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The evolution of the best gaming monitors has seen a number of new technologies aimed at smoothing the experience, so that moving objects are rendered with the same detail as static ones. We have Adaptive-Sync/VRR/FreeSync/G-Sync to prevent frame tears. We have overdrive to reduce motion blur. We have ELMB/ULMB/backlight strobing to further reduce blur. And of course, there are ever-faster refresh rates coming down the pike, with speeds over 500 Hz now common.
At the forefront of this revolution is Nvidia, and its latest effort is nothing short of super cool. G-Sync Pulsar combines the benefits of Adaptive-Sync with ULMB to deliver high motion resolution with no brightness reduction and no frame tearing. One of the first screens to receive this goodness is Acer’s Predator XB273U F5. It’s a 27-inch QHD IPS panel with 360 Hz, G-Sync Pulsar, HDR500, and wide gamut color. Let’s take a look.
Acer Predator XB273U F5 Specs
|
Panel Type / Backlight |
IPS / W-LED, edge array |
|
Screen Size / Aspect Ratio |
27 inches / 16:9 |
|
Max Resolution and Refresh Rate |
2560×1440 @ 360 Hz |
| Row 3 – Cell 0 |
G-Sync Pulsar |
| Row 4 – Cell 0 |
FreeSync and G-Sync Compatible |
|
Native Color Depth and Gamut |
8-bit / DCI-P3 |
| Row 6 – Cell 0 |
DisplayHDR 500, HDR10 |
|
Response Time (GTG) |
0.5ms |
|
Brightness (mfr) |
400 nits SDR |
| Row 9 – Cell 0 |
500 nits HDR |
|
Contrast (mfr) |
1,000:1 |
|
Speakers |
2x 2 watts |
|
Video Inputs |
1x DisplayPort 1.4 |
| Row 13 – Cell 0 |
2x HDMI 2.1 |
|
Audio |
3.5mm headphone output |
|
USB 3.2 |
1x up, 3x down |
|
Power Consumption |
46.5w, brightness @ 200 nits |
|
Panel Dimensions WxHxD w/base |
24.2 x 16.6-22.4 x 9.7 inches (615 x 422-569 x 246mm) |
|
Panel Thickness |
2.36 inches (60mm) |
|
Bezel Width |
Top/sides: 0.3 inch (8mm) |
| Row 20 – Cell 0 |
Bottom: 0.87 inch (22mm) |
|
Weight |
12.3 pounds (5.6kg) |
|
Warranty |
3 years |
G-Sync Pulsar was first seen at CES 2026, so gaming enthusiasts have at least received a primer in its operation. In a nutshell, it combines blur reduction via black frame insertion (ULMB/ELMB) with Adaptive-Sync. While Asus has been doing this with ELMB Sync for a while, G-Sync Pulsar takes it a step further by scanning the backlight along with the TFT layer to produce even smoother motion with no reduction in brightness. ELMB Sync flashes the entire backlight as a unit, whereas Pulsar performs a rolling scan that varies in speed with the refresh rate.
The XB273U F5 is among the first group of displays to incorporate this new tech. Even without it, the list of performance features is long. It’s a 27-inch IPS panel with QHD 2560×1440 resolution and an LED backlight arranged in two vertical arrays on the left and right sides. This is required to achieve the rolling scan of G-Sync Pulsar. In this application, it is not used as a zone dimming feature. The max refresh rate is 360 Hz, and there’s a variable overdrive available with 400-click resolution.
The XB273U F5 delivers image quality and fidelity as well. QHD means 109ppi pixel density, so the picture is plenty sharp. It’s bright as well, with over 500 nits peak available in SDR and HDR modes. Contrast is a bit higher than the IPS average at 1,100:1. The only thing missing is some sort of zone or field dimming. You’ll see the same dynamic range for SDR and HDR content.
Acer provides vivid and accurate color with around 86% coverage of DCI-P3 and no need for calibration. There are plenty of adjustments available, including color temps, RGB sliders, gamma presets, and an sRGB gamut option. HDR content gets adjustable brightness and selectable color temps.
The XB273U F5 gets the same long list of gaming enhancements as any Predator display. There are USB ports, internal speakers, aiming points, quick control keys, OSD joystick and my favorite version of Acer’s stand that looks like Beaker from the Muppets got together with a Transformer. This is clearly a premium gaming and Esports tool, and it starts at around $650 at this writing.
Assembly and Accessories
Acer ships the XB273U F5 in molded pulp that is fully recyclable. It comes in four parts: base, upright, panel, and fulcrum. It all snaps together, so you won’t need tools for assembly. If you want to use an arm, a 100mm VESA mount is provided with fasteners. There’s a calibration data sheet in the box along with cables for HDMI and DisplayPort. A small brick serves as the external power supply.
Product 360
Image 1 of 5
The XB273U F5 is styled like all recent Predator displays, with an all-screen front and a smooth back panel featuring a Predator logo up top. The stand has a chiseled look with a small hole to pass your cables through. The base is cast aluminum, and where it attaches, you can see the unmistakable face looking back at you. It’s Beaker from the Muppets meets Optimus Prime, and I love it.
The stand is reasonably solid, but my sample had a slight wiggle at the fulcrum where it snaps onto the upright. It’s unusual to have a display come in four parts. Adjustments include a generous 5.9-inch height range plus 5/25 degr,ilt, 20 degreeof s swivel and a 90of -degre,e portrait mode. Movements are firm and smooth, and aside from the play I already mentioned, the XB273U F5 is a solid package.
In the front, you can see a small protrusion in the center that houses ambient sensors as part of the G-Sync Pulsar tech. When activated, they modulate brightness and color to best fit with your room lighting. The feature is called Ambient Adaptive, and you can control it from the OSD.
The input panel is up and under and includes two HDMI 2.1 ports and a DisplayPort 1.4. There is one upstream and three downstream USB 3.2 ports. There’s a mini-USB there, too, for service. And you get a 3.5mm headphone jack with a pair of two-watt internal speakers.
OSD Features
The XB273U F5’s OSD appears when you click the joystick twice. It has seven sub-menus, and there are eight total picture modes.
Image 1 of 5
In the first photo above, you can see a little icon group on the right side of the screen. It lines up with the three control keys so you can quickly access signal info, picture modes or exit. One click of the joystick labels the keys with brightness, contrast and input selector.
In the XB273U F5’s Picture menu, brightness is labeled in actual nit levels, which are close to what I measured. My sample was off by around nine nits, i.e., 191 equals 200 nits. The bottom setting is 50 and it is indeed 50 nits, the perfect level for dark room gameplay. This menu also includes a dark boost to improve shadow visibility and a Max Brightness setting which needs to be turned on for, you know… In HDR mode, you can choose between 400 nit or 500 nit peaks, and you still get the Dark Boost option.
In the Color menu are gamma presets with offset values. Default means 2.2 and you can go above or below that in 0.2 increments. There are four fixed color temps plus a user mode with RGB sliders. Color Space lets you pick between the native gamut (86% of DCI-P3) or sRGB. And that mode retains calibration adjustment, which is a nice thing you don’t always get. 6-axis color has sliders for each color’s saturation, or you can change the entire spectrum with the Vibrance control.
The G-Sync Processor lets you turn Pulsar on and off and set a minimum framerate. It goes down to 75fps, but I had no issues leaving it at 90. If your PC dips below that level, you might see some flickering. In the Ambient Adaptive sub-menu, you can activate the front sensors that modulate brightness and color temp to adapt to your room’s ambient lighting. If you opt to turn G-Sync Pulsar off, the XB273U F5 has a traditional overdrive with fixed presets and a fine resolution with a 400-click adjustment.
Acer Predator XB273U F5 Calibration Settings
The XB273U F5 ships in its Standard mode, which conforms to the calibration data sheet found in the box. My sample did not need calibration, but a few tweaks to the precise RGB sliders improved the grayscale tracking. Gamma and color are free of visible errors. If you want sRGB, there’s an option for it in the Color Space menu that retains access to color temp and gamma, which is a nice touch. My recommended SDR settings are below. For HDR content, you can still adjust the color temperature and choose between 400- and 500-nit peak values.
|
Picture Mode |
Standard |
|
Brightness 200 nits |
191 |
|
Brightness 120 nits |
116 |
|
Brightness 100 nits |
97 |
|
Brightness 80 nits |
78 (min. 51 nits) |
|
Contrast |
50 |
|
Gamma |
Default |
|
Color Temp User |
Red 98, Green 103, Blue 98 |
Gaming and Hands-on
First up, I’ll go over the system requirements for G-Sync Pulsar. You’ll need a GeForce RTX 40 or 50-series GPU connected via DisplayPort 1.4 or better. You’ll also need a specific monitor like the XB273U F5, or AOC’s AG276QSG2, MSI’s MPG272QRF X36, or the Asus XG27AQNGV.
In my case, it worked right away once I changed the refresh rate to 360 Hz in the Nvidia control panel. No other settings changes were required. I used Nvidia’s LDAT Display Test to show moving patterns and the clarity improvement was visible and significant. Visually, there is no difference in motion resolution between the XB273U F5 and a premium OLED. There is no change in brightness either when toggling Pulsar on and off. I saw no artifacts of any kind, no ghosting, no ringing, no phasing, no flickering, no nuttin’, just perfect clarity. I also varied the framerate using the provided slider and Pulsar kept the pattern clear right down to the 90fps limit. Any other LCD monitor would be a blurry mess below 150fps. There is no doubt that this thing works as advertised.
Turning to games, I continued to see no difference between the XB273U F5 and a premium OLED monitor. It has extremely low input lag, which gives it cat-like reflexes and instant response to control inputs. I noted that the frame rate remained below 320 fps. According to the information I received, Pulsar does this to keep low latency and V-Sync active. In practice, there was never a hesitation or stutter during frame rate transitions. My GeForce RTX 4090 card kept the action between 300 and 320 fps, and the video processing was flawless.
The image quality is excellent despite the XB273U F5’s lack of zone dimming. Contrast is solid for IPS at around 1,100:1, which showed me finely detailed shadows and bright highlights. The light cap is over 500 nits, but I played SDR games at around 200 nits, which was plenty. In HDR mode, I left the limit at 500 nits, and it produced an impactful image that was neither overly bright nor fatiguing. With the lights off, I preferred to set the peak at 400 nits. It was nice to have this ability. Most monitors have just one HDR brightness setting, maximum.
The XB273U F5 is useful for productivity as well, with smooth pixel density, 109 ppi, and enough contrast to render small fonts and icons clearly. I appreciated its accurate sRGB mode, which was handy in Photoshop for graphics work. I noted that calibration remained possible in this mode, which most monitors don’t offer.
The build quality here is solid, but I noted a slight wobble at the point where the stand and fulcrum are attached. The XB273U F5 is rare in that it comes in four pieces instead of three. If one were to use an arm, this bit of play would be eliminated. The stand is solid, though with a very generous height range. I also appreciated the inclusion of USB ports and internal speakers. About the only thing missing here is LED lighting, but the wonders of G-Sync Pulsar will make you forget that.
Takeaway: The XB273U F5 is easily the smoothest and quickest LCD gaming monitor I’ve yet experienced. Its smoothness is on par with a premium OLED and it easily goes toe-to-toe with LCDs running at 500 Hz or faster. Achieving this level of clarity at 360 Hz is a definite breakthrough in gaming monitor technology.
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