MSI Optix MAG271CQR - Brief Review

superleeds27

superleeds27

superleeds27

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Managed to grab one of these the other day for £349.

I've been on the hunt for a 144hz monitor for a while, starting to spend more time gaming and my previous monitor (Dell 2515H) was kind of limited in that respect.

The monitor itself looks great. Build quality is amazing, strong, sturdy stand, with plenty of height adjustment.

In terms of the display, out of the box settings seem to be okay, i haven't got the equipment to calibrate or to even check whether the settings need adjusting, but, they don't look too out of place as they are.

Viewing angles don't seem too bad either.

Slight issue with colour banding, more so on the blacks. Not a massive issue, as it's not too intrusive and changing the black tuner from 9 to 10, seems to fix the issue.

There's a matte coating on the screen too, it's kind of visible that it's there, if you look hard enough you can sort of see a faint grainy effect, more so on white backgrounds. Again, you have to actually be looking for it to become visible and intrusive.

FW can be upgraded. However, it needs to be sent to MSI for them to do, which is a little bit of an annoyance. Mine shipped with FW007 and FW011 is the latest, although i'm not sure whats changed between the revisions.


If anyone has any Q's feel free to fire them this way. If anyone has this monitor, feel free to chip in with suggestions on settings etc.


Pro reviews:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/msi-optix-mag271cqr-144hz-curved-gaming-monitor,6213.html


Edits

July 18th: Latest FW is V13 which fixes colour banding
 
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Kill_Phil said:
@superleeds27 Perfect timing! I'm torn between this and the dell S2719DGF.

For me it's the main risk is either the better VA panel lottery for this monitor vs the dell tn panel but with their guarantee of no dead pixels

How you finding the curved screen?
Click to expand...


Exactly the position i was in over the weekend!

I ended up biting when i saw the MSI drop to £349, at the time the Dell was about £10-£30 more. (Plus with the MSI you get a free headset)

The panel itself is fine, no dead pixels, no noticeable issues/bleed etc. The curve is different, i don't actually mind it. Does look good in game and tbh, once you've adapted it's hardly noticeable!

I think i just need time to adapt to the MSI after sitting looking at the Dell IPS Daily for two years!

I've opened up a support ticket with MSI regarding the FW Versions, hoping they can tell me whats changed between the revisions. If they can tell me, i'll post the results here.
 
Kill_Phil said:
@superleeds27 Yeah the FW update issue slightly puts me off with Msi. It sounds like you got lucky with the panel as theres some fixed reviews out there.

The free headset adds an extra dilemma like you've said but I can get the Dell monitor for £324 which makes it even more of a difficult decision. Like you I've been sat with an IPS panel these last few years so the adjustment will be hard!

Decisions, decisions!
Click to expand...

Yeah. I mean, if i knew what the changes were. It might just be adjustments to the preset profiles? Someone has sent theirs off and got it back but hasn't had chance to see whats changed as of yet.

Headset is worth £80. So there's potential to maybe make £50/£60 back from that too.


bazman25 said:
Anyone know if these work well with g-sync?
Click to expand...

Using mine with G-Sync enabled. There's a slight flicker when you're in the game menus. Other then that everything seems to be working fine.
 
So the latest FW changelog

Mofify QHD 144Hz.
Modify FPS mode.
Modify freeSync for X BOX ONEX.
Modify Zero Latenc and Anti Motion Blur

And in more depth.

1. Match N card, PC set into hibernation (turn off monitor and PC), can't wake up.
2. QHD 144 PC restart is not available.
3. Modify UART.
4. New through the graphics card, can automatically update the software features.
5. Modify FPS COLOR.
6. DP signal, AMD open windmill tool, screen will mute.
7. Modify HDMI, Free Sync cannot switch (Free Sync state priority).
8. Under HDMI, LOGO will disappear in a flash (modify Item 7's Side Effect).)
9. EDID matches changes.
10. The modified matching X BOX ONEX, indirect Free Sync cannot be turned on.
11. Modify OSD anti-ash behavior such as Free Sync,Zero Latency,Anti Motion Blur.
 
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bazman25 said:
have you got your headset yet? ive claimed mine but mine is under review been like it all week now
Click to expand...

Still under review. I uploaded everything last Tuesday. (21st?) They did say it can take up to 14 days for it to be sorted.

I've gone back to 9 on the Black Tuner. Some of the greys and blacks looked a bit washed out on 10.

I've got my hands on a Spyder4 and i'm currently calibrating the monitor with DisplayCal. I can share the profile and settings here once it's done.
 
I will look at doing a full reset over the weekend.

Resetting the OSD and all colour profiles and see if the results are any different!

Will also try Office and web settings. Gamma 2.2 and d6500K
 
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Okay.

DisplayCal correction profile loaded for this monitor (https://colorimetercorrections.displaycal.net/?get&type=*&manufacturer_id=MSI&instrument=*&html=1)

Target: D6500K and Gamma 2.2

Reset the OSD

Profile: Standard - User

Brightness: 40
Contrast: 50

Black Tuner: Default (9)

Colour Temp: Custom
R: 59
G: 51
B: 44

Color Profile: https://sharefiles.app/download/4a85301fe0e6405010cd97c25655ecc17a44dcbb


DisplayCal Output:

Profile Overview/Coverage: https://ibb.co/4WNWnzRv
Calibration Curve: https://ibb.co/3WmvBVq
Gamut: https://ibb.co/DRNNcbj
Tone Response Curves: https://ibb.co/jbHctxp



Let me know how these work for everyone.
 
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Jut feels like a hard monitor to calibrate.

Colour accuracy is fine, then banding becomes an issue, or blacks are too black.

Banding is fine, colour accuracy is all over.


Hopefully, someone with a bit of knowledge, or, deals with calibrating monitors for reviews on a regular basis can shed some light on this.


It's tempting to send back, but, there doesn't seem to be much else out there!
 
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Think I'm going to look at sending this back.

My 14 days with Box is up tomorrow so I'll get a return processed.

Such a promising monitor let down by bizarre colours and settings.
 
bazman25 said:
yea its a shame but if your not happy with it.
To me the out of box settings dont look too bad apart from the colour banding im just using the icc profile from the msi website at the moment and ive just adjusted the brightness

you could try this profile i think its very simliar to ones you did but worth a try https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/8j3ewi/msi_mag27cq_color_profile/
Click to expand...

I think i tried them, but, i'll try them again.

Yeah. The banding is whats annoying me, there shouldn't be that sort of banding!

Out of the box. default settings, the colours are all over and i mean all over! the Gamma has no curve, its a wonky line along 1.7/1.6?

After calibration, black crush then becomes an issue!


Plus the fact if you want the FW updating you have to send it off. That kind of puts me off a little too.
 
bazman25 said:
yea its a shame but if your not happy with it.
To me the out of box settings dont look too bad apart from the colour banding im just using the icc profile from the msi website at the moment and ive just adjusted the brightness

you could try this profile i think its very simliar to ones you did but worth a try https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/8j3ewi/msi_mag27cq_color_profile/
Click to expand...

Tried these again. DisplayCal measurement report is all over the place but that might be down to user error on my part!

Colours on that profile don't look too bad. Gradient banding is there but the colours seem to be absent from them which is something.

Here's the relevant images

https://ibb.co/8xvXNnD
https://ibb.co/w7JdtTr
https://ibb.co/m6dHdG6

sRGB was 99.4% too.
 
bazman25 said:
I got an email too but they want me to resubmit did you submit your invoice and serial number together in one image?
Click to expand...

Erm.

I uploaded the invoice and a photo of the back of the monitor where the label is.

Individual images. The invoice might have had the serial number on it too though?


Edit: Yeah, the invoice had the serial number on it too.

Edit two: Found a few more profiles for the MAG27CQ - https://sharefiles.app/download/3151fb4424efcf77c360ccd12108c3ebb03f04b1
 
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