Acer XV282K KV Review: 4K 144Hz IPS Gaming Monitor

The Acer XV282K KV was one of the first high refresh rate 4K gaming monitors to feature HDMI 2.1 connectivity – allowing the PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S consoles to utilize 4K 120Hz.

Image Quality

The Acer Nitro XV282KKV is based on the M280DCA-E7B IPS panel by Innolux. This panel features decreased emission of harmful low-blue light even when not using the dedicated low-blue light picture mode.

The blue light peak wavelengths are shifted from 450nm to 460nm; so, you get less harmful blue light without compromising color accuracy. The XV282K KV, therefore, has the Eyesafe certification by TÜV Rheinland.

Other panel-related specifications include the common IPS qualities, such as the 178° wide viewing angles as well as accurate, consistent, and rich color reproduction with a wide 90% DCI-P3 gamut coverage.

The monitor is also factory-calibrated and features an sRGB emulation mode with adjustable brightness should you want to restrict its native ~120% sRGB gamut to ~100%.

In fact, there are several color modes available under the ‘Color Space’ setting in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu, including sRGB, Rec.709, HDR, DCI, EBU, and SMPTE-C.

Dithered 10-bit color depth is supported (8-bit + 2-bit FRC) for 1.07 billion colors, with 12-bit also being an option over HDMI 2.1 through the use of additional dithering.

The contrast ratio amounts to 1,000:1 as expected from IPS technology, while the peak brightness goes up to 400-nits for HDR content and 300-nits for SDR. To unlock the monitor’s maximum brightness capability, set the ‘Max Brightness’ option to ‘On’ – otherwise, you’ll be limited to ~150-nits.

The monitor also supports HDR with VESA’s entry-level DisplayHDR 400 certification, but it lacks proper display hardware (mini-LED FALD backlight or OLED panel) for a noteworthy HDR viewing experience.

Performance

The Acer XV282K KV monitor has low input lag of just ~4ms, so you won’t be able to notice or feel any delays.

It also boasts a fast 1ms GtG pixel response time speed for no visible trailing behind fast-moving objects.

There are three response time overdrive modes: Off, Normal, and Extreme.

The ‘Extreme’ mode has too much inverse ghosting as it pushes the pixels to change too fast thus causing overshoot, whereas the ‘Off’ and ‘Normal’ modes perform the same.

At 120Hz and 144Hz, there’s no noticeable ghosting or overshoot when using either Off or Normal overdrive mode.

However, if you are using a variable refresh rate (VRR), such as AMD’s FreeSync Premium, NVIDIA’s G-SYNC Compatible, or HDMI 2.1 VRR, and your frame rate is around 60FPS (which dynamically changes the refresh rate to 60Hz to prevent tearing), some overshoot will be noticeable.

This is a bit disappointing considering that many games will run at ~60FPS due to how demanding the 4K UHD resolution is. So, at low frame rates, you’ll have to choose between getting some inverse ghosting – or some screen tearing (with VRR disabled).

The amount of visible overshoot will vary on the scene and game, but in most cases, it’s tolerable or negligible, depending on your sensitivity to it.

While the monitor is not officially certified as G-SYNC Compatible by NVIDIA, VRR works without any issues with both compatible AMD and NVIDIA cards within the supported 48-144Hz range.

When using VRR via HDMI 2.1 (either with PS5 or compatible NVIDIA/GPU), you can actually change the overdrive setting, but since there’s no difference between Off and Normal, it’s pointless. To unlock the HDMI 2.1 capabilities, make sure to set ‘HDMI 2.1’ to ‘On’ in the OSD menu as it’s disabled by default.

The 4K UHD resolution results in a high pixel density of 157 PPI (pixels per inch) on the 28″ screen of the Acer XV282K KV. You get plenty of screen space as well as crystal-clear details and text!

Some IPS glow and backlight bleeding was noticeable, but nothing too extreme. This also varies across different units of monitors, so your mileage may vary.

Features

The Acer Nitro XV282K KV HDMI 2.1 monitor also supports Motion Blur Reduction via the Visual Response Boost (VRB) feature that uses backlight strobing in order to reduce the perceived motion blur. It can only be activated at a fixed 120Hz or 144Hz refresh rate – and it reduces the maximum brightness while active.

There are two modes (Normal and Extreme) with different brightness settings; Extreme makes the image darker, but fast-paced motion is clearer.

At the rear of the monitor, there’s a power button, three hotkeys (can be assigned to different shortcuts), and a directional joystick for navigation through the OSD menu.

There are various picture presets available, including three customizable Game modes, User, Standard, ECO, Graphics, and HDR.

In addition to the standard image adjustment tools (brightness, contrast, sharpness, color temperature, input source, etc.), you’ll also find advanced settings, such as gamma presets, grayscale, and 6-axis hue/saturation.

Useful gaming features include Black Boost (improves visibility in darker games), custom crosshair overlays, and a refresh rate tracker.

The Acer XV282K KV also has an integrated sensor that can automatically adjust brightness (LightSense) and color temperature (ColorSense) according to ambient lighting. It can also automatically dim the screen or make the monitor go into power-saving mode if it detects that there’s nobody in front of the screen (ProxiSense).

The backlight of the monitor is flicker-free, which in addition to the Eyesafe certification and four low-blue light filter modes ensures a comfortable viewing experience even after prolonged use (unless VRB is enabled).

Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor offers full ergonomic support with up to 130mm height adjustment, 90° pivot, +/- 180° swivel, -5°/35° tilt, and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.

The screen has a light matte anti-glare coating that prevents reflections without making the picture too grainy.

Connectivity options include two HDMI 2.1 ports, DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, USB-C (DP 1.4 Alt Mode and 65W Power Delivery), a quad-USB 3.0 hub, a headphone jack, dual 2W integrated speakers, and a KVM switch.

Note that the HDMI 2.1 ports are limited to 24 Gbps and rely on DSC for 4K 144Hz. This isn’t an issue for PC and Xbox, but you’ll be limited to 4:2:0 chroma on the PS5. Since the PS5 is limited to 4:2:2 at 4K 120Hz anyway, it’s not a big issue; text might appear a bit smudgy on colored backgrounds, but it’s not that noticeable in games.

Price & Similar Monitors

The Acer XV282K KV price amounts to $550, which is too expensive.

The newer Acer Predator XB283K KV agoes on sale for ~$400 yet it has the same image quality and features as the XV282K KV, but a better overdrive implementation with no overshoot at low FPS.

We recommend the MSI MAG274UPF instead. It has a 27″ 4K 144Hz IPS panel with USB-C (65W PD) and KVM for just $400.

For more options and information, check out our dedicated best gaming monitor buyer’s guide.

Conclusion

The Acer XV282K KV is an overall excellent gaming monitor with vibrant colors, crisp details and smooth performance – apart from some overshot at lower FPS with VRR enabled. However, the XB283K variant and MSI’s 27″ model are much better and cheaper.

Specifications

Screen Size	28-inch
Resolution	3840×2160 (UHD)
Panel Type	IPS
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	144Hz
Response Time (GtG)	1ms (GtG)
Motion Blur Reduction (MPRT)	Visual Response Boost
Adaptive-Sync	FreeSync (48-144Hz) HDMI 2.1 VRR (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, 8-zone edge-lit local dimming
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)