lcd panel acer nitro 5 an515-53 color accuracy factory

One of the weak spots on Acer’s Nitro lineup has been the display in the past, so we will see how the new model fares. The base offering is a 15.6-inch 1920x1080 IPS display, offering a 60 Hz refresh rate, and on higher-tire models there is a 144 Hz offering available, although with the limited GPU offerings, that is likely overkill for this machine. There is no G-SYNC available either, so although 144 Hz displays are fantastic, the Acer Nitro 5 likely won’t be able to achieve that kind of framerate at its native resolution anyway.

To see how the Acer Nitro 5’s display performs, we test it using Portrail Display’s Calman software suite with a custom workflow. Brightness and contrast measurements are done with the X-Rite i1Display Pro colorimeter, and color accuracy testing is done with the X-Rite i1 Pro 2 spectrophotometer.

To hit a price target, one of the first areas generally cut is the display backlighting, and that is certainly the case here. At just 260 nits of peak brightness, the Acer Nitro 5 is one of the least-bright displays we have tested recently. That being said, it does offer relatively good black levels, so the overall contrast ratio is very solid at 1300:1.

At 200 nits brightness, the grayscale was very impressive on the Nitro 5, with very even red, green, and blue coloring to the white levels. The overall result did not go over the 3.0 level at any point, and the average was just 2.4 dE2000, which is quite good.

Unfortunately for the Acer Nitro 5, the good grayscale is not backed up by good color accuracy. The Nitro 5 backlighting is not only dim, it can not even get close to covering the entire sRGB color gamut. The blue values are very undersaturated at 100% levels, but red and green are both unable to hit the correct target either, so the secondary colors are quite far off the mark as well.

Gamut tests the color accuracy at 100% levels for the primary and secondary colors, and the saturation test does the same thing but at 4-bit steps from 0% to 100%. The blue levels are some of the worst results we have seen in years, with a peak error level of almost 17. For reference, error levels of 3.0 are considered accurate, and under 1.0 is considered impossible for the eye to distinguish.

The Gretag Macbeth swatch tests not just the primary and secondary colors, but many others as well, including the important skin tones. With the display unable to achieve the full sRGB gamut, the GMB results are unsurprisingly poor. The average error level is helped by reasonable grayscale, but most of the other colors are quite far off.

The colorchecker tests a sample of colors, and displays the target color on the bottom with the measured color on the top, to give a visual indication of the inaccuracy of the display. This is a relative result, as any errors in your own display will change the output, but it is still a handy way to more easily interpret the error levels shown above. It is not very pretty for the Acer Nitro 5.

Going into this review, there were not high hopes for the display. It is an area where Acer has found room to keep costs down in the past, and if we are being honest, it is an area where you expect less than ideal results in a budget-focused design. That being said, $300 iPads and $500 Surface tablets ship with full sRGB displays that are calibrated per-device. This display is fine for what it is. It is an IPS display, with good viewing angles, and at least on the review unit, good white values, but although some slack must be given Acer due to the tight budget on this device, it is still a bad display.

Accurate to the T. Unlike gamers, content creators have more stringent requirements for an ideal laptop display. In this article, we will look into several factors that determine an ideal LCD panel for a content creator or workstation laptop, including factors such as pixel density, color gamuts, color accuracy, and more. We take the implementation of LCD displays in high-end MSI content creation laptops as examples to explain the basics. (Sponsored article.)

In our previous article on laptop displays for gamers, we"ve seen some of the important aspects that govern LCD panel choice and performance. This article aims to be an extension of that and will focus on some critical factors that professional users would look into while purchasing a workstation laptop.

Unlike gamers who can make do with fairly decent color accuracy and color-gamut coverage, creative pros require these parameters to be the best they can get. Working with high-resolution images and video for critical projects demands not only the required processing horsepower but also a capable display that is as true to real life as possible.

In this article, we will take a look at how some of these parameters such as pixel density, color gamut, color calibration, and color accuracy are factored in while deciding on a laptop display for content creators. We illustrate how these parameters are factored-in during the creation of premium MSI notebooks for content creators.

Pixel density, also known as pixels per inch (PPI), refers to the number of pixels per square inch of the display. The higher the pixel density, the more information can be displayed on the screen. Pixel density also correlates with the resolution of the display. For example, the pixel density of a 15.6-inch FHD display comes to around 141 while a UHD display on the same screen size yields 282.4 pixels per inch. Therefore, many more pixels can be accommodated in case of the UHD display on the same screen area, resulting in much more detail, sharper fonts, smoother lines, and overall a greatly enhanced viewing experience.

In our previous article, we gave an introduction to the concept of color gamut. Basically, color gamut specifies the range of colors that the display can show in comparison to the colors perceived by the human eye. Displays with wider color gamuts are of utmost importance to content creators, especially those who work on photography and color-sensitive video-editing.

Commonly used standards include sRGB, NTSC, and AdobeRGB. Most LCD panels in the market list out the color gamut standards they adhere to and the extent of coverage. Professionals tend to look at the AdobeRGB coverage as it allows for more vivid colors than what sRGB can. There can be a lot of variation in color gamuts, so a standardized system helps to determine if the LCD monitor is displaying the colors it should.

The graph on the right is what is referred to as the xy chromaticity diagram established by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE). In the graph, the color perception of the human eye is represented by the inverted U-shaped area and individual color gamut standards are denoted by triangles. The larger the size of each triangle, the wider is the color coverage of the panel for that particular standard. The panel cannot display colors outside the corresponding triangle"s area.

sRGB is the commonly used color gamut standard across LCD monitors, printers, and most digital cameras. However, the overall color range of sRGB is very limited and does not include highly saturated colors. Adobe RGB overcomes this limitation, and panels supporting this color gamut standard can display a much more vivid color profile, especially when considering the greens. The image below illustrates this nicely.

With this information in mind, let us have a look at the color-gamut coverage of a high-end MSI content creator laptop. We see that the laptop"s display can cover nearly 100% of both the sRGB and the AdobeRGB color standards. This is an excellent color reproduction for a content creation notebook. MSI equips most of its laptops with True Color technology from Portrait Displays Inc. to ensure color gamut reproduction as close as possible to 100% sRGB or 100% AdobeRGB.

MSI first introduced True Color technology in 2014 and continues to use it across its portfolio. The process starts right from inspecting the panels coming from the factory. Each panel is color calibrated, which includes setting the ideal color temperature, color gamut, and grayscale values. These are then calibrated and adjusted using a color profile suited for the monitor before shipping.

True Color encompasses a suite of features that offer users a lot of control in fine-tuning the color profile. With True Color, users can share color profiles, adjust color temperature, and sync their settings across supported displays.

Delta E is a measure of the color difference that can be perceived by a human eye. In general, a Delta E value of 1 implies that two colors can be just about differentiated by the human eye while a Delta E of 0 implies that the colors are mathematically the same. Delta E values less than 2 are imperceptible due to limitations in human eyesight. Those requiring accurate color reproduction look out for the Delta E value that is calibrated at the factory. While content creator laptop displays generally have very low Delta E, depending on the display type, it is also possible to further calibrate the display and reduce the Delta E to less than 1.0. LCD panels with lower Delta E values display more accurate colors that are true-to-life as possible.

CalMAN is a popular tool used for color calibration across various industries. CalMAN offers hardware support for most modern LCD panels and is a valuable tool across the production chain right from post production to broadcasting. While MSI"s True Color technology helps in getting a color-accurate display right from the first step of display production, the "CalMAN Verified" branding assures customers in knowing that they are really getting their money"s worth. "CalMAN Verified" displays add an extra layer of assurance for both content creation and consumption. High-end MSI content creation laptops with a 4K panel carry this branding to assure creative pros that they are getting a highly color-accurate display. Whether editing a beautiful landscape photo, color-grading film footage, or even immersive entertainment, MSI laptops with "CalMAN Verified" displays offer a great true-to-life viewing experience.

In this article, we have provided a brief overview into what goes into some of the important criteria concerning selection of LCD panels for content creation notebooks. While you do have specialized monitors for professionals, a color-accurate laptop display is an indispensable tool for those on the go.

MSI content creation laptops such as the Prestige 14 and Prestige 15 offer a "True Pixel" display experience that combines a high resolution (4K), high density (>220 PPI) display with nearly 100% AdobeRGB coverage and impeccable color accuracy guaranteed by MSI"s True Color technology and "CalMAN Verified" branding so you know you are getting the absolute best canvas for unhindered creativity.

As always, we make sure to incorporate extensive display testing in our reviews so that you can make an informed purchase. We even offer calibrated color profiles that can be freely downloaded from our corresponding review pages.

We hope this primer on LCD panel selection for content creators was helpful in offering a high-level know-how into this important aspect of laptop purchase. Watch this space for more upcoming laptop 101 articles, including touchpad design and more.

The Acer Nitro 5 (reviewed at $2,299), jam-packed with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, is like store-bought pizza. After you pop it into the oven and chow down on it, does it taste good? Sure! However, once you compare it to the cheesy, delectable slices from your local mom and pop’s pizzeria, you start questioning your new box of DiGiorno. They have the same ingredients and a similar price, but the fresh-out-of-the-brick-oven pizzas have an edge.

In the same way, the Nitro 5, on paper, is an excellent gaming laptop, but it loses its razzle and dazzle after comparing it to other heavy hitters with similar internals. It’s a decent option and you wouldn’t mind spending money on it, but there are better competitors out there that offer more pizzazz — heh-heh — for the same price.

The Nitro 5 series typically targets budget-conscious gamers, but Acer kicked it up a notch by offering some beefy internals and catering to a crowd with money to blow. Though my pizza analogy may come across as a critique of the Nitro 5, it holds up surprisingly well in the premium space. There are plenty of aspects of this Acer gaming rig that I adore and I wouldn’t rule it out as one of the best gaming laptops, but after running our in-house tests on the Nitro 5, I can’t help but feel as if the grass is greener on the other side.

My review unit costs $2,299; it’s jam-packed with an octa-core, 3.3-GHz AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 with 8GB of VRAM, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a 15.6-inch, 2560 x 1440-pixel IPS display with a 165Hz refresh rate.

If that configuration is too expensive for your tastes, there’s another AMD model at almost half the price. For $1,699, you can snag a Nitro 5 with an octa-core, 3.2-GHz AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a 15.6-inch, 2560 x 1440-pixel display.

The onyx-coated lid features an Acer logo and two squiggly black lines that appear to be striking the hinge like dual lightning bolts. Speaking of the hinge, you’ll spot the word “Nitro” in bold red letters on it. Keep your microfiber cloth handy because the chassis — particularly the lid — attracts fingerprints like a moth to a flame. You may notice that the chassis feels a little plasticky, and well, that’s because it is, indeed, made out of plastic. This doesn’t faze me too much. After all, plastic is less susceptible to overheating while gaming.

The side bezels are slim, but the chin and top bezel are thick. The panel’s corners have an eye-catching, beveled-edge design. Moving on to the deck, it features a keyboard with a black-and-white motif. Some keys stand out more than others because they’re defined with a thick, white outline. Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of the layout (I’ll dive into its hiccups in the keyboard section below).

At 5.1 pounds and 14.3 x 10 x 0.9 inches, the Acer Nitro 5 is heavier than the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 (14.0 x 9.6 x 0.8 inches, 4.2 pounds) and the Razer Blade 15 Advanced (14 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches, 4.4 pounds), but lighter than the hefty Alienware m17 R4 (15.7 x 11.6 x 0.7-0.9 inches, 6.6 inches)

On the left side, you’ll find an RJ45 Ethernet port, a USB Type-A port, a headset jack and a Kensington lock slot. On the right side, you’ll discover an HDMI 2.1 port, another USB Type-A port and a USB Type-C port. And no, the latter is not of the Thunderbolt variety, which is a limitation of AMD-equipped laptops.

Margot Robbie, while shooting enemies with two guns in her hands, spun around in maniacal glee in a dazzling, eye-catching scarlet dress, showing off panel’s color reproduction prowess. I spotted the specks of lint that populated John Kinnaman’s backpack straps — a testament to the display’s ability to render sharp imagery. I even saw the intricate details of the tattoo on his arm, which featured the side profile of a woman.

Unfortunately, the Acer gaming rig is a little bit on the dim side. It emanates only 284 nits of brightness, which is dimmer than the average premium gaming laptop (324 nits), the ROG Zephyrus G15 (286 nits) and the m17 R4 (316 nits), but is brighter than the Blade 15 Advanced (244 nits).

The Nitro 5 covers 82% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, but it’s up against some stiff competition. The Acer (finally) outperformed the m17 R4 (81%) and the ROG Zephyrus G15 (77%), but it’s less colorful than the average premium gaming laptop (86%) and the Blade 15 Advanced (88%).

With a Delta-E color accuracy score of 0.21 (closer to 0 is better), the Nitro 5 beat the average premium gaming laptop (0.26), the Blade 15 Advanced (0.23) and the ROG Zephyrus G15 (0.24). The Acer and the m17 R4 share the same score.

On the 10FastFingers.com test, my words-per-minute average dropped to 75, a huge drop from my typical 85 to 90-wpm average. This isn’t to say that typing on the Nitro 5 keyboard is awful — you just need to get used to the atypical layout.

On the plus side, the most oft-used keys in PC gaming (i.e. the W, A, S, D and arrow keys) are outlined with a thick, white trim to help them stand out. There’s also an “N” key located within the top-left corner of the full-sized numpad, which quick-launches the NitroSense app for fan management. The previous Nitro 5 I reviewed outlined these keys with red trim; I prefer the white by miles because white-on-black has better contrast.

If you have a preference for crimson-and-onyx color schemes, you can get this motif by turning on the red backlighting, which has four levels of brightness. Unfortunately, if you prefer customizable, per-key RGB lighting, you’ll be disappointed because you’re stuck with white-backlit keys and no fun animations. Call me a bore, but I don’t mind this; I prefer gaming without the fanfare of distracting light shows.

I moved on to testing the Nitro 5’s dual DTS: X Ultra speakers on Spotify and listened to Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby.” The amplification on Spotify was slightly better, and it did fill my medium-sized testing room, but for those who prefer loud-and-proud sound, the Nitro 5’s bottom-firing speakers may be too quiet. Lil Nas X’s voice sounded a little nasally and hollow and the speakers lacked that full, well-rounded sound that sends chills down your spine.

Dishonored 2 takes place in a coastal city, so I was blown away by how realistic the bay looked as it ebbed and flowed near the docks. An eerie fog blanketed the area and added to the game’s spooky atmosphere. Even with all of these striking details, Dishonored 2 managed to hover around 110 and 125 frames per second during gameplay. Nice!

On the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey benchmark (Highest, 1080p), the Nitro 5 reached 64 fps, which matches the average premium gaming laptop. The Acer"s trio of rivals have the same GPU, but two out of three managed to beat it. The ROG Zephyrus G15 and the m17 R4 beat the Nitro 5 by achieving 67 and 78 fps, respectively. The Blade 15 Advanced fell in fourth and last place, only reaching 58 fps.

The Nitro 5 averaged 101 fps on the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark (Very High, 1080p), which crushed the 95-fps category average. It also beat the ROG Zephyrus G15 by a hair (98 fps). However, the Nitro 5 couldn’t catch up with the Blade 15 Advanced and the powerful m17 R4, which output averages of 107 and 120 fps, respectively.

When we ran 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra test, the Nitro 5 (6,148) smashed the category average of 5,801, but it failed to surpass the Blade 15 Advanced (6,231), the ROG Zephyrus G15 (6,528) and the m17 R4 (7,881).

Wondering whether the Nitro 5 can handle VR? You’ll be happy to know that the Acer gaming rig knocked it out of the park on the VRMark Orange Room benchmark with a score of 10,304, sailing past the average premium gaming laptop (8,782). The Nitro 5 also defeated the Blade 15 Advanced (8,341), but not the ROG Zephyrus G15 (9,874) nor the show-stopping m17 R4 (11,350).

On the Geekbench 5.4 benchmark, the Nitro 5 served up a score of 8,485, which beats the category average (6,870), the Blade 15 Advanced’s Intel Core i7-10875H CPU (6,531) and the m17 R4’s Intel Core i9-10980HK CPU (8,082), but not the ROG Zephyrus G15’s AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS processor, which output a spectacular score of 8,640.

The Nitro 5 took only 6 minutes and 17 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p on our HandBrake benchmark, flying past the average premium gaming laptop (7:42). The ROG Zephyrus G15 shared the same time as the Nitro 5, but the Blade 15 Advanced (9:57) and m17 R4 (6:44) were slower than the Acer laptop.

When we ran the file transfer test, the Nitro 5’s 1TB SSD duplicated 25GB of multimedia files in 36 seconds at a transfer rate of 741.65 megabytes per second. This is slower than the category average (851.29 MBps) and the Blade 15 Advanced’s 1TB SSD (890.2 MBps), but speedier than the dual 1TB SSDs inside the m17 R4 (448.5 MBps) and the 1TB SSD packed in the ROG Zephyrus G15.

The Acer gaming rig lasted 4 hours and 33 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test (continuous surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness), which outlasted the average premium gaming laptop by seven minutes (4:26). The Nitro 5 also has more endurance than the m17 R4 (2:05), but less than the Blade 15 Advanced (5:14) and the ROG Zephyrus G15 (8:06).

On our gaming heat test, the Nitro 5’s center-keyboard region climbed to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which is five degrees hotter than our 95-degree comfort threshold. The touchpad hit 77 degrees and the underside was the hottest location, reaching a sizzling 126 degrees.

After playing a 15-minute, 1080p YouTube video, the Nitro 5 remained relatively cool. The Acer laptop’s center (88 degrees), touchpad (79 degrees) and underside (94 degrees) all hovered below the 95-degree comfort threshold. Again, the hottest location was the underside.

Bloatware is surprisingly light on the Nitro 5. You’ll find Facebook Messenger and Skype, but no silly games like Candy Crush Saga and Microsoft Solitaire Collection.

The Acer Nitro 5 has got a lot going for it: a rival-crushing AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU, an impressive Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU and a color-accurate, visually satisfying display. Plus, it nailed our video-transcoding and Geekbench tests.

The Nitro 5 is an excellent laptop, but its competitors put up a very good fight, especially the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15. It’s only $100 more than the Nitro 5 ($2,499) and packs a Ryzen 5000-series CPU and an RTX 3080 GPU, too. The Asus gaming rig lasts more than 8 hours on a charge (longer than the Acer’s 4-hour runtime), it defeated the Nitro 5 on most gaming benchmarks, and the speakers aren’t as quiet. As such, I’d recommend the ROG Zephyrus G15 over the Nitro 5.

However, if you’re a professional video or photo editor, I’d lean toward the Nitro 5. Its video-transcoding speed is lightning fast, and we all know that time is money. Also, the display is also more color accurate than those on competitors. To sum it all up, the Nitro 5 is a decent laptop, but it struggles to stand out as one of the best in a sea of premium greats.Acer Nitro 5: Price Comparison