MSI QD-OLED Monitors 2024

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MistaSparkul

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It's crazy how fast the tech is evolving considering we didnt even proper OLED monitors in 2021.
 
What exactly is the difference between the 27" performance gaming (MPG) and arsenal gaming (MAG)? Is the only difference the higher refresh rate on the MAG vs MPG, 360 vs 240?
 
I use the AW3423DWF for a work monitor and the subpixel arrangement thing is seriously not a big deal. Like I can see a difference side by side with my LCD work laptop but it's not bothersome to me. But then when I switch over to my gaming PC and HDR the thing is just breathtaking. OLED is amazing, better than Mini-LED, better than anything by a wide margin unless you want something eye-searingly bright.

I don't baby mine at all (taskbar and desktop icons enabled), if it burns in I'd just send it back to Dell. Now I'd be a bit wary of buying one of these MSI displays - sure they're a bit nicer, but they're more expensive and MSI doesn't have as good of warranty coverage when it comes to burn in.

MSI seems to have a group of fans that will buy anything they put out which must be nice for them, but I haven't really seen a reason to spend the extra money compared to whatever Dell puts out any given year with the equivalent panel. I bet MSI monitors are more popular outside of the U.S. where Dell isn't as big.

I guess my 2c is I'd just wait and buy whatever Alienware monitor comes out with the same panel since 4K / 32" is ideal (typing this on a 4K 144hz LCD rn).
 
Zinn said:
I use the AW3423DWF for a work monitor and the subpixel arrangement thing is seriously not a big deal. Like I can see a difference side by side with my LCD work laptop but it's not bothersome to me. But then when I switch over to my gaming PC and HDR the thing is just breathtaking. OLED is amazing, better than Mini-LED, better than anything by a wide margin unless you want something eye-searingly bright.

I don't baby mine at all (taskbar and desktop icons enabled), if it burns in I'd just send it back to Dell. Now I'd be a bit wary of buying one of these MSI displays - sure they're a bit nicer, but they're more expensive and MSI doesn't have as good of warranty coverage when it comes to burn in.

MSI seems to have a group of fans that will buy anything they put out which must be nice for them, but I haven't really seen a reason to spend the extra money compared to whatever Dell puts out any given year with the equivalent panel. I bet MSI monitors are more popular outside of the U.S. where Dell isn't as big.

I guess my 2c is I'd just wait and buy whatever Alienware monitor comes out with the same panel since 4K / 32" is ideal (typing this on a 4K 144hz LCD rn).
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Alienware is curved while MSI is flat so that automatically rules out Alienware for some people. Samsung's equivalent is matte and not glossy which again automatically rules it out for some people (definitely myself when it comes to matte + OLED). Asus tends to have some of the worst firmware/HDR EOTF. So if you want a FLAT, GLOSSY, 32" QD OLED with good firmware then really your best bet besides MSI might only be HP OMEN.
 
MistaSparkul said:
Alienware is curved while MSI is flat so that automatically rules out Alienware for some people. Samsung's equivalent is matte and not glossy which again automatically rules it out for some people (definitely myself when it comes to matte + OLED). Asus tends to have some of the worst firmware/HDR EOTF. So if you want a FLAT, GLOSSY, 32" QD OLED with good firmware then really your best bet besides MSI might only be HP OMEN.
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I wouldn't be shocked if Corsair releases a flat panel based on this. I have their 32" UHD 144 screen and it's pretty great for an IPS screen. Would switch to OLED in a heartbeat though.
 
Zinn said:
I wouldn't be shocked if Corsair releases a flat panel based on this. I have their 32" UHD 144 screen and it's pretty great for an IPS screen. Would switch to OLED in a heartbeat though.
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They probably will, but since they haven't announced anything yet I figured there's no point in mentioning Corsair for now. I'm personally eye'ing either this MSI or the HP OMEN given that they are both flat and glossy which is my perference, but if Alienware has far better firmware or something or just ends up being cheaper then I wouldn't mind going for that since the curve isn't a deal breaker for me.
 
Just ordered mine through BB. I got the cheapest MAG version but BB also has the MPG version for listed $50 more. Both seem to randomly come in stock for order.

1708583687299.png
 
SoCali said:
https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED_Gamin.../?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

USB firmware update is exclusive to MPG and MEG which IMO is a potential deal breaker for the MAG especially considering its only $50 less and ineligible for the $100 Steam card.
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Yeah if this thing ends up having some glaring issue then I'll just return it after I get a hold of an MPG model. Given that the MPG model already seems to be excellent as it is I don't think the MAG will be any different. The only downside is that it will not be able to get a Dolby Vision firmware update later down the line like the rest of the QD OLEDs but I honestly couldn't care less about that.
 
KTC is able to do firmware updates over Display Port. But, it requires an app and to configure some settings in the app.

MSI could presumably do the same----and the USB port update could simply be a quality of life, bonuse feature (drop a file on USB, plug into the montor, initiate update without need to install an app or do any configuration).
 
chameleoneel said:
KTC is able to do firmware updates over Display Port. But, it requires an app and to configure some settings in the app.

MSI could presumably do the same----and the USB port update could simply be a quality of life, bonuse feature (drop a file on USB, plug into the montor, initiate update without need to install an app or do any configuration).
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Interesting. Hopefully that's the case. But yeah as long as I don't have any dealbreaking issues with it out of the box then I really couldn't care less whether or not I can update the firmware.
 
4K/240hz OLED clarity is amazing but HDR brightness is just so poor outside of super small APL. Ratchet and Clank intro sequence that takes place outdoors for example looks completely dead and no better than SDR. I'm coming from a PG32UQX so yeah this is the complete inverse - really smooth and clear in motion but super dim. Going to test some more games to get a better idea.
 
SoCali said:
4K/240hz OLED clarity is amazing but HDR brightness is just so poor outside of super small APL. Ratchet and Clank intro sequence that takes place outdoors for example looks completely dead and no better than SDR. I'm coming from a PG32UQX so yeah this is the complete inverse - really smooth and clear in motion but super dim. Going to test some more games to get a better idea.
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Yea, but if you reverse the standard you realize the PG32 sucks just as hard with motion clarity as the oled does with brightness....so its really a matter of picking your poison...or in my case you just rock one of each monitor and choose which one to play depending on what type of experience you want.
 
l88bastard said:
Yea, but if you reverse the standard you realize the PG32 sucks just as hard with motion clarity as the oled does with brightness....so its really a matter of picking your poison...or in my case you just rock one of each monitor and choose which one to play depending on what type of experience you want.
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I actually think it's easier to accept the brightness hit vs the loss in motion clarity.
 
SoCali said:
I actually think it's easier to accept the brightness hit vs the loss in motion clarity.
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That depends on what you do with the monitor. The motion clarity really matters only in fast-moving games (Doom Eternal, etc.) If that's not your main use, the brightness matters much more (for HDR games and videos).
 
Bigmonitorguy said:
That depends on what you do with the monitor. The motion clarity really matters only in fast-moving games (Doom Eternal, etc.) If that's not your main use, the brightness matters much more (for HDR games and videos).
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I find I prefer the motion clarity in single player games too...it gives me old tyme CRT feels which I find very addicting
 
I'm bummed reading about the brightness levels on these monitors. The point of QD OLED is having bright full color HDR specular highlights. Seems the best combination of brightness and motion clarity is still to be found in the TVs. If you guys can make room for a 55" S90C, you definitely won't complain about HDR quality.

That said I'm going to grab one of these MSI's from Best Buy when I can to test out Doom Eternal at 240Hz and see the differences for myself.
 
NukeDukem said:
I'm bummed reading about the brightness levels on these monitors. The point of QD OLED is having bright full color HDR specular highlights. Seems the best combination of brightness and motion clarity is still to be found in the TVs. If you guys can make room for a 55" S90C, you definitely won't complain about HDR quality.

That said I'm going to grab one of these MSI's from Best Buy when I can to test out Doom Eternal at 240Hz and see the differences for myself.
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That's what I plan to do...I'll be keeping my 240Hz panel for fast games or games I can hit at least 160fps in, but everything else I'll play it on a QD OLED TV so I can have full brightness. Gonna wait to see if Samsung announces a 48-50" TV next year with the S90E and if not then I'll get a S90D on discount!
 
I just watched a hardware unboxed review on these and they seemed pretty positive with the brightness . I have a C2 for console gaming and the MSI was actually way above it it terms of nits of brightness.
 
ItzTripi said:
I just watched a hardware unboxed review on these and they seemed pretty positive with the brightness . I have a C2 for console gaming and the MSI was actually way above it it terms of nits of brightness.
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The problem with this comparison is the C2 has a WOLED panel and is not QD-OLED. I've not owned a C2 myself but the difference between the 2020 55" LG CX and the 2022 55" Samsung S95B (1st gen QD-OLED) was stark. Especially in the specular highlights. 2nd gen S95C improved on brightness even moreso. 3rd gen S95D will also bring improvements if the matte finish doesn't ruin it.

Believe me, I wish LG made the QD panels and I wish they had 42"-50" options like Mista Sparkul alluded to. I'm on a 65" S95C and it's great Imo, but that size just isn't practical for most PC gaming setups.
 
NukeDukem said:
The problem with this comparison is the C2 has a WOLED panel and is not QD-OLED. I've not owned a C2 myself but the difference between the 2020 55" LG CX and the 2022 55" Samsung S95B (1st gen QD-OLED) was stark. Especially in the specular highlights. 2nd gen S95C improved on brightness even moreso. 3rd gen S95D will also bring improvements if the matte finish doesn't ruin it.

Believe me, I wish LG made the QD panels and I wish they had 42"-50" options like Mista Sparkul alluded to. I'm on a 65" S95C and it's great Imo, but that size just isn't practical for most PC gaming setups.
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Yeah I hear you , I want a 28-32in oled for my desk as most quality oleds are to big for a desk setup
 
Some issues with the 27" 360Hz model from reddit:

1708711178203.png


My opinions:

1. Don't use HDMI
2. Don't use HDMI
3. Don't use HDMI
4. Sucks for 1440p models, not really a huge deal on the 4K models.
5. Sucks for 1440p models, probably won't affect 4K models since those are 240Hz
6. Don't care
7. Sounds annoying but I would leave my monitor permanently in HDR mode as I always have for the past 4 years since my LG CX so this won't affect me.
8. If there's no way to turn it off then this is pretty much the only real annoying issue.
 
There is a way to rid of the pixel cleaning prompt the dude is just blind. It allows you to select a 4h reminder or disable it altogether and instead have a 16h reminder. Since I will never in a million years use it 16h straight, I will never see that prompt.

I've had 0 issues with the 32. Can confirm DLDSR is not available with either DP or HDMI. After using it I dunno how valuable firmware updates would be if the monitor is shipped in a complete state like this. The only benefit I can see is them potentially improving the OLED mitigation stuff (OLED Care 2.0).

Also color uniformity and grey uniformity are essentially flawless on mine. It's the best quality OLED panel I've ever laid eyes on.

I'll post with a sum of my thoughts after I use it a bit more today.
 
SoCali said:
There is a way to rid of the pixel cleaning prompt the dude is just blind. It allows you to select a 4h reminder or disable it altogether and instead have a 16h reminder. Since I will never in a million years use it 16h straight, I will never see that prompt.

I've had 0 issues with the 32. Can confirm DLDSR is not available with either DP or HDMI. After using it I dunno how valuable firmware updates would be if the monitor is shipped in a complete state like this. The only benefit I can see is them potentially improving the OLED mitigation stuff (OLED Care 2.0).

Also color uniformity and grey uniformity are essentially flawless on mine. It's the best quality OLED panel I've ever laid eyes on.

I'll post with a sum of my thoughts after I use it a bit more today.
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DLDSR has now become more of a moot point for me now that RTX HDR is out and doesn't work with it. I would 1000% take RTX HDR over DLDSR. And besides, like I mentioned earlier 4K is already plenty enough pixels, it's really 1440p that needs DLDSR. So with the MSI model being pretty much as good as it gets out of the box, it's even more funny to see people losing their minds on reddit about not being able to update the firmware on the MAG model. On on a monitor this expensive, we shouldn't even be needing firmware updates in the first place, the monitors should just work on launch day.
 
MistaSparkul said:
DLDSR has now become more of a moot point for me now that RTX HDR is out and doesn't work with it. I would 1000% take RTX HDR over DLDSR. And besides, like I mentioned earlier 4K is already plenty enough pixels, it's really 1440p that needs DLDSR. So with the MSI model being pretty much as good as it gets out of the box, it's even more funny to see people losing their minds on reddit about not being able to update the firmware on the MAG model. On on a monitor this expensive, we shouldn't even be needing firmware updates in the first place, the monitors should just work on launch day.
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Yeah that's actually something I didn't think about. Until they can be used together, RTX HDR takes priority over DLDSR. I've enabled it globally and think it's amazing. At this point I have no idea why you'd buy AMD.
 
SoCali said:
Yeah that's actually something I didn't think about. Until they can be used together, RTX HDR takes priority over DLDSR. I've enabled it globally and think it's amazing. At this point I have no idea why you'd buy AMD.
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I mean AMD is going to copy nvidia just like they always do. But even if they do copy it, it won't be as good just like how FSR3 FG isn't as good as DLSS3 FG. AMD's refusal to use AI hardware is only going to hurt them even more in the future.
 
After using it for a couple days my main take away is the obvious in that it is an amazing SDR gaming monitor and in very specific games, a decent HDR gaming monitor.

I was worried about text quality after seeing how gross the AW3423DW looked but thankfully this monitors text is perfectly adequate for desktop use. If I had to use a number, it's maybe 10% softer looking than a RGB 4K display and for me personally a complete non issue. The raised blacks with ambient lighting is also a complete non issue for me in a room with an overhead light behind the display. Yes with the lights on there is a very subtle purple tint but totally ignorable.

240hz OLED motion clarity is amazing and makes going back to a LCD very difficult for me. 4K/240hz smoothness and clarity are its biggest strengths.

I think it falls really short in terms of HDR because the HDR400 mode while brighter in larger window sizes, doesn't look all that different from SDR due to the low brightness ceiling. The HDR1000 mode suffers from pretty intense ABL that can be really distracting in some games. There are specific games and content where APL is low enough to let the HDR really dazzle (Dead Space, RE:Remakes, etc) but outside of these kinds of titles, the monitor is generally too dim for HDR.

I know I'll get flamed for this but I just don't really think these 32's are competent HDR displays. It might be because I have a PG32UQX to compare to it but this comparison also makes me question this color volume thing because outside of those very specific low APL HDR games where hit effects, sparks, etc really let the panel flex its colors, as soon as there is anything more than that on screen all of the colors become super muted and dead due to ABL.

What I've realized though is that 240hz and contrast carries it and for me personally greatly compensates for the lack of HDR impact. I can go back to my PG32UQX and have a skybox flashbang me when I'm outdoors in a game but that only remains a spectacle while the camera isn't in motion. As soon as I turn the camera and see how smeary it is as well as seeing the FALD zones bounce on and off makes it loses its luster.

Also I do think these need a firmware update because I immediately set the "panel protect" AKA compensation cycle timing reminder to 16h thinking it would only force you to initiate the cycle because of 16 hours of consecutive use. Turns out this entire 16 hours, it had not done a single compensation cycle at all and out of no where prompted me at the 16h use mark which was undefeatable. I've set it back to "Auto" which goes by a 4h cycle to see how the notification behaves and will update here accordingly. Lastly, once its done doing the compensation cycle, it completely turns the damn monitor off forcing you to power it back on manually.

Other than the compensation cycle thing + powering off after its done, I haven't encountered any bugs or issues. It just works out the box. Since I'm also using it for productivity, I've enabled all of the OLED Care 2.0 features but with a 3 year burn in warranty you probably don't need to.
 
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SoCali said:
After using it for a couple days my main take away is the obvious in that it is an amazing SDR gaming monitor and in very specific games, a decent HDR gaming monitor.

I was worried about text quality after seeing how gross the AW3423DW looked but thankfully this monitors text is perfectly adequate for desktop use. If I had to use a number, it's maybe 10% softer looking than a RGB 4K display and for me personally a complete non issue. The raised blacks with ambient lighting is also a complete non issue for me in a room with an overhead light behind the display. Yes with the lights on there is a very subtle purple tint but totally ignorable.

240hz OLED motion clarity is amazing and makes going back to a LCD very difficult for me. 4K/240hz smoothness and clarity are its biggest strengths.

I think it falls really short in terms of HDR because the HDR400 mode while brighter in larger window sizes, doesn't look all that different from SDR due to the low brightness ceiling. The HDR1000 mode suffers from pretty intense ABL that can be really distracting in some games. There are specific games and content where APL is low enough to let the HDR really dazzle (Dead Space, RE:Remakes, etc) but outside of these kinds of titles, the monitor is generally too dim for HDR.

I know I'll get flamed for this but I just don't really think these 32's are competent HDR displays. It might be because I have a PG32UQX to compare to it but this comparison also makes me question this color volume thing because outside of those very specific low APL HDR games where hit effects, sparks, etc really let the panel flex its colors, as soon as there is anything more than that on screen all of the colors become super muted and dead due to ABL.

What I've realized though is that 240hz and contrast carries it and for me personally greatly compensates for the lack of HDR impact. I can go back to my PG32UQX and have a skybox flashbang me when I'm outdoors in a game but that only remains a spectacle while the camera isn't in motion. As soon as I turn the camera and see how smeary it is as well as seeing the FALD zones bounce on and off makes it loses its luster.

Also I do think these need a firmware update because I immediately set the "panel protect" AKA compensation cycle timing reminder to 16h thinking it would only force you to initiate the cycle because of 16 hours of consecutive use. Turns out this entire 16 hours, it had not done a single compensation cycle at all and out of no where prompted me at the 16h use mark which was undefeatable. I've set it back to "Auto" which goes by a 4h cycle to see how the notification behaves and will update here accordingly. Lastly, once its done doing the compensation cycle, it completely turns the damn monitor off forcing you to power it back on manually.

Other than the compensation cycle thing + powering off after its done, I haven't encountered any bugs or issues. It just works out the box. Since I'm also using it for productivity, I've enabled all of the OLED Care 2.0 features but with a 3 year burn in warranty you probably don't need to.
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Nah this sounds about right. These QD OLED monitors are just glorified SDR displays, there's a metric crapton of placebo going on over at Reddit and Discord where people actually think these are a league above WOLED counterparts when they are not. The reality is that the brightness on the QD OLED monitors have their brightness neutered way too much to deliver a top tier HDR experience. QD OLED TVs is a different story where they can at least stretch their legs when it comes to HDR and hit over 1000 nits in 10% APL. I'll be sticking to HDR gaming on my 32M2V in games where I just want maximum eye candy and cannot get over 100fps anyway such as Alan Wake 2 and CP2077 with path tracing. If I can get at least 160fps then I would play on the QD OLED for the superior motion clarity, otherwise 32M2V it is.
 
MistaSparkul said:
Nah this sounds about right. These QD OLED monitors are just glorified SDR displays, there's a metric crapton of placebo going on over at Reddit and Discord where people actually think these are a league above WOLED counterparts when they are not. The reality is that the brightness on the QD OLED monitors have their brightness neutered way too much to deliver a top tier HDR experience. QD OLED TVs is a different story where they can at least stretch their legs when it comes to HDR and hit over 1000 nits in 10% APL. I'll be sticking to HDR gaming on my 32M2V in games where I just want maximum eye candy and cannot get over 100fps anyway such as Alan Wake 2 and CP2077 with path tracing. If I can get at least 160fps then I would play on the QD OLED for the superior motion clarity, otherwise 32M2V it is.
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I think I'm going to have to do the same and just use both like you guys do (as much as I hate the idea). There's nothing that comes close to a IPS mini led for HDR and there's nothing that comes close to OLED for clarity in motion.

I haven't even given RTX HDR a try on my PG32UQX so let me do that first before anything.
 
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