MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED assessment: doing the unattainable

If there’s wherever the MPG 321URX compromises, it’s the design. It doesn’t look unhealthy, although, just a bit bland. The shell is plastic, and from the entrance, you can confuse the MPG 321URX with another 32-inch monitor. A spotlight is the shiny end, which is a giant upside when mixed with an OLED panel beneath.

The entire aptitude is behind the monitor, nevertheless it’s nonetheless not a lot. There’s a pretend brushed steel look across the warmth sink (it’s nonetheless plastic), in addition to a shiny MSI dragon emblem. There’s additionally an MSI emblem on high on the warmth sink you can management with MSI Mystic Mild. It’s small and dim, nonetheless, so that you’ll by no means see it whereas really utilizing the show.

I admire how straightforward it’s to regulate the MPG 321URX, and that actually comes all the way down to how massive the on-screen show (OSD) is. It’s huge, and a excessive sufficient decision that you simply’re not squinting as you scroll by way of the choices. This all occurs with a joystick across the again of the monitor, nevertheless it’s centered, so I by no means had any bother discovering it. You may as well management the monitor together with your mouse because you join the USB-B connection to your PC.

MSI packs within the choices, however every part is clearly labeled. You get six coloration modes tailor-made for gaming, eight image modes that may clamp the colour to completely different gamuts, and two HDR modes. Even higher, you may entry the completely different coloration and film modes with HDR turned on, although you continue to can’t mess with settings like brightness and distinction with HDR enabled.

For ports, MSI has an ordinary array. You get two HDMI 2.1 connections, together with a DisplayPort 1.4a port. Which means you’ll must run with Show Stream Compression if you need the total decision and refresh fee (it’s a lossless compress method). The HDMI ports additionally help Variable Refresh Fee (VRR) and downscaling, in order that they’re completely suited to consoles.

The built-in USB hub isn’t as stellar. As talked about, you have got USB-C enter with 90W of energy supply and a KVM change, each of that are nice inclusions. The USB-A ports are locked to USB 2.0, nonetheless, so you may’t use them for equipment that want a whole lot of bandwidth like an exterior onerous drive.

I went into this assessment a pessimist. Certainly, I assumed, if MSI was undercutting the competitors a lot, there could be some sacrifice to picture high quality. I anticipated wonky coloration, disappointing coloration accuracy, and brightness that missed the mark, not because of the MSI branding, however because of the worth. Boy, was I unsuitable.

The picture high quality on the MPG 321URX is gorgeous. It’s simply pretty much as good as the opposite displays we’ve examined utilizing this similar panel, and even a bit higher than the Asus PG32UCDM with the default settings out of the field. You’re actually not giving up something with this monitor, regardless of what its worth would counsel.

Out of the field, the monitor is tuned to the Eco image profile with Premium Shade as the sport mode. This configuration is stable. With it, I measured 100% of sRGB, 87% of AdobeRGB, and 98% of DCI-P3. The Premium Shade sport mode appears to unlock the total vary of coloration out there on the monitor, which suggests accuracy is a bit off. It’s nonetheless not unhealthy, with a median coloration distinction of simply 1.37.

MSI contains three modes to clamp the colour gamut to sRGB, AdobeRGB, or DCI-P3. With these modes, the colour accuracy is superb: sRGB had the bottom outcome with an error 0.69, whereas AdobeRGB had the very best at 0.94 ang DCI-P3 was proper within the center at 0.79. All of those outcomes are unbelievable, nevertheless it’s attention-grabbing to see how the colour error scales with the protection of those completely different coloration areas.

When you’re doing any work on the MPG 321URX, it is best to do it in SDR. In HDR, the colour error was 4.9. That’s due to how brightness works with HDR. The brightness will enhance and reduce relying on how a lot of the display is stuffed, so the colour error can change fairly a bit relying on what’s on-screen. Regardless, HDR seems nice, so it’s for media consumption, not creation.

The MPG 321URX is a gaming monster, and also you don’t even must take my phrase for it. It’s licensed with DisplayHDR True Black 400, so that you’re getting nice HDR efficiency, and it helps Adaptive Sync, which suggests you have got VRR throughout each AMD and Nvidia GPUs. That’s to not point out the excessive 4K decision and speedy 240Hz refresh fee — that is the height gaming expertise for most individuals, throughout each consoles and PC.

In comparison with different OLED choices, MSI actually stands out with its ClearMR 13,000 certification. It is a comparatively younger normal that assessments and validates movement readability, and MSI is topping the charts right here. The 13,000 tier is the very best out there — so excessive, the truth is, that it wasn’t even out there when ClearMR launched a few year-and-a-half in the past. As a result of excessive refresh fee and low response occasions of OLED, most gaming shows might earn this certification, and a few, corresponding to LG’s panels, have already got. It’s nonetheless good to see MSI exit of its strategy to put a stamp of approval on its high-end gaming monitor, although.

So far as really utilizing the monitor for gaming, there isn’t way more to say. We’ve seen this panel earlier than and the superb gaming expertise it provides, and MSI lives as much as that normal. The HDR expertise stands out essentially the most, including a ton of depth and immersion to video games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2. 

MSI has upped its guarantee sport loads. Like Alienware, Corsair, and now Asus, you get three years of protection on this monitor that features burn-in. For MSI, meaning a luminance of lower than or equal to three.5% at 50% grey with the height HDR Mode. I doubt you’ll ever get there in three years, as MSI contains one of the complete suites of burn-in prevention options cash should buy.

The bundle is known as OLED Care 2.0. Like different manufacturers, MSI recommends a Panel Shield cycle to refresh the pixels after 4 hours of amassed use. There are a far higher array of choices, although. There’s pixel shifting with varied speeds, in addition to a slew of options that robotically detect and dim static components in your display.

There’s multi-logo detection, which is able to choose up in your HUD in video games and cut back their brightness to stop burn-in. There’s additionally taskbar detection, which cuts out the Home windows taskbar. Maybe an important is boundary detection. This robotically adjusts the brightness of boundaries in your display, corresponding to when you have got two home windows up on the similar time. That is the one space of burn-in that’s most troublesome to keep away from on a desktop, particularly if you happen to often have a number of home windows open.

I went into this assessment with low expectations, and I got here out pleasantly stunned. MSI is ready to match the competitors from Asus and Alienware in picture high quality, help, and show choices, all whereas undercutting the worth by wherever from $250 to $350. The one options you’re giving up are BFI in comparison with the Asus mannequin and DisplayPort 2.1 in comparison with the upcoming Gigabyte model. These are each justified trade-offs given how less expensive the MSI mannequin is.

The MPG 321URX is an enigma. It doesn’t make sense the way it’s priced in comparison with the competitors, particularly with the few compromises it makes alongside the best way. Perhaps MSI is attempting to get a leg up within the hotly aggressive OLED market, or possibly different choices have simply been priced too excessive all alongside. It doesn’t actually matter — because it stands now, the MPG 321URX is the most affordable strategy to get an OLED show that’s this excessive in high quality, and it doesn’t surrender a lot to achieve its wonderful worth.

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