Acer began shipping the TA272 HUL, an Nvidia Tegra 4 powered, all-in-one Android 4.2 PC that doubles as a 27-inch, WQHD (2560 x 1440) touchscreen monitor.

The TA272 HUL appears to be the first shipping Android device with WQHD resolution, which also makes it one of the highest resolution Android devices around, and the highest-res all-in-one PC to date. Other 2560 x 1440-pixel Android devices in the works include the 6-inch Vivo Xplay 3S phablet, the 5.5-inch Oppo Find 7, and according to some recent rumors, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S 5, which may also debut Samsung’s new curved screen technology. LG was the first to demonstrate a WQHD display subsystem last summer. The Nexus 10 tablet, however, has already gone one better with 2560 x 1600 WQXGA resolution.

Acer TA272 HUL
(click image to enlarge)

For those who feel that all those pixels are wasted on the small screen, Acer supplies 27 diagonal inches of Android 4.2 (“Jelly Bean”) real estate to play around with. Unlike Acer’s Aspire U and Aspire Z all-in-one’s, which are designed to run Windows 8, the TA272 HUL can be plugged into a PC as a standard monitor. It is Windows 8 certified and supports Windows 8 touch controls. Switch off the monitor from the PC, and it reverts to Android.

The $1,099 TA272 HUL is based on Acer’s almost identical, WQHD T272 HUL monitor, which costs $999. The TA272 HUL is equipped with 10-point touch support. The screen features an edge-to-edge glass design, and provides a transparent base and asymmetric stand that makes the device appear as if were floating, according to Acer. The TA272 HUL offers 30 to 80 degrees tilt, as well as a pair of front-facing Dolby surround sound speakers and a 2-megapixel webcam.

Side view of the TA272 HUL

Acer touts the device for its high contrast ratio, but has yet to post detailed specs. The similar T272 HUL monitor, however, offers a 100 million to one contrast ratio, 300nit brightness, and a 16:9 aspect ratio. Viewing angles on the T272 are said to be 178 degrees in either direction, and power consumption is listed at 29.94 Watts.

The Android computer within the TA272 HUL runs on an Nvidia Tegra 4 quad-core processor, which is still one of the fastest ARM SoCs around. The Tegra 4 features four Cortex-A15 cores and a 72-core GeForce GPU (graphics processing unit). Other TA272 HUL features include 16GB of internal storage, dual-mode WiFi, HDMI and DisplayPorts, and a USB 3.0 port for game controllers and other peripherals.

Judging from the photo, the device appears to have Google Play support, among other built-in aps. It also offers up to five user profiles, and supports Android’s Build Your Own Cloud (BYOC) service for creating sharable storage of music, photos, and other content.

Considering the price, we don’t expect the TA272 HUL to be in huge demand. But there must be a fair amount of people looking for a touchscreen monitor to go with a Windows 8 PC, who also have a hankering for a big-screen Android experience. It might find a good fit as a conference room presentation device, as well.

 
Further information

The TA272 HUL is now shipping worldwide for $1,099, says Acer. More information may be found at the Acer TA272 HUL product page.