Retailing for only $899, the MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD Xbox Edition aims to be one of the most affordable ways to join the 4K, 144Hz revolution. Featuring a large but thin-bezeled 32-inch IPS panel, this display comes equipped with features to make the most out of your new console: HDMI 2.1 for 120 FPS gameplay, Quantum Dots and HDR-support for improved color and brightness, and a built-in KVM to swap your mouse and keyboard from your computer to your Xbox. Does it succeed in its lofty goal of being the must-have gaming monitor for your Series X or S?
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD – Design and Features
The MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD is out to make an impression from the very start. It’s bold in all the right ways: 32-inches, 4K, 144Hz, Quantum Dots, HDR600, tons of I/O… even though MSI has stamped Xbox Edition on the box, this is a compelling monitor, even if you don’t own a current-gen Xbox. But, it’s the experience of using it that shows this is more than just on-paper promises.
The Optix MPG321UR-QD uses a large IPS panel with no curve. It was surprisingly color accurate out of the box with only minor tweaks needed from my SpyderX colorimeter software to round it out. The panel is also quite bright with a peak brightness of 600-nits. Typical brightness in SDR mode measured at 400-nits with my sensor, so right on target, and came in at 450-nits in HDR mode, exactly where you would expect them to be with that rated peak.
The use of an IPS panel usually means better colors and viewing angles, and that’s exactly what you get here. The MPG321UR-QD promises 178-degree viewing angles, and while that’s unrealistic to actually take in the screen, even extreme angles don’t result in unnatural color shift like on TN and VA panels. Colors are also enhanced through the use of quantum dots in the display. It looks rich and vibrant, which only sweetens the eye-candy that is 4K gaming. The downside to IPS is that contrast suffers, with a rating of 1000:1, notably lower than its VA counterparts in this space, including MSI's own Optix MAG321CQR. Backlight bleed wasn’t terrible on my sample, but the typical “IPS glow” is present which limits how dark blacks can become.
MSI touts the panel’s color capabilities, and they make it an appealing option for hobbyist content creators. The feature list claims it covers 143% of the sRGB color spectrum, 97% of DCI-P3, and 99% of AdobeRGB. In my testing, it pegged out my SpyderX Elite at 100% of sRGB (which is the highest it will measure) and covered 96% of DCI-P3, both of which are impressive results. There are also built-in color modes to enhance the accuracy when you're operating in this space, so if you choose to color correct your monitor, be sure to note which mode you’re using and create a profile for each.
If you’re worried about responsiveness: don’t be. The days of IPS monitors being a poor fit for esports and competitive games are over – at least with high-quality monitors like this one. The Optix is rated at 1ms for response time. While that claim might be a little bit of a stretch (we’ll explore this in the performance section), it’s hardly a slow monitor and doesn’t have issues with ghosting.
The display also offers gaming-first features in variable refresh rate and low framerate compensation (LFC). Support for AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync ensure screen tearing will never be an issue and enhances smoothness when gaming. Note that this display is “G-Sync Compatible” and isn’t yet certified, but I didn’t experience any issues during testing. With 4K being the demanding resolution it is, you may find yourself falling below the 48Hz threshold for FreeSync or G-Sync to kick in. If that happens, the monitor will double each frame to ensure you stay in a compatible range for smooth and fluid gameplay.
Returning to the physical features of the display, MSI has gone above and beyond. It features super-thin bezels that make the most of the available screen real estate and help it feel extra expansive. There’s also an anti-glare coating that wards off distracting reflections on the screen. A power button is positioned on the bottom right, but shouldn’t be confused with the navigation joystick on the rear: clicking the joystick won’t turn the monitor on or off.
Around back, the MPG321UR-QD looks particularly classy. It mixes together no less than four different surface textures, but it’s really the use of bronze on the badge, logo, and joystick that tie it all together. There’s a tasteful RGB strip that can be customized inside the OSD, but like the rest of the back, you’ll never be seeing it, which is really a shame.
The stand connects to this back with a pair of two screws. It supports height adjustment across 100mm and swivels 30-degrees in either direction to share your screen with a friend or get positioned on a corner desk. It also tilts from -5 to 20-degrees to stand when you need to stretch your legs. The stand doesn’t rotate, so portrait orientation is out of the question unless you opt for an aftermarket stand, but since it supports a VESA 100x100 mount, finding one should be no problem.
On the underside, we find the I/O, and boy is there a lot of it. The MPG accepts video from four separate inputs: two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4, and USB Type-C. In addition, there are three USB Type-B ports that handle upstream communication to your PC (powering the KVM, hub, and software OSD controls). There are then six USB Type-B ports (four on the bottom, two on the side), a headphone and microphone jack, and a Kensington lock.
That’s a lot of ports, but there’s a good reason for that: this monitor is made to swap between PC and console, and it’s big enough to be exactly that kind of entertainment centerpiece. A KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switcher, allows you to shift connections between systems with a simple OSD toggle. Incorporating it here means that you can press a hotkey and instantly swap not just your display, but also your keyboard, mouse and the headset you have attached over to the Xbox (or, presumably PS4/PS5). Now that consoles support full-size keyboards and mice, this turns out to be quite a useful feature that tied my PC and console in a way they never were before.
If you plan to game on console, the MPG321UR-QD has you covered. Since it features HDMI 2.1 ports, my Series X was instantly able to detect that it was capable of displaying a 4K, 120Hz (144Hz is limited to PC only). In games that support it, the picture is silky smooth, so I highly encourage anyone curious to make a pit stop to their settings menu and enable these features. It also supports HDR10, which was likewise instantly detected.
If you’re used to gaming on an expensive TV, here’s your reminder to keep your expectations in check. With a peak brightness of 600-nits, the Optix is better than most gaming monitors pasting “HDR” on their boxes (typically 400-nits or less), but it’s still a far cry from the 1000+ nit brightness found on many UHD televisions today. It also lacks any kind of local dimming, which is a requisite for a “true” HDR gaming experience. That said, the color depth is very good and the brightness is leveraged well to present a picture that’s definitely a step-up from average 400-nit monitors or less.
There is one glaring omission here: there are no speakers. Since the built-in speakers with gaming monitors are usually pretty bad, it’s hardly an Achilles’ heel, but for a monitor aimed at console gamers that may need a monitor to double as a TV, it’s odd that they’re absent here.
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD – OSD and Software
The MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD features a plentiful array of options inside of its on-screen display and the Gaming OSD app. These menus are also where you’ll control its more unique features, like the Sound Tune mic enhancer and KVM switch. Navigating the menus is easy and fairly intuitive using the joystick on the back, though I did increase its timeout time to keep it from closing prematurely.
For gaming, there’s a shadow boost feature called Night Vision, as well as the on-screen reticles that are common on gaming monitors. It also includes an on-screen magnifier called Optix Scope, which is clearly in the realm of cheating and you should never-ever use it. At the same time, you can enable motion blur reduction (MPRT), but it comes at the expense of brightness as the backlight strobes to present better motion clarity.
The Optix changes the formula a bit with its use of “smart features.” Its Night Vision tech can automatically detect when you’re playing in dark areas and ramp up shadow brightness to enhance your visibility. The crosshair is also able to detect what’s on the screen and change color to make sure it’s visible on any background. Particularly neat is that the monitor can gauge the brightness in the room that you’re in and adjust screen brightness to match. If you’ve ever turned on a bright monitor in a dark room, you know the searing pain that can ensue, so it’s cool to see it applied here.
In addition to gaming tech, you also have an array of picture modes and enhancements. For professional work, you have dedicated modes for AdobeRGB, sRGB, and DCI-P3. You can add clarity to your picture with the Image Enhancement option, as well as adjust brightness, contrast, sharpness, and color temperature, but there’s no six-axis color balance to calibrate your picture without software.
MSI took a page out of Gigabyte’s book and made all of these options available without ever opening the actual on-screen display. It does this through its new software suite, dubbed Gaming OSD. It’s a small application that runs in the background and is completely optional. Just like on Gigabyte’s monitors, however, moving these options to software makes them much easier to actually use. Being able to change picture profile or enable a gaming feature like Night Vision with a hotkey is far more practical than fiddling with a joystick mid-match. Kudos to MSI for taking this step.
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD – Performance
Testing the performance of a gaming monitor is a mix of dedicated tests and real-world gaming. My first stop for this display was the UFO Test to see whether it would be responsive enough to prevent ghosting.
While there were definitely some ghosts present, the results are overall very good. I’ve seen VA panels with much worse performance when, in theory, they should be the faster display type. The lack of artifacts on the fastest response time setting also holds promise and makes it a viable option to actually use while gaming.
The next stop was Lagom’s LCD test pages to get another eye on how quickly the display could transition from lights to darks and vice versa.
These results echo the UFO Test. The opposing colored blocks in both images catch the display in mid-transition using a high-speed camera shutter. The result here is again quite good for an IPS panel and points toward solid, ghost-free gaming performance in real world scenarios.
Following this, I put it through the SpyderX DataColor Elite’s monitor evaluation tool. It received high marks with the exception of luminance uniformity. According to the sensor, the center left of the screen was about 19% darker than the rest at its worst point with other left and right thirds ranging from 10-14% darker than the center. In actual use, however, this is fairly hard to perceive unless you’re looking for it, but it is there. The one particularly dark section doesn’t seem so, though, and blends in with the other edge sections just fine.
For actual gaming, the monitor performed wonderfully. I spent the several weeks I had with it playing a mix of PC games and Xbox Series X. Screen tearing and ghosting weren’t ever issues. Since the MPG321UR is the rare monitor that has a usable “fastest” overdrive setting, I was able to leave it in this mode and simply enjoy the benefits of a speedy IPS panel.
Getting started on the Xbox was absolutely painless. It connected immediately and after enabling 120Hz, played seamlessly. The 4K resolution is a perfect fit for the 32-inch screen size, balancing pixel density and usability impeccably well. When used at a desk, it’s just big enough to take up your field of view without forcing you to turn your head to take in the action at the sides of the screen.
The monitor also made it much easier to use a mouse and keyboard with my console since everything was already connected. I could be working on an article one minute, switch the KVM, and be ready to play Call of Duty with the same peripherals the next. I don’t mind using a controller, but as any PC gamer will tell you, mouse and keyboard is where it’s at for first-person shooters.
With all of that said, I still can’t see the MPG321UR-QD replacing my TV for Xbox gaming. While it’s better than normal HDR400 gaming monitors and looks great overall, it lacks the same range as an HDR1000 TV with dozens of local dimming zones. If you’re used to playing on that kind of television, you’ll notice the difference right away. Adding those would surely have driven the price of the monitor much higher, however, so it strikes a good middle-ground for gamers who want their gaming monitor and TV one shared device (albeit with a headset).
from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/Z6lY923
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming
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