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PCM2Our review of the MSI MPG 274URF QD is now live. This is a 160Hz 3840 x 2160 ‘4K’ UHD IPS LCD with QD-LED backlight. This provides a true wide gamut with near-complete DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB coverage. This provides strong vibrancy and saturation, with strong colour accuracy potential for colour critical work within extended colour spaces. I liked the inclusion of multiple colour space emulation settings (DCI-P3, Adobe RGB and sRGB) and they worked quite well and as intended. This makes the monitor a versatile option for both work and play, with other additions such as KVM functionality and USB-C (65W PD) sweetening the deal. On the gaming side the pixel responses were well-tuned and VRR was provided with a single overdrive mode experience, due to the inclusion of effective variable overdrive.
Some points of comparison with the Gigabyte M27U:
– The M27U provides superior HDR brightness and contrast with rudimentary (8-zone) local dimming, but it’s still heavily compromised for HDR. In many other ways I feel the MSI is the superior product, with the following advantages:
– It feels a bit more premium.
– Higher USB-C PD of 65W vs 15W.
– Full bandwidth HDMI 2.1, which I know some people are particular about.
– Superior brightness adjustment range under SDR with 39 rather than 66 nits minimum and 506 rather than 431 nits maximum.
– Superior strobe backlight implementation due to lack of KSF phosphors.
– The most important differentiator in my view is true wide gamut support with excellent Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 coverage. Rather than being restricted to ~90% DCI-P3 with far from complete Adobe RGB coverage as the Gigabyte is. This makes the MSI more versatile for colour accurate work and can also provide superior vibrancy and saturation, if you like that kind of thing.
goblinapoelHi! Firstly we would like to thank you for the great review!
I’m looking into getting a new monitor and I have narrowed down my options to this MSI or ASUS ROG Strix XG27UCS (Was also looking at Gigabyte M27UA but after reading your article I would prefer the MSI over that). Do you have any experience with the ASUS one? There are some reviews over the Internet and the main point is that it comes well calibrated out of the box, whatever that means hehe. (A thing that catched my attention is that is a low power consumption monitor but contrast ratio is around 900:1). I am not very familiar with the latest monitor technologies to be honest.
I will use the monitor mainly for everyday PC use like web surfing, Youtube videos, reading articles and forums, watching movies from time to time etc. Also, I am intending to hook up a PS5 for light gaming. I don’t do PC gaming at the moment but maybe light gaming in the future. I am considering a 4K monitor with at least 120Hz for the PS5 actually. That’s why I haven’t look for 1440P monitor.
Thank you in advance!
PCM2Welcome goblinapoel,
I don’t have experience with the ASUS, but my recommendation for the MSI is clear. The MSI sets itself aside other models, including the XG27UCS, because of its QD LED backlight. That gives it a significantly wider gamut (superior vibrancy potential for general viewing – and better accuracy potential for work within the Adobe RGB colour space), whilst some people find it more comfortable due to the more balanced spectrum. It also means its strobe backlight setting is superior (should you use such a setting), for reasons pointed out in the review related to a lack of KSF phosphor fringing and flickering.
goblinapoelThank you very much for your reply, sir! Appreciate it! I will post my comments later on if I get the monitor and try it out!
ck273Hi,
i recently tested the Gigabyte GS27U, which is similar to the M27U (should be same panel, worse stand, no usb hub, …). I wasn’t very pleased with the glare handling of this monitor. My recent monitor is a AOC G2460PG, which diffuses light more in a way that you don’t get “blinded” by the reflected light im comparison to the Gigabyte GS27U. I have to thank you for your great work with your monitor reviews. It seems that no one else cares about the type of the screen surface or the Anti Glare Handling capabilities of a monitor. In my specific case it does matter a lot. I prefer daylight and my room layout is suboptimal in terms of glare. I can’t change the room layout. Does the MSI MPG 274URF QD have significantly better glare handling than the gigabyte M27U or do you have other recommendations? I guess there is no high refresh rate 27″ UHD monitor with a medium matte screen.
Thank you in advance !
PCM2The GS27U is also slightly different to the M27U in that it doesn’t offer the same brightness capability or DisplayHDR 600 support. I suspect it uses the same CELL (panel minus backlight), though. But it might not, there are quite a few similar panels about now and plenty of crossover in performance. The Gigabyte models, the MSI MPG 274URF QD and all other models in the category I’ve tested over the past few years all use AUO panels. Or Innolux panels in the case of 28″ models. Either way, those panels always offer matte screen surfaces which are very much on the ‘light’ to ‘very light’ side.
Unfortunately because this is poorly covered by most other reviewers, I can’t really speak for other models I haven’t tested. Models with BOE panels (used on the likes of the XG27UCS) look like they’re still a bit more on the ‘light’ side rather than being ‘medium’ matte in the same way as your old AOC. But they still edge more towards the ‘medium’ and effective glare handling end than the AUO and Innolux panels. So your best bet might actually to look at the ASUS which is known to use a BOE panel.
ck273Thank you for your reply. I will get a look on the ASUS then.
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