes: Off, Normal and Extreme. When FreeSync is enabled, overdrive settings are locked to ‘Normal’, but it’s the most suited mode for the entire refresh rate range anyway.
FreeSync is supported with a 48-144Hz dynamic refresh rate range for tear-free gameplay, and the monitor is officially certified as ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ by NVIDIA, so VRR works without issues with compatible GeForce cards over both HDMI and DisplayPort.
Input lag is low at around 3ms, which makes for imperceptible delay between your actions and the result on the screen.
The Acer XB283K KV also supports backlight strobing via the VRB (Visual Response Boost) technology. VRB reduces perceived motion blur at a cost of picture brightness, but the introduced flickering (although invisible to the human eye) can cause headaches to those sensitive to it.
There are two VRB modes: Normal and Extreme, the latter offers better motion clarity but the image is darker, while the former does the opposite. For VRB to work, your refresh rate must be set to at least 85Hz.
Note that you cannot use VRB at the same time as VRR or HDR and while the fast-moving objects are overall clearer, there’s some red fringing due to the slow red phosphor decay that’s common for this Innolux panel.
The backlight of the monitor is flicker-free (when VRB is disabled) and there’s an integrated low-blue light filter as well as Eyesafe certification, which prevents eye fatigue caused by prolonged use of the screen.
Features
The OSD menu is packed with various useful features and it’s easy to navigate thanks to the directional joystick at the rear of the display. Next to the joystick, you’ll find three additional hotkeys (which can be assigned to different shortcuts) and a power button.
Gaming features include Black Boost (improves visibility in dark scenes), crosshair overlays, three customizable picture profiles and a refresh rate tracker.
Further, there are integrated sensors that can adjust color temperature (ColorSense) and/or brightness (LightSense) according to ambient lighting. The monitor can also dim the backlight or enter the power-saving mode when it detects that nobody is in front of the screen (ProxiSense).
Besides the standard image adjustment tools, such as brightness, contrast, color temperature, etc., the XB283K KV also offers 6-axis hue/saturation, gamma and grayscale settings. Auto Source is supported as well, allowing the screen to automatically switch to a new source once detected.
Under the ‘System’ section, you’ll find USB settings for the built-in KVM feature. There’s no dedicated KVM button, so you’ll have to manually select USB ports in the OSD menu every time you want to change which PC you want to control via your mouse/keyboard.
Design & Connectivity
The stand of the monitor is sturdy and robust with up to 115mm height adjustment, 90° pivot, -5°/20° tilt, +/- 20° swivel and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility, while the screen has a light matte anti-glare coating that prevents reflections without making the image too grainy.
Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, two HDMI 2.1 ports, a USB-C port (with DP 1.4 Alt Mode and 65W PD), a USB 3.0 hub (1 upstream + 4 downstream), a headphone jack and dual 2W integrated speakers. Make sure the ‘HDMI 2.1’ option is enabled in the OSD menu for maximum bandwidth.
The monitor supports 120Hz at 1080p and 4K on the PS5 and at 1080p, 1440p and 4K on Xbox consoles. According to the user manual, 4K 144Hz requires DSC over HDMI 2.1, indicating that the HDMI 2.1 ports don’t have full 48 Gbps. We weren’t able to test this, so keep in mind that the PS5 might be limited to 4:2:0 at 4K 120Hz.
Price & Similar Monitors
The Acer XB283K KV can be found for $450 – $540.
We recommend checking out the MSI MAG274UPF, which can be found for $400 – $450. It also has a KVM and USB-C with 65W PD, as well as a wider 98% DCI-P3 color gamut.
To learn more about monitors and ensure you’re getting the model most suited for your personal preference, visit our comprehensive and always up-to-date best gaming monitor buyer’s guide.
Conclusion
All in all, the Acer XB283K KV is an exceptional gaming monitor but the newer MSI MAG274UPF offers better value for money.
Specifications
| Screen Size | 27-inch |
| Resolution | 3840×2160 (Ultra HD) |
| Panel Type | IPS |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 (Widescreen) |
| Refresh Rate | 144Hz |
| Response Time | 1ms (GtG) |
| Response Time (Visual Response Boost) | 1ms (MPRT) |
| Adaptive-Sync | FreeSync (48-144Hz) |
| Speakers | 2x2W |
| Ports | DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, USB-C (DP 1.4 Alt Mode, 65W PD) |
| Other Ports | Headphone Jack, 4x USB 3.0 |
| Brightness | 300 cd/m² |
| Brightness (HDR) | 400 cd/m² |
| Contrast Ratio | 1000:1 (static) |
| Colors | 1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC) 90% DCI-P3 |
| HDR | DisplayHDR 400 |
| Local Dimming | 8 zones |
| VESA | Yes (100x100mm) |
The Pros:
- Accurate and consistent colors
- Wide color gamut with an sRGB mode
- 4K UHD resolution, high pixel density
- Plenty of features, including FreeSync and MBR up to 144Hz
- Fully ergonomic design and rich connectivity options, including HDMI 2.1 and USB-C with PD
The Cons:
- IPS glow and mediocre contrast ratio (as expected from this panel technology)
