Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 monitor review: Glasses-free 3D on your desktop

Best Prices Today: Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27

The glasses-free 3D dream is nearly here. Just give it another year.

This, it seems, has been technology’s promise for at least two decades. I first saw glasses-free visual puzzles in my youth; then the Nintendo 3DS gave it a real shot at mainstream adoption; and a smattering of start-ups have since tried (and failed) to make it a thing in home theater.

Acer joined the glasses-free 3D crusade in 2022 with the debut of its Acer ConceptD 7 SpatialLabs laptops. It now has several options including the monitor on the table today: the Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 (PSV27-2). It’s a 27-inch 4K monitor with glasses-free 3D and a refresh rate of up to 160Hz. It’s certainly alluring at first glance, as it delivers the most realistic and engaging glasses-free 3D I’ve seen to date.  

But the more I used it the more I found that, yet again, glasses-free 3D needs another year.

Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best gaming monitors for comparison.

Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 specs and features

At its core, the Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 is a decent 4K gaming monitor. It has a sharp, bright LCD display and a refresh rate of up to 160Hz. It also supports AMD FreeSync Premium, though it doesn’t support HDR.

• Display size: 27-inch 16:9 aspect ratio
• Native resolution: 3840×2160
• Panel type: VA LCD
• Refresh rate: Up to 160Hz
• Adaptive sync: Yes, AMD FreeSync Premium
• HDR: None
• Ports: 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB Type-C upstream with DisplayPort, 2x USB-A downstream
• Audio: 2x 5-watt speakers
• Additional features: Glasses-free 3D via lenticular lens
• Price: $1,999.99 MSRP

But, of course, the real headliner is the monitor’s glasses-free 3D. The feature is enabled with a lenticular lens and a camera system that adjusts the lens based on the position of the user’s eyes. It’s one of just two gaming monitors that currently offer the feature, the other being Samsung’s Odyssey 3D G90XF.  

Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 design

The Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 makes an odd impression when unboxed. It’s bulky for a 27-inch display, with thick bezels on all sides of the display panel, a wide stand, and a thick housing on the rear that contains the ports and other critical hardware.

The result is a monitor that looks archaic. If you’d told me the SpatialLabs View 27 was released in 2015, I would’ve believed you. Samsung’s more elegant and futuristic Odyssey 3D G90XF also struggles with thickness, but it better emulates the look of Samsung’s other modern displays.

It’s not all bad news, however. The SpatialLabs View 27’s thick design provides a durable feel. I doubt that translates to anything meaningful; all monitors are fragile. Still, it does help the monitor feel more premium in-hand.

As mentioned, the SpatialLabs View 27 has a wide stand. It’s not flat, either, so it takes up quite a bit of desk space. By contrast, the Samsung Odyssey 3D G90XF has a smaller, flat stand that keeps the space it occupies relatively usable. The stand has a good range of ergonomic adjustment with support for height, tilt, and swivel. The screen doesn’t rotate 90 degrees into portrait mode, but that’s fine, as the 3D effect wouldn’t work in that orientation.

Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 connectivity

The Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 has three video inputs; one HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4, and one USB-C with DisplayPort. However, the SpatialLabs software requires a USB-A to USB-C connection to use the monitor’s glasses-free 3D feature. So, the USB-C video input may not be an option, depending on the devices you plan to connect.

The monitor also has two downstream USB-A ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. That’s an okay range of connectivity but nothing special for a monitor that retails at $1,999.99.

Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 menus and features

Much like the monitor’s overall design, the Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27’s menu system feels outdated. It provides a joystick for menu navigation, but several buttons around the right flank offer quick access to specific options, like brightness.

The buttons are difficult to use because they’re not visible. The on-screen menu provides visual indicators to show where the buttons are located, but I still hit the incorrect button as often as not. The menu is also a bit small, in terms of font size and layout, which makes it hard to read.

However, the menu system provides a decent range of options. It includes a gamma adjustment that targets precise values. Color temperature is also adjustable, though it only provides vague labels (such as “warm”). The monitor’s RGB Gains and Bias are adjustable, too.

There are several gaming features, too. The monitor has a dark stabilizer, here called Advanced Black Boost, which can increase the brightness of dark scenes to make foes more visible. The monitor also has an on-screen crosshair, sniper mode, and ultra-low latency mode.

Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 Glasses-free 3D

Okay, let’s get to the meat of the review. The Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 hinges on the quality of the glasses-free 3D experience. So, is it any good?

Sometimes, yes. But mostly, no.

I’ll start with my most positive experience, which I found in Bethesda’s classic The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This is a game I still fire up for at least 20 or 30 hours every year, so I was thrilled to see it in 3D. And, in large part, it looked stunning. The glasses-free 3D effect was remarkably convincing; the depth felt immersive, appropriate, and alluring. A quick test turned into a much longer session as I marveled at how the monitor gave me a new perspective on a classic game I already knew by heart.

Still, there were a few issues. The depth of text and certain visual effects, like fire, didn’t feel right. The start menu looked wrong, too. I think I could play the game for hours as it stands, but it still feels a bit hacky.

Unfortunately, Skyrim was the best of the games I tested.

Given that more than half of the games I tested had a noticeable issue, I can’t say with confidence that any of the games listed will prove enjoyable, or even playable.

Alan Wake: Remastered, another old favorite, looked promising at first. The game’s interface renders at an odd depth, but is often kept out of sight, so it’s livable. And the 3D effect was a superb match for the game’s dark, surreal setting. However, the experience was soured by a bug: the 3D depth information for gameplay just prior to a cutscene was retained in the cutscene, warping the image.

The other games I tried all had visual distractions and bugs to varying degrees. Borderlands 2 was mostly okay, but interface visuals were warped when they overlaid 3D objects, and a similar warping effect surrounded many characters. Problems like this were consistent across many games I tested.

I also encountered a few hard failures. Palworld is included on the list of supported games but, in my testing, the game completely freaked out, shooting jagged, incomplete triangles across the screen. No Man’s Sky, another officially supported game, didn’t render menus correctly, causing a double-image effect that was painful to look at.

Failures like these are painful given the short list of supported games. My experience leaves me doubtful of the game supports list. Does Baldur’s Gate 3 really work? What about The Witcher 3? Given that more than half of the games I tested had a noticeable issue, I can’t say with confidence that any of the games listed will prove enjoyable, or even playable.

It’s a bummer because, as my experience with Skyrim proved, the glasses-free 3D effect can be excellent. But my experience left me with the impression that implementing support is difficult, and that the certification process for supported games leaves a lot to be desired.

I have other nitpicks, too.

The 3D effect relies on a camera to adjust the position of the lenticular display’s two perspectives, creating the 3D effect. That means two people can’t view the 3D effect at once. The effect can fail if you’re too close or far from the display, or if you use the monitor in a dark room. Finally, the 3D effect softens the image and introduces a “screen door effect” that, while not too distracting, was noticeable.

Collectively, these issues underscore why glasses-free 3D always feels just around the corner. The technology works, and it’s impressive. But it has rough edges, and games must be updated to provide proper support.

It’s a catch-22. The game support is unlikely to improve unless glasses-free 3D is more popular, but glasses-free 3D won’t be popular unless more games support it.

Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 audio

Acer tries to match the immersive glasses-free 3D experience with improved audio. To achieve that, the monitor has a pair of five-watt speakers. They directly face the user and can function with Acer’s Immersive Audio software, which claims to improve the audio experience with “AI-driven precision.”

I’m not so sure about the spatial audio feature, as I didn’t find the speaker’s sound staging convincing, and details of the feature are thin. Though apparently created in partnership with a company called Audioscenic, the monitor’s user manual doesn’t list the feature or provide recommendations for how to set it up. Acer provides software for the feature, but it failed to install on either PC I used with the monitor (my Windows desktop and an MSI Raider A18 laptop I had in for review).

While Acer’s Immersive Audio is a bust, the speakers are still decent. They pack good volume, decent stereo separation, and crisp sound even with the volume up. The monitor doesn’t have a built-in woofer, so bass-heavy content is thin, but the speakers are better than the vast majority of PC monitor audio and fine for situations where you just don’t feel like using a headset.

Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 SDR image quality

Glasses-free 3D aside, the Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 delivers image quality on par with a mid-range LCD gaming monitor. It performs well enough in SDR but suffers in contrast. Because of that, the monitor falls well behind OLED competitors in conventional 2D viewing.

The SpatialLabs View 27 delivers a strong maximum brightness of 523 nits in SDR. As the graph shows, that’s an excellent level of brightness and exceeds most monitors sold today. The monitor will remain usable even in bright rooms.

However, the monitor’s brightness performance is hampered by the display’s glossy finish. It’s almost mirror-like, with clear and crisp reflections. Because of that, I can only recommend using the monitor in a room where you have excellent control over lighting throughout the day.

Contrast is a traditional weak point for LCD displays, and the SpatialLabs View 27 is no exception. I measured a maximum contrast of 1080:1 at 50 percent of the monitor’s total brightness which, as the graph shows, isn’t a great result. And that result was consistent across other brightness settings.

The low contrast ratio is due to elevated black levels. Dark scenes show a distinct “glow” that makes the image look dull, flat, and unrealistic.

To the monitor’s credit, my real-world impression of the contrast was not as bad as the test results indicated. I expect that’s thanks to the monitor’s brightness and extremely glossy finish, which helps bright, colorful scenes pop. But if you like to play games with a darker color palette, like Diablo IV, the monitor’s limited contrast will be obvious.

The SpatialLabs View 27 puts in a decent show when it comes to color performance. It has a color gamut that spans 100 percent of sRGB, 92 percent of DCI-P3, and 86 percent of AdobeRGB. Those are solid results, and the monitor looks vibrant when displaying bright, colorful games.

However, it’s not difficult to find monitors with a much wider color gamut. LCD monitors with Quantum Dots can display a wider range of colors. So can OLED monitors, whether they have Quantum Dots or not.

It’s a similar story in color accuracy. The SpatialLabs View 27 has a low color error and looks realistic in most situations, but suffers some inaccuracy, most noticeably in cyan and grayscale hues. Most people are unlikely to notice it but, at this price, buyers can choose from displays with top-notch color accuracy performance.

The SpatialLabs View 27 posts okay scores in gamma and color temperature. It hit a gamma curve of 2.3, which is slightly off the target of 2.2, and indicates content can look a tad darker than it should. The color temperature came in at 6600K, again slightly off the target of 6500K, which means the image can appear too cool. Both deviations are minor.

Sharpness is a perk, as the SpatialLabs PSV27-2 provides a 27-inch panel with 4K (3840×2160) resolution. That works out to be about 163 pixels per inch. By comparison, a 27-inch 1440p monitor has about 110 pixels per inch. Games look tack-sharp and small fonts look smooth.

One important note: While the monitor supports 4K resolution, the resolution is cut to 1920×2160 when glasses-free 3D is in use. That’s because the monitor in fact displays two slightly offset versions of the same scene, creating the 3D effect. The reduction in sharpness is noticeable, though, in my opinion, a reasonable trade-off.

The Acer Predator SpatialLabs PSV27-2’s overall SDR image quality is decent. It has a bright, sharp panel that looks good when displaying colorful content. It’s not as saturated as an OLED monitor, however, and struggles with a limited contrast ratio that leads to a dull, washed-out image. The monitor’s overall SDR image quality in 2D content is roughly on par with a $400 gaming monitor, which means you’re paying a lot for glasses-free 3D.

Acer Predator SpatialLabs PSV27-2 HDR image quality

The Acer Predator SpatialLabs PSV27-2 doesn’t support HDR. Virtually all monitors in the same price bracket have HDR support, so its absence is a problem. Samsung’s Odyssey 3D G90XF, which is Acer’s closest competitor, includes HDR support.

Acer Predator SpatialLabs PSV27-2 motion performance

I was pleased to see the Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 has a refresh rate of up to 160Hz as well as AMD FreeSync Premium support. The enhanced refresh rate and adaptive sync compatibility allow for a smooth, stutter-free gaming experience. Acer’s refresh rate basically ties Samsung’s Odyssey 3D G90XF, which can hit 165Hz.

With that said, refresh rates of 240Hz to 500Hz are common among high-end gaming monitors priced between $1,000 and $2,000. On top of that, the SpatialLabs View 27 quotes a modest pixel-to-pixel response time of 5 milliseconds. By contrast, modern OLED monitors have pixel response times down to 0.03 milliseconds. Lower response times translate to less motion blur.

Once again, the problem isn’t that the SpatialLabs View 27 performs poorly in conventional 2D content. Instead, the problem is that it can’t hold a candle to similarly priced monitors that lack glasses-free 3D.

Should you buy the Acer Predator SpatialLabs PSV27-2?

The Acer Predator SpatialLabs View 27 is a valiant attempt to bring glasses-free 3D to PC gamers. Unfortunately, it misses the mark.

It’s not that the 3D effect doesn’t work. It does, and it looks great. While I expect different people will have different experiences, I found the effect convincing and enjoyable.

Support for the technology is spotty, however. The list of supported games is slim and, to make matters worse, several of the games that list support were unplayable due to obvious bugs. Others were playable but had noticeable bugs.

And the monitor’s glasses-free 3D doesn’t come cheap. The monitor retails at an MSRP of $1,999.99. However, outside of 3D content, its image quality is roughly equal to a $400 4K gaming monitor. That means you’re paying $1,600 to enjoy glasses-free 3D.

Shoppers considering a glasses-free 3D monitor can compare the SpatialLabs View 27 to the Samsung Odyssey 3D G90XF. PCWorld has yet to fully review Samsung’s alternative monitor, but we did go hands-on with it. The G90XF benefits from a more attractive design and HDR support (though, as far as I’m aware, HDR isn’t compatible with glasses-free 3D).

At this point, though, I think glasses-free 3D doesn’t make sense for most PC gamers. The core technology is intriguing, but game support is slim, and image quality outside of games that support glasses-free 3D is well behind other high-end gaming monitors.