Acer 120Hz 23.6" 1920x1080 LCD... but it's orange!

Well, the only thing got from Acer Tech Service is a lot of scratches on the monitor. Well, i totally fixed the problem deactivating the Color Overdrive option on the menu. Thanks alot to 10e for the advice, shame it came too late for me. Now the panel shows clear and perfect, i just love it.

Now, im gonna hit my head on a wall, or claim Acer for scratching my monitor. What do you think that would be more productive? :(
 
Alright, so i FINALLY got this monitor! Damn, ive waited a long time.

Its pretty good. The 120Hz in the desktop is ok, not as smooth as i hoped but pretty good. The games are GREAT, really good. Smooth as silk.

BUT, when running on my 5870 the sharpness of text is too high. ACM is Off. Is there something there can be done about it?
 
First post on this forum. How is everyone doing? :)

I got this LCD monitor this week and so far it works very well. I didn't notice any blurry issue at all. I am running on two 9600 GT in SLI (via DVI-D) and I turn off both ACM and Color Overdrive option. So I believe it's possible that the blurry issue is due to the video card driver.

Games run silk smooth. The orange stand is not as intrusive as I thought. Overall I am pretty happy with my purchase. nVidia driver has this problem that it will reset desktop color depth to 16-bit if you turn your refresh rate to 120Hz @ 1920x1080. To get around this problem, just create a customized resolution 1920x1080x32 @ 120Hz and it would run fine.
 
First post on this forum as well. I got this monitor a week ago. I am also having the text sharpness issue. I also have an ATI card, a 4870X2. 120Hz works nicely in games and it is tough for me to go back to 60Hz, but the text issue is unacceptable. I also got the new Samsung PX2370 LED monitor to compare both and make my decision, and I find the Acer's colors a lot more vibrant than the Samsung, which surprised me. The Samsung's text is way better and you can clearly see the difference.

I have been trying several things including having ACM off, customizing contrast and color settings and some online calibration tools such as (http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/sharpness.php). In the sharpness section of the tool I can clearly see that the Acer has its sharpness way too high. It fails the test.

I am upgrading from a Samsung T220 so the move to the higher resolution and 120hz is very noticeable. It will be a shame to return it but the sharpness issue is a big problem when reading any text. I was considering exchanging the Acer for another. But now that someone else notices the same issue, I would like to find out if more of you who own this monitor notice it. I will be curious if someone with an NVidia card also notices the high sharpness in the text. That will discount the ATI driver issue that I've heard about. Setting the monitor to 60hz does not solve the problem for me. The text sharpness can really do a work on your eyes. I am feeling it after a week. Well, any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
mystolle said:
I am upgrading from a Samsung T220 so the move to the higher resolution and 120hz is very noticeable. It will be a shame to return it but the sharpness issue is a big problem when reading any text. I was considering exchanging the Acer for another. But now that someone else notices the same issue, I would like to find out if more of you who own this monitor notice it. I will be curious if someone with an NVidia card also notices the high sharpness in the text. That will discount the ATI driver issue that I've heard about. Setting the monitor to 60hz does not solve the problem for me. The text sharpness can really do a work on your eyes. I am feeling it after a week. Well, any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I noticed the problem on my previous Nvidia 285 GTX, as well as on the ATI 5870 that replaced it. The only thing that slightly obviates the issues for me is moving my vertical view (viewing down on the monitor more than straight on), but that is not a fix by any means.
 
Viewing angle could be an issue. I am actually looking a bit up to the monitor (around 30 degrees?) and so to me things look ok. I also notice that increasing the viewing distance helps.
 
Hello again. I found an interesting post in the nvidia forums (http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=160941&st=0) which I had not seen in regards to this monitor and the sharpness problem. It appears it might be related to the overdrive feature. There is no mention of this anywhere in the user menu or manual. According to the post, it is hidden inside the service menu and turning it off supposedly helps out with this issue on the 2D side. I am including the steps from the post to get into the service menu below.

- first power off the display;
- next, press the left-most menu button on the panel, keep pressing it and then shortly press the power button on the monitor;
- you can release the left-most menu button when the screen comes on (perhaps sooner, haven't tried);
- press the middel button (third from either left or right);
a (perhaps the) service menu comes up. BE CAREFUL HERE, you don't want to mess things up here. USE THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.
- press the 'up' button, this is the second from the right. It is best to move up from here, because moving through the color settings will automatically change the color of the screen, regardless of any changes made;
- move up to the OD option. Now press the middle button to access it's settings, and use the up/down buttons to change this.
- use the exit button - second from the left - to exit the menu
- power off the display
- turn it back on and: VOILA PRESTO. Overdrive is off, screen looks infinitely better.

I will try this when I get home from work tonight and let you all know. Of course, he states that this impacts the 3D aspect of the monitor, which makes sense to me. At the moment I am not taking advantage of that feature because I am using an ATI card, so my main concern is if this affects the smooth 2D gameplay of games at 120Hz. If it does not and the quality for normal 2D desktop usage is improved, then we may have a good temp solution. I wont hold my breath waiting to see if Acer updates the firmware with a solution. I agree with the post that a good fix would be for the overdrive to kick in automatically when gaming and turn itself off when in normal desktop usage; the thing is how would the monitor detect this. We'll see what happens. I will keep you all posted, and please, if anyone else can try this, let us know. Thanks.
 
Yea turn off the Overdrive and ACM. It makes a difference in my case (I can tell the difference right away).

And if there is one thing I am not happy about this monitor, it's the lack of documentation on important features (such as the OD / ACM mode). There is also a HPD mode. Anyone knows what it is?
 
Alright the color overdrive did it for me. Its great now its off! Really loving the colors.

But, the buzzing at the top of the monitor is driving me crazy. Anybody knows the solution to that?
 
So I have time to experiment a bit. It looks like ACM is optional (doesn't seem to affect the sharpness of the text nor ghosting). If you can live with the dynamic adjustment of color, ACM could give you better color. Otherwise, just turn it off in the normal menu. (I wish the OD can be adjusted the same way as ACM.)

Not sure about the buzzing. So far the monitor delivers what I want it to do. :)
 
Hello all,

I tried turning off the Overdrive and yes it does make a big difference. I do not see any impact in running games at 120hz with it off also. So that is good. I guess, whenever I get to try 3D, I will need to turn it back on. Wondering though, can this overdrive feature improve anything at all when not used in 3D? As for ACM, what does it do exactly? I really cannot tell any difference when I toggle it on/off.

Eltia, what are your color settings? What numbers for RGB? I am curious. I have it set to Warm. At work now, so cannot tell you my color values. Will do so later. I am interested to see what settings others have. Overall, I feel a bit better about the monitor. Still comparing it side by side to the new Samsung LED Px2370 and still lean to the Acer in terms of picture quality which is surprising to me. They are close, but the Acer has a little more punch to the color overall. Plus, the 120hz does help out in normal non-3D gaming.
 
mystolle said:
Hello all,
They are close, but the Acer has a little more punch to the color overall. Plus, the 120hz does help out in normal non-3D gaming.
Click to expand...

The PX2370 like its brother the XL2370 are not factory calibrated and take some time to do. Try the following settings then pass judgement.


Monitor Settings

Brightness= 37
Contrast=25
Sharpness=76
Response time=Faster
Gamma=Mode 2
HDMI Black Level= low (if you use HDMI as I do)
Color Tone=Normal

Nvidia Control Panel Settings

USE NVIDIA SETTINGS check that.

Brightness=42%
Contrast=62%
Gamma=1.01

At the bottom

Digital Vibrance(this one is important)=72% ----makes the colors pop.

Try that and see how it works for you.:cool:
 
Ok, I'll try those settings. I am using an ATI card, so I cannot use the digital vibrance setting, though I am familiar with it from previous machines Ive used. I'll see what equivalent I may have to it if any, but I will try the other monitor settings, thank you. I'll let you know.

Oh, SnowBeast, have you considered using the MagicTune software to change settings on your Samsung?
 
mystolle said:
Ok, I'll try those settings. I am using an ATI card, so I cannot use the digital vibrance setting, though I am familiar with it from previous machines Ive used. I'll see what equivalent I may have to it if any, but I will try the other monitor settings, thank you. I'll let you know.

Oh, SnowBeast, have you considered using the MagicTune software to change settings on your Samsung?
Click to expand...

Yes I did. I have in actual time spent calibrating, have about 2-3hrs under my belt trying to find the right settings.(Which now seems I have.) Magic Tune wasn't the answer. Your eyes won't lie to you.;)

Does ATI have a similar setting for Digital Vibrance? Its been years since I played in CCC.
 
That I know of, CCC does not have an equivalent of digital vibrance. It has a color management tab under each monitor's properties where you can play with some settings such as gamma and contrast.
 
Wow there is a CRT that does 1920x1080 @ 120Hz? I thought this thing doesn't exist!

@mystolle. I just use the default setting. I don't have a chance to try out the color setting yet.
 
Testing input lag for 1920x1080 at 120Hz is a tricky deal because no CRT can do that. There is a recent thread about testing input lag at these settings here, and nobody seemed to be able to come up with a method that would be guaranteed to be valid. I am going to have to leave it to the experts to debate whether that post had a valid method.
 
evilsofa said:
Testing input lag for 1920x1080 at 120Hz is a tricky deal because no CRT can do that.
Click to expand...

Not true. Any CRT that can handle 140khz will run at 1920x1080@120hz. My Mitsubishi 2070SB is one such monitor. It may be a 4:3 screen, but one can squeeze the image into a 16:9 format.
 
Curious about the text issue: you all are using a dual-link DVI cable, correct? I know blurriness was always an issue with a CRT driven to high resolutions with high refresh rates. Sort of like trying to run a standard 60hz WUXGA panel with a VGA cable--it looks terrible.
 
sadbuttrue said:
Not true. Any CRT that can handle 140khz will run at 1920x1080@120hz. My Mitsubishi 2070SB is one such monitor. It may be a 4:3 screen, but one can squeeze the image into a 16:9 format.
Click to expand...

Have you actually done that? The specs (link goes to pdf file) seem to say it supports higher resolutions but at lower Hz.
 
evilsofa said:
Have you actually done that? The specs (link goes to pdf file) seem to say it supports higher resolutions but at lower Hz.
Click to expand...

Yes. I hadn't tried it for a while, so decidied to make sure before posting. It looks rather cute when smooshed into a tiny 16:9 image :)
 
@SKYY. My impression so far is that this LCD is meant to be used with DVI-D. Otherwise, you can get something similar for half the price and run at 60Hz instead. The blurriness goes away once you turn off the OD function. The OD function (AFAIK) is meant to reduce ghosting in 3D vision. So if you are just gaming in 2D (like me), turn off OD would do the trick.
 
Has anyone successfully calibrated this monitor with some kind of colorimeter under nVidia driver and W7? Would it be possible to share your color profile / LCD + driver setting please? Thanks!
 
I can only get 120 hz to work at the native resolution of 1920 x 1080. I'm using HD4870 and the 10.3b drivers.

Is there any fix to this? Any resolution lower than the native res. in quake live gives me 75 or 60 hz.
 
Call me crazy, but I rather like that shade of orange. It's as tasteful as it can get while remaining orange. Could be worse, like fuchsia.
 
spikeline said:
Call me crazy, but I rather like that shade of orange. It's as tasteful as it can get while remaining orange. Could be worse, like fuchsia.
Click to expand...

Just got mine a few weeks ago, the orange really doesn't look bad, sometimes colors don't come off as well in pictures as they do in real life. My wife is really picky about colors and she even thought that it looked cool.... I think it looks nice in person, especially since I have some orange and black headphones that seem to go well with it (ben heck headphones).
 
sekira05 said:
I can only get 120 hz to work at the native resolution of 1920 x 1080. I'm using HD4870 and the 10.3b drivers.

Is there any fix to this? Any resolution lower than the native res. in quake live gives me 75 or 60 hz.
Click to expand...

Its a ATI problem, the only driver that lets you enable 120hz in any resolution are the 10.2.
The funny thing is that they announced this new feature in 10.2, but in new drivers is disabled again :rolleyes:
 
Hey can anyone who has professionally calibrated this monitor give us their settings for contrast, brightness, color temp, etc... That would be a great resource on this thread.
Thanks so much.
 
to calibrate the monitor i suggest you to use the bundled software Acer eDisplay Management
oem_gui.gif

if you can't find your acer cd, you can download from http://www.portrait.com/dtune/acr/enu/index.html]here

now i would like to say something about the overdrive.
It's true, when the overdrive is deactivated, the characters have better definition as you can see in these pictures:
acergd245hqoverdrive2.jpg


acergd245hqoverdrive1.jpg


frankly i can't use the monitor with the overdrive activated. BUT there is another problem now.
If you disable the overdrive you will get a problem with the ACM ( the Automatic Contrast Management) because whenever you turn off/on the monitro, the acm will enable itself!
that means you need to go inside the menu and click any preset to get your contrast/brightness settings back. This is very annoying!
I show what happens in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po3ma4M_WRQ
 
Those overdrive effects would be unacceptable to me even when gaming, so being difficult to toggle is a moot point. The monitor is unfit for purpose.
 
evilsofa said:
If Asus's 23.6" 120Hz monitor remains AWOL, Acer might end up being the first to release a 120Hz 23.6" monitor, giving monitor buyers a horrible dilemma - can they put up with the embarrassingly tacky bright pumpkin orange paint job?

http://3dvision-blog.com/acer-is-preparing-a-24-inch-120hz-full-hd-gaming-monitor/

At least you can get this hideous orange-and-blue computer case to go with it. :rolleyes:

Edit to add current information:

The monitor is the Acer GD235HZ (US version) or GD235HQ (Europe version); both versions are the same except for where they are sold. If a mod would put the model number in the thread title, that would be great.

More recent pictures, showing that cooler heads have prevailed and only the base is orange while the bezel is black:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/news_archive/18.htm#acer_g245
http://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1262186146

Second edit: This is the GD235, not the GD245!
Price at release in early Feb 2010 was $399.
The GD235HZbid is on newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009222
Click to expand...

Both the screen and the case are awesome :D my favorite color is infact orange. :p
 
sadbuttrue said:
Those overdrive effects would be unacceptable to me even when gaming, so being difficult to toggle is a moot point. The monitor is unfit for purpose.
Click to expand...

when the overdrive is off the monitor is perfect. You just may activate the overdrive to play in 3d.

That's not the problem.

The real issue will happen when you turn the monitor off/on. Then you will loose your contrast/brightness settings and you need everytime to go into the menu to get your presets back!

That not happen if the overdrive is ON
:(
 
Will this Acer support 3D with the 3D Blu-ray player, and the soon-to-be 3D PS3? Or do you have to use the nvidia 3d vision kit with it?
 
Hmm, weird. I disabled the COLOR overdrive via the service menu. When i turn my monitor off and then on again i dont need to redo the settings. But i did it via the service menu, i think that will do the trick. This monitor is AWESOME.
 
rogercomley said:
Hmm, weird. I disabled the COLOR overdrive via the service menu. When i turn my monitor off and then on again i dont need to redo the settings. But i did it via the service menu, i think that will do the trick. This monitor is AWESOME.
Click to expand...

the service menu is the "secret" menu that can be accessed turning the monitor on while keeping the first button pressed.
there is no "color overdrive" option in the service menu but just "OD" option (on/off)
you can't set contrast/brightness in the service menu.
cimg7988800.jpg



the user menu is the on-screen display menu that can be accessed throught the buttons. There is no "color overdrive" option in that menu.
cimg7990800.jpg


cimg7991800.jpg



As stated also by other users in the nvidia forum, if the Over Drive option is disabled, when you turn on the monitor it will use default brightness/contrast settings ignoring the user's presets. That doesn't mean that the monitor deletes your preset's, it just ignore them and you need to go inside the menu and confirm your presets again. You should try using a very low brightness setting, save them as user settings, turn off/on the monitor; then you will notice the difference because the default settings have higher brigthness.

how they could put that monitor into market with such stupid and annoying issue

they could just include a 3D preset inside the user menu (or just a button) to enable the OD only when needed (3d games) and the monitor could be perfect.

I hope they fix it with a new firmware but i think the monitor should be sent back anyway for upgrading.
 
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Thanks for the info, I just got the monitor at the office now. Pulled it out and hooked it up to my lappy to test it out. No 120hz over analog so I couldn't test out the 3D (bought the 3D Vision kit too)!?!

Does the ACM reset if the monitor is asleep? All I have to do to get my presets back is to go into the menu? Do I need to enable Over Drive for 3D Vision?
 
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I just bought the Acer GD245HQ LCD and so far I think it's a really great monitor. The overdrive being turned on doesn't bother me at all and I think people are over exaggerating when they say it makes the desktop look like crap. On my monitor it's hardly noticeable. After playing various games, especially games like PES 6,2010 & Fifa 10, you'll need to have the OD turned on or you'll suffer from motion blur, even if you're gaming at 120hz. For anyone who is into gaming, movies or just general use, I would definitely recommend this monitor. I just sent back a HP ZR24W IPS panel and that was crap for gaming and movies compared to this monitor. No dead pixels, no back lighting problems and the viewing angles are not too bad for a TN panel, so I'm more than happy with my purchase.
 
It really did turn out to be a good buy and I'm also keeping Over Drive on. I ran windows calibration on it and now it looks great. I set MW2 to 120hz and all I can say is hot butter smooth. Also I hardly notice any tearing without v-sync, not how it use to be with my 60hz before, doesn't mean its gone completely, but hardly noticeable.
 
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