MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD 4K 144Hz Monitor Launches in Japan

[TheLostSwede]

4K gaming monitors that are hitting 144 Hz or more seems to be a thing this year and not to miss out on its chance to get its share of the market, MSI has launched the Optix MPG321UR-QD in Japan, with the rest of the world likely to follow soon. The display was actually announced back in June, alongside a range of other new displays from MSI, but is only making it into retail by the end of this month.

MSI is using a quantum dot IPS panel with a resolution of 3840x2160 that offers a DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of 97 percent. The 32-inch screen supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz, a response time of 1ms (MPRT) and is G-Sync compatible. It also sports a Display HDR 600 certification, which suggests that it has some kind of zoned backlighting. Inputs consist of two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4a port and a USB-C port which has DP-alt mode support.



Something that caught us a bit off guard was the KVM feature, as it supports up to four (4) computers thanks to a USB 2.0 hub that has three inputs and six outputs, with the fourth input being via the USB-C port. This is a first, at least when it comes to support for this many computers. There's also a 3.5 mm headphone and microphone jack, as well as a combo jack input from a PC. For once, we also have an MSRP to go along with the product launch and this is where things stop being interesting for most people, as the MSI is asking for 159,800 Yen, or about US$1,465. Keep in mind that electronics tend to be more expensive in Japan, so the retail price in other countries should be lower.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Tardian]

the retail price in other countries should be lower.

Agreed!

 

[Mussels]

oof, that price

but 32" 4K IPS is right what my dream screen is, these days

 

[TheLostSwede]

oof, that price

but 32" 4K IPS is right what my dream screen is, these days

Yeah, that's the biggest problem with all the 4K screens that can do anything more than 60 Hz, they're stupidly expensive and this one even more so.
4K 60 Hz screens can be had for $300-350, want something more and it's $800++

 

[Dammeron]

oof, that price

but 32" 4K IPS is right what my dream screen is, these days

On TFTCentral a review of Asus PG32UQ should appear next week. Same panel, as this MSI.

Price is supposed to be around 900-1000€.

 

[Valantar]

Well that's an attractive featureset. Two KVM ports would have been plenty, but I'm not saying no to more. That price though ... nope. Not happening. Guess we'll see where something comparable sits in a year or so.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Well that's an attractive featureset. Two KVM ports would have been plenty, but I'm not saying no to more. That price though ... nope. Not happening. Guess we'll see where something comparable sits in a year or so.

Yeah, not quite sure why they integrated that in a "gaming" monitor though, as you'd think that would've appeared on something much more corporate first.

 

[Valantar]

Yeah, not quite sure why they integrated that in a "gaming" monitor though, as you'd think that would've appeared on something much more corporate first.

Yeah, but integrated KVMs are making their way to office monitors en masse - the cheapo 24" 1080p AOC monitor I bought recently has a USB-C input + automatic KVM for its USB hub. It's likely dirt cheap to implement, I would guess multi-input USB hub controller chips have become cheap in recent years. I'm guessing this implementation is more of a "this thing costs an arm and a leg, so why not?" type of thing. 4 host devices still feels excessive though.

 

[Deleted member 185088]

Keep in mind that electronics tend to be more expensive in Japan, so the retail price in other countries should be lower.

It depends on the country, the prices tend to be lower in Japan than in Europe, in the US all the prices are misleading as tax is almost never included.

 

[Chomiq]

On TFTCentral a review of Asus PG32UQ should appear next week. Same panel, as this MSI.

Price is supposed to be around 900-1000€.

HardwareUnboxed already did their review and it's nothing special, especially for that price:

 

[Valantar]

HardwareUnboxed already did their review and it's nothing special, especially for that price:

Yeah, it seems like the 32" panels are much slower than the 27-28" ones for some reason.

 

[qubit]

I can't wait for these to become more mainstream. One with G-SYNC / FreeSync will be perfect. They will need to be paired with an NVIDIA 30xx series card to get the most out of them, though. That's 4K @ 144Hz @ 4:4:4. Older cards will show an inferior picture quality, or not refresh as high. That means that my RTX 2080 isn't good enough for it.

 

[Valantar]

I can't wait for these to become more mainstream. One with G-SYNC / FreeSync will be perfect. They will need to be paired with an NVIDIA 30xx series card to get the most out of them, though. That's 4K @ 144Hz @ 4:4:4. Older cards will show an inferior picture quality, or not refresh as high. That means that my RTX 2080 isn't good enough for it.

That depends on the game and quality settings. Brand-new AAA games at Ultra settings? No, that likely won't reach anywhere near 144fps, and likely won't even on a 3080 Ti or 6900 XT. But Your 2080 can probably produce decent framerates at High or something similar, with little to no visible loss of quality. Ultra gaming is always incredibly inefficient. As for GS/FS - pretty much all monitors above 60Hz these days support both, so no worries there. This one is marketed as G-sync compatible, which means VESA Adaptive Sync/FreeSync + compatibility testing by Nvidia.

 

[qubit]

That depends on the game and quality settings. Brand-new AAA games at Ultra settings? No, that likely won't reach anywhere near 144fps, and likely won't even on a 3080 Ti or 6900 XT. But Your 2080 can probably produce decent framerates at High or something similar, with little to no visible loss of quality. Ultra gaming is always incredibly inefficient. As for GS/FS - pretty much all monitors above 60Hz these days support both, so no worries there. This one is marketed as G-sync compatible, which means VESA Adaptive Sync/FreeSync + compatibility testing by Nvidia.

It's not just the framerate for my card though. It can render well over 60fps at 4K in the latest call of duty for example although not 144Hz, which would be fine, especially with adaptive sync.

The problem is that it won't display a maximum quality picture on the desktop at 144Hz. It will be something like 4:4:2 or so and will be noticeable. That wouldn't be acceptable to me, so I'd have to upgrade the card at the same time as I upgrade the monitor, or run it at a lower refresh rate.

 

[TheLostSwede]

It's not just the framerate for my card though. It can render well over 60fps at 4K in the latest call of duty for example although not 144Hz, which would be fine, especially with adaptive sync.

The problem is that it won't display a maximum quality picture on the desktop at 144Hz. It will be something like 4:4:2 or so and will be noticeable. That wouldn't be acceptable to me, so I'd have to upgrade the card at the same time as I upgrade the monitor, or run it at a lower refresh rate.

DisplayPort 1.4a with Display Stream Compression (DSC) 1.2

Turing (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Valantar]

DisplayPort 1.4a with Display Stream Compression (DSC) 1.2

Turing (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yeah, I was about to say, don't 2000-series cards support DSC?

 

[qubit]

@TheLostSwede I did read somewhere that they couldn't do the full 4K frame rate at full quality. I'd be happy to be proved wrong as it will save me having to upgrade the card.

 

[Tardian]

While a regular KVM gives your peripherals the ability to control multiple systems, MSI takes it a step further with the inclusion of KVM 3.0 on this 4K 144Hz gaming monitor. In addition to just managing several devices with a single keyboard, mouse, and game controller, you can now also transfer files between them!

MSI Product launch 2021 - Next Gen Gaming Monitors

At MSI’s Tech meets Aesthetics Event, we’ll be unveiling 4 high refresh rate gaming monitors. Each of these monitors was carefully designed with a singular goal – deliver the best gaming experience possible. Whether you’re looking for high resolutions or

www.msi.com

Interesting.

It allows you to enjoy the full,unbridled 4K 120Hz experience even when gaming on a new-generation console.

I'd rather have my C1 48 inch LG OLED.

I'm waiting for 16K @240fps 4:4:4 uncompressed. Sarcasm alert!

 

[Pepamami]

I once bought Optix g271, it was awful at 144Hz. It was kinda neat at 60Hz, but on 144Hz solid colors were having some kind of "interlaced artifacts", especially orange and light blue