[PCM2]

Hi DeluX,

I agree that the gulf in price between those ‘budget’ models and the more expensive ones you’re looking at is not justified. As covered in some of my recent posts in this thread, it’s really the MSI G273QF that would be my main recommendation out of those. I simply feel it’s a well-balanced and (with the exception of gamma – not a major issue as noted) well-tuned product and the vast majority of feedback I’ve received for it has been positive. The Acer XV272U KV has generated more mixed feedback, really. A few have commented on ‘text rendering’ issues as I’ve mentioned earlier in the thread. But some people seem to really like it and I haven’t really received a lot of feedback on it recently. Aside from the possible ‘text rendering issue’ (which not everyone seems to have or comment on) it otherwise seems like a decent monitor, really.

The AOC Q27G2S is covered in this thread, by the way and as noted there I believe it’s based on the Innolux M270KCJ-K7B. Same panel that’s used on the BenQ EX2780Q and a few other models. Depending on what you’re upgrading from, you may well find any of these monitors such a nice upgrade anyway. So I wouldn’t stress too much about some of the differences between them. If I had to pick one from your selection it would still be the G273QF, however.

[DeluX]

So.. today MSI announced new model in the same series – MSI G274QRFW one would assume it’s the same monitor as G274QRF just in white color, but the stand is different and it’s 170 Hz rather than 165 Hz that was on all their previous model iterations with AUO M270DAN08.2 panel. Any way to know if they just overclocked it higher or is completely different panel?

[PCM2]

There is no G274QRF (assume you mean MAG274QRF)? The only way you’d know the panel is if somebody had torn it down, accessed a service menu with that information or was aware of the part number via a supplier or MSI rep. Given MSI’s recent models I’d expect it to use an AUO panel with similar performance characteristics, but it appears to have a feature the other comparable MSI models don’t have – a hardware Low Blue Light (LBL) solution they market as ‘Less Blue Light Pro’. So it won’t be the exact same panel as another model used. If you prefer it aesthetically I suspect it would be a good alternative – it’s nice to see another white monitor on the market!

Edit: News piece published.

[PCM2]

The G274QRFW is now listed in the US for ~$225. Assuming that isn’t a pricing error and won’t ‘correct’ shortly, that’s a truly amazing price for a monitor with these specifications. Whether you dig the white chassis or not this should certainly be strongly considered. Will be keeping an eye on this.

[AliveNoMore]

Hello,

Currently, I’m using a 24″ 1080p monitor, and I may decide to upgrade it soon. Since it would be used on a desk and since my graphics card isn’t a powerhouse, I feel that a 27″ 1440p is my best bet.
I was going to say I need a gaming monitor but I feel that the current definition of “gaming monitor” is actually beyond what I need. I play exclusively single player games, and they are usually not fast paced, so I have my doubts I would really benefit much from anything above 60Hz. Still, I’m not opposed to a 144Hz display so such recommendations are still welcomed, I just feel it wouldn’t be as cost effective for my needs.
Outside of this (more casual I suppose) gaming, the monitor will be used for general stuff.
I would also prefer if the monitor comes with a height-adjustable stand or, failing that, a VESA mount, so I can purchase my own.

Since I have experience with Dell monitors, would picking one of their S- or P-series 27″ 1440p monitors be a viable strategy? That is, since my demands are not particularly high, would those monitors be a safe bet/good enough?

Thanks!

[PCM2]

Hi AliveNoMore,

I’ve merged your thread with this one as it covers my suggestions in detail. I don’t really see much reason to not go for a 144Hz+ model for casual gaming and general purpose use. The benefits can still be seen and felt – as explored in our reviews, including with subjective impressions from Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Furthermore, the high refresh rate can be ‘nice to have’ even on the desktop. And the price, availability and all-round performance of these models is such that they are well-suited for all-round use and not just gaming.

Given what you’ve said, perhaps something like the BenQ EX2780Q would work as that is usually very well-priced and is a model we recommend for its all-round performance and feature set. It is one of our longest-standing recommendations and I see no reason to replace that suggestion with anything else at the moment. The positive feedback continues to roll in and it simply delivers the sort of experience that many people like, particularly if they’re not overly fussy about having the fastest response times and don’t need complete coverage of a wide gamut etc.

[AliveNoMore]

I tried looking around a bit, but I guess I missed this topic. Sorry about that.

Thank you for the recommendation! I will also go through the thread as well.

[PCM2]

Just to note that the Acer XV272U KV is now available again in the US after an extended hiatus.

[robw09]

Hi all, really struggling to make a decision. I procrastinate, it’s what I do. It is however, for good reason. Small things irritate me and my eyes and ears are sensitive….not as in the they will get upset if you insult them, but (since recovery from long COVID) in the way I had to send back two Gigabyte Fl27Q monitors because of awful coil whine and I tire quicker than my pre COVID days. So, I have lost faith with them and now need to choose another monitor.
Hopefully, my COVID recovery will be full, but rather than just picking rtings.com best gaming score for my budget I thought I would go back to what matter to me regardless.

I do game a bit, but Overwatch is about the only fast paced FPS, with the rest a bit slower paced, think Valheim, Warthunder to Football manager.. I do also spend time doing general browsing etc (hence the coil whine doing my head and in).I would like something that’s relatively easy to configure and leave pretty much in one setting. Budget is up to £450.

I am mounting the monitor on an arm so ergonomics are not important. What is important are the following.

For gaming
120+ (can be sub 240)
Good to very good response times
Single mode across multiple refresh rates
Low overshoot

For all
Easy on eyes/reduced eye strain
Accuracy of colours. I don’t mind doing some basic adjustments/calibration.
Flicker free
No (reported) coil whine
Limited back light bleed/decent blacks
Good text accuracy

The Dell S2721DGFA was where I was initially drawn to for its all-round abilities and it’s Super Fast mode can be left on across a range of refresh rates with no real issue. However, black uniformity is not great.

However, the HU review of the MSI MAG274QRF-QD had me pause before I pressed the buy button. This one seems to score pretty well in everything. However, it is more expensive than the Dell and I have read that oversaturation is an issue.

And then along came Acer nitro XV272U KV seem to get great reviews at rtings.com and has low blue light modes to perhaps protect my eyes from strain a little more(?). It also scores well across the board.

If there is one I have missed then I am happy to be educated.

So,…..If it was your money/you was me, but ken what you knew, which one would you go with?

[PCM2]

Hi robw09,

I’ve merged your thread with this one – please read through it as it covers all of the options you’ve mentioned and more, extensively. There’s also a thread dedicated to the MSI which is worth a look.

To summarise and add some further thoughts, I think the MAG274QRF-QD is a nice option. My main complaint is that the gamma handling is a bit ‘off’ and can’t be corrected in the OSD, but for general purpose use and gaming that isn’t something I’d worry about. It isn’t ‘off’ in a way that will completely wash out the image or anything. And for colour-critical work profiling the monitor is always advised either way, which would correct that and make further corrections. The price has come down a fair bit from when it was first launched, yet it remains a unique choice in the market due to its backlight choice. As your focus is on gaming there are a few points about this monitor you might find appealing:

– Static contrast is relatively strong for the panel type. Unlike on the Dell S2721DGF(A) with its Nano IPS panel, where contrast is on the lower end of what IPS-type panels deliver.

– The Quantum Dot LED backlight provides a balanced spectrum, unlike the alternatives which have more of a blue-biased spectrum. I have certainly received plenty of positive reports in relation to viewing comfort not only for the MSI but also others using similar backlight types. Quite the opposite with the Dell, which has not only a blue-biased spectrum but also a non-shifted peak of blue light (i.e. a relatively energetic peak – something the Acer XV272U KV improves upon). The MSI also includes Low Blue Light (LBL) settings to further enhance viewing comfort when required, for example in the evenings where it might be most appreciated.

– The wide gamut can be appealing if you like high levels of colour vibrancy. It also includes emulation modes for sRGB, DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB which can help tailor the output to different ‘tastes’ in terms of vibrancy levels. For example, some like to use the DCI-P3 setting for a good hit of extra vibrancy but still toned down a bit compared to natively. You’re still benefiting from the balanced spectrum by the way, emulation modes are just part of a corrective ‘filtering’ process and don’t change the light source so it’s suddenly ‘spectrally unbalanced‘.

– Pixel responsiveness is quite strong. You might prefer to use ‘Fast’ for triple digit frame rates and ‘Normal’ in the double digits (just to give a broad, sweeping recommendation) and I don’t consider the monitor to provide a single overdrive mode experience for VRR. However; even using the ‘Normal’ setting at all times will give you a decent experience and is actually faster for many transitions than the FI27Q (or FI27Q-P) configured optimally.

[robw09]

Ok, thanks for the fast reply. Sounds like the Dell is not for me because of the blue light. From the 2 left it sounds like you would steer toward the MSI over the Acer. I had only spotted the Acer because it was eyesafe certified compared to the MSI “blue light reduction” on this model (I did see more expensive models with the certification).

If the reality, in terms of eye strain reduction, is similar between these two then it appears that the MSI is the one that just wins out. Agree?

[PCM2]

Yup, would agree with that. 🙂

[EsaT]

Already installing monitor’s basic colour profile (often called as some “driver”) telling its gamut size makes all colour space aware software avoid oversaturating sRGB content.
And list of software includes all good photo editors, web browsers like FireFox etc.
So wide gamut isn’t anything to worry about, unless you have to use some specific badly written software.
And you’ll get really beautifull colours to look at in slower paced games.

Also assuming colour modes of the monitors do gamut clamping accurately, DCI-P3 mode would actually oversaturate reds more than AdobeRGB, which has more extension in greens/cyan.
(so vibrant foliage/vegeration and sky/water)

As for that advertised eye safety/less strain…
Except for some possible outlier differences in blue light are far less significant than properly adjusted brightness.
Too high brightness is simply going to strain eyes no matter what’s the spectrum.

Having well adjusted brightness for surrounding illumination also helps to give best looking black.
Though that LG made 27″ 2560×1440 “Nano-IPS” panel of Dell just has such blast from 15 years past contrast that it’s beyond redemption:
AU Optronics panel in MSI has 40+% higher contrast than that particular LG panel.
Guess LG’s left has wanted gaming panel, while right hand was making some office use panel…
(4K variant has IPS normal contarst)

[robw09]

Interestingly the MSI 274QRX monitor is now on sale in the UK and can be had for around 10% more (£360 Vs £399) than the the MSI MAG 274QRF-QD. It’s a different panel, but performance appears about on par with the QRF.

How do these panels compare in non gaming?

How would you compare gaming performance of these two at the same refresh rates?

I am not convinced, unless you are gaming at very high refresh rates (around 240hz) the “sale” price of QRX is worth £40, but what do I know….

[PCM2]

They’re both pretty competitive with each other when it comes to areas such as colour consistency, contrast and ~165Hz responsiveness. The MAG274QRX is covered in this thread and as noted there it has a colour gamut of ~93% DCI-P3 and ~97% Adobe RGB. That’s still a wide gamut, especially when looking at Adobe RGB coverage – but it isn’t as wide as the MAG274QRF-QD which covers ~97% DCI-P3 and ~99% Adobe RGB. The ‘QX’ doesn’t have a QD LED backlight, it uses KSF phosphors (without a shifted blue peak) so it doesn’t have the same ‘balanced spectrum’. Though as EsaT pointed out, the most important thing to get right is the brightness of the monitor and have appropriate room lighting, regardless of its light source. And viewing comfort is a very subjective thing – both MSI models have ‘traditional’ Low Blue Light (LBL) settings as well.

So yeah, if you won’t benefit from the higher refresh rate or that simply doesn’t appeal to you either way then I don’t really feel it’s worth spending more on the ‘QRX’ vs. MAG274QRF-QD.

[EsaT]

In non-gaming there’s no benefit in some super high refresh rate.

Even in gaming that’s going deep into very fast diminishing returns after 165Hz.
Assuming PC is even capable to outputting those frame rates consistently…
Which likely means either paying lot for hardware, or lowering graphics settings and hence diminishing other aspect of game immersion.
So at least in single player games there’s always going to be balancing between details/”eye candy” and frame rate.

For consumer markets DCI-P3 is nowadays fashionable word with media uses aiming for it.
So that Sharp panel in MAG274QRX is actually rare panel aiming to AdobeRGB gamut putting more emphasis on increasing green extension over sRGB than red extension. (AdobeRGB defined by, surprise, Adobe was designed to cover CMYK print colours)
Though AU Optronics panel of MAG274QRF-QD goes little farther in there besides DCI-P3 like big red extension increase.
These show gamut of those panels compared to AdobeRGB:

‘QRF’ panel
‘QRX’ panel

[Reficule]

Just registered to provide some information for future buyers.

I just got XV272U V with AUO M270DAN08.6 panel. The service manual also shows Date: 20210617 Version: 0.03. TBH pretty good panel with decent factory calibration. My calibrator indicates ~96% DCI-P3 with the monitor. Do not have the ability to measure response; but if the performance is on par with the Innolux panel, it is still a great buy.

On the other hand, I also had the new white version G274QRFW with AUO M270DAN08.2 panel, e.g. same panel as MAG274QRF-QD. But without the quantum dot backlighting, the gamut (slighlty sub 90% P3) and brightness were both quite lacking. The build feels cheap. Returned because of about 10 dark pixels when received.

[PCM2]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with those ones, Reficule – glad you’re enjoying the Acer and that you could confirm the upgraded panel there. 🙂

[robw09]

Mounted my MSI MAG 274qrf-qd last night. Initial impressions over the Gigabyte Fl27q are

Back light bleed is significantly less
Brighter at same levels
Colours are vibrant
Also it is quiet 🤣

I have managed to borrow a mates X-Rite i1 Display 2.

When I calibrate, which mode to I put the monitor in?
Does it give me an icc profile that I need to enable?
Does the ICC apply to all modes and refresh rates?

[PCM2]

I’m glad you’re enjoying the MSI, from the sounds of it (or lack of the sound of it, should I say). You really have to ask yourself why you’re profiling the monitor and what exactly you want to achieve. It’s best to adjust as much as possible (certainly colour channels, if possible) on the monitor when profiling the monitor and that usually goes alongside using the full native gamut. Though it depends on the colour space you wish to use and how much of the gamut potential you want to ‘untap’ as well – some people like to profile on top of an sRGB emulation mode (as they get superior sRGB accuracy for non colour-managed applications which ignore the profile), but due to the restrictions and usual lack of 100% sRGB coverage that isn’t always ideal. And you won’t be able to use the wider gamut of the monitor that way, which is part of what you’ve paid for!

With this in mind, my general advice would be to set up the monitor in the ‘User’ preset when creating the ICC profile. Corrections are made on a software level and will apply to that specific preset of the monitor and to that particular OSD setup (e.g. colour channels). Changing brightness should not significantly impact this and changing the refresh rate doesn’t impact the image on that model – so that’s not an issue. The calibration software will write its own ICC profile and should deactivate any other profile you may have active during the calibration. You can run a separate calibration for other modes of the monitor (e.g. ‘sRGB’) as well, but you’ll have to remember to switch over to the appropriate ICC profile for the monitor preset you’re using. When you profile a monitor with your calibrator it reads the current gamut capabilities of the monitor and makes corrections to the monitor in its current state. This is all determined by the preset you’re using and other adjustments you’ve made in the OSD – any emulation mode you may have applied on the monitor (‘sRGB’, ‘Adobe RGB’, ‘DCI-P3 etc.) will affect this. What this all means is that you can’t have one profile apply to all different presets of the monitor.,

Edit: Have edited this response for clarity, but this definitely verges on ‘technical help’ which is against the forum rules – so I won’t be continuing the conversation along these lines. 🙂

[Author]

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