Hands on: Acer SpatialLabs 27 View Pro review
This review first appeared in issue 358 PC Professional Edition.
closely followed Lenovo The ThinkVision 27 3D I reviewed last month is here AcerThe same concept of rotation. Both are 27 inches 4K monitor The ability to jump between 2D and 3D modes allows developers to view their creations on demand. No special glasses or VR goggles required; just render.
This is a combination of hardware and software, and I’ll address the hardware first. A key inclusion is a pair of eye-tracking camera; Here, they’re on the top bezel instead of the bottom (Lenovo’s choice), and they work just as well. The second hardware component is a 3D lens located above the panel that projects pixels to the left and right eyes as needed. A 3D engine built into the display electronics controls what is transmitted.
While Lenovo includes a pair of nifty speaker In ThinkVision, they’re nothing compared to the duo underneath the main body of the SpatialLabs 27 View Pro. These offer excellent stereo separation in normal use, but their skills come to the fore when you activate Acer’s aptly named Immersive Audio app. This puts you right into the action, the only direction missing is the direction from behind you.
3D experience
Acer offers an app for this monitor called SpatialLabs Experience Center Professional, which is your direct way to activate 3D effects. The main menu gives you three options: SpatialLabs Go, SpatialLabs Model Viewer, and SpatialLabs Player.
SpatialLabs Player is the simplest, as all it does is let you convert side-by-side videos to stereoscopic 3D. one Youtube A search will reveal a bunch of sample videos shot at two angles – one for the left eye, one for the right eye – and you’ll be impressed by the effects, if not the plot. Most of the best videos are ads.
Since there are very few 3D movies, SpatialLabs Go can convert 2D content to 3D in real time.
It’s designed to work with all apps as long as they’re in full-screen view, which, oddly enough, includes team, Google meet and Facebook. But the most obvious examples are photos and videos.
I rarely find this effect noticeable, but it works best when the engine can clearly detect what’s up close and in the background. For example, the bokeh effect is fantastic, whereas even if you go into the settings to maximize the 3D effect, your photos of the Grand Canyon will look flat.
supermodel
In fact, no one will buy this monitor unless they are creating or viewing 3D models for professional reasons. Like Lenovo, Acer believes its core audience will be architects, 3D developers and CAD designers, which is why it has created plug-ins for a wide range of fields 3D software. As of this writing, this list includes 3ds Max, Fusion 360, Blender, Inventor, Cura, Revit, SketchUp, Navisworks, ArchiCad, Rhino 3D, Solidworks, form Z, Zbrush, CDB, and Bentley iTwin. You can also export scenes from any 3D software that includes the Unreal Datasmith exporter plug-in.
You can view pre-made models directly using the SpatialLabs Model Viewer, which is actually integrated with Sketchfab. Open the model viewer and you can view a bunch of pre-selected models and manipulate them as if they were sitting in front of you. You can also try using lights and backgrounds to add realism.
This is particularly good news for Maya users, who can use PiStage to convert models to 3D while still being able to edit the original files in Maya. Therefore, you can work on two screens: one for editing and one for viewing. You’ll need a heavyweight workstation to handle this, though, and a moderately powerful system for all other tasks. For example, my aging Surface Book comes with NVIDIA The GTX 1650 handled it well and I only had to wait a few seconds for the image to process.
If you want to learn more, check out this great Q&A about SpatialLabs 27 View Pro online: tinyurl.com/358acerfaqwhile the user guide has now expanded to 56 pages and is located at tinyurl.com/358acerguide.
What, no games?
You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned gaming yet. Ironically, developers can design 3D games on the SpatialLabs 27 View Pro, but they can’t play them. That’s because Acer wants gamers to buy the Predator SpatialLabs View 27, which includes Acer’s TrueGame software: this allows you to launch supported games to run in 3D. The Predator will be available later this year and is expected to cost £2,199.
I recently tried TrueGame on Acer’s Predator Helios 3D laptop, and despite a few missteps, it still blew my mind a few months after I first saw a 3D game in person. You can view a list of currently supported games at: tinyurl.com/358truegame.
There is some good news. With SpatialLabs Go, you can play games where you create side-by-side views. One example is Shadow of the Tomb Raider, where when I connected Chillblast The Karve, it created a smooth, three-dimensional 3D landscape. It looks great, but is playing a 3D game worth the hoops? graphics processor Requirements are another issue entirely.
Flat switch
Naturally, this is a good 4K Monitor yourself. In default mode, its color gamut covers 89% of the DCI-P3 color space, with an average Delta E of 0.56, which performed well in our technical tests. Reach 501cd/m22 At its peak, it is well above Acer’s specified maximum of 400cd/m22the peak 160Hz refresh rate is not only great for gaming, but also keeps Windows stable as you move apps around.
Text looks sharp thanks to the 4K resolution, and whites also look like Persil white if you switch the color temperature to “Normal.” Like the Lenovo, the 3D lens overlay appears as tiny gray dots on a solid white background, but I quickly stopped noticing this. I never lose sight of the level of detail in a photo or 4K video.
I’m less impressed with the Acer’s screen display, which is far less sophisticated than Lenovo’s offering (it also works over USB to avoid fiddling with physical buttons). It relies on a joystick and three separate buttons hidden on the back, but it’s easy to press the wrong button. There are many options, including presets for sRGB and DCI-P3, that lock you into these color spaces.
Connection options
If you’re looking for a wireless environment, choose Lenovo again. On ThinkVision, just a USB-C cable is needed to activate 3D mode, and it can also deliver 100W of power to your laptop. This is a great technical and design achievement, as the 3D engine inside the monitor generates heat, and heat affects color accuracy; the easier option would be to use an external power brick to eliminate the heat source, and that’s exactly what Acer chose to do . This means that the View Pro’s USB-C connector does not provide any power to the connected device. Laptop.
But many designers rely on desktop workstations, where they can enjoy the 3D effect via HDMI or DisplayPort as long as they also connect the included USB-A to USB-C cable (the Lenovo screen works exactly the same way, as in my original review, But there is the benefit of an additional HDMI port). Doing so also gives you access to the two USB-A ports on the back, but those aren’t easily accessible.
You can use a VESA mount (ideal for medical environments), but most people will stick with the included flexible bracket. This provides 33° of rearward tilt, 45° of swivel on the sides and 150mm of height adjustment. The ThinkVision doesn’t have a portrait mode, and it’s not as good-looking or well-built as the competition, but the Acer has one last advantage: It comes with a lens hood that reduces ambient light.
Do we have a winner?
Acer got it right with the SpatialLabs 27 View Pro, although there are very few areas where I can claim it’s an outright winner compared to Lenovo’s efforts. One of its notable strengths is its speakers, while its integration with 3D creation software is far ahead of what Lenovo has to offer. I don’t like the fact that TrueGame isn’t bundled. Are game creators planning to purchase one SpatialLabs 3D screen for design and another for gaming? When you’re charging people so much for a monitor, doesn’t not bundling the software mean not bundling the software? I’d also like a three-year warranty instead of the usual one, not to mention a powered USB-C port.
Like its competitors, we don’t have a confirmed release date or price yet. Acer estimates late summer/Q3 for the former and £2,599 for the latter. That’s £101 more than the Lenovo’s price, which is welcome, but your final decision will likely come down to the 3D software you use.
