The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M is a mid-range 27-inch gaming monitor. It uses Mini LED backlighting with 1,152 zones, and it has a native 4k resolution and 160Hz refresh rate. You can use its Dual Mode feature to boost the refresh rate to 320Hz with a lower 1080p resolution. It competes directly with other 4k, 160Hz Mini LED models that have a 1080p, 320Hz dual mode, like the Acer Nitro XV275K P5biipruzx, and the lower-end MSI MAG 274UPDF E16M. Besides its gaming perks that include HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, FreeSync Premium, and G-SYNC Compatibility, it has some productivity features, like a USB-C port with DisplayPort Alt Mode and up to 98W of power delivery.
Our Verdict
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M is good for PC gaming. You can use it at its native 4k resolution and 160Hz refresh rate or with its dual-mode 1080p resolution and 320Hz refresh rate, so it's versatile for playing different types of games. It has consistent motion handling across any refresh rate, and it has low input lag for a responsive feel. It also supports all common VRR formats to reduce screen tearing. The downside of getting this for gaming is that it doesn't have the best picture quality. Its local dimming feature overbrightens content in SDR, while crushing blacks and causing haloing in HDR. On the plus side, it makes highlights pop in HDR and gets bright enough to fight glare in well-lit rooms.
4k, 160Hz and 1080p, 320Hz modes.
Supports all common VRR formats.
Consistent motion handling across VRR.
Low input lag at any refresh rate.
Bright enough to fight glare in most well-lit rooms.
Local dimming in SDR results in an overbrightened image.
Black crush and haloing with local dimming in HDR.
Low native contrast ratio.
Some blur behind fast-moving objects.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M is excellent for console gaming. It supports almost any signal from a PS5, PS5 Pro, and Xbox Series X|S, but it doesn't support Dolby Vision with an Xbox. It has low input lag for a responsive feel, and motion looks good for the most part, but there's still some blur behind fast-moving objects. While it displays a wide range of colors and makes highlights pop, it fails to deliver an impactful HDR gaming experience. Its local dimming feature crushes blacks and has some haloing around bright objects, and blacks look gray if you don't use the local dimming feature.
Consistent motion handling across VRR.
Low input lag at any refresh rate.
Supports almost any signal from consoles.
Sharp text and image clarity in 4k mode.
Bright enough to fight glare in most well-lit rooms.
Local dimming in SDR results in an overbrightened image.
Black crush and haloing with local dimming in HDR.
Low native contrast ratio.
Some blur behind fast-moving objects.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M is excellent for office use. It has sharp text clarity in its 4k mode, and its 27-inch screen is big enough to view two windows side by side. It also comes with some useful productivity features, like an ergonomic stand that makes it easy to adjust, a small USB hub, and a KVM switch that you can use to change sources and use the same devices on both. It also gets bright enough to fight glare in most well-lit rooms, but reflections are distracting if you have it in a sunny environment.
Sharp text and image clarity in 4k mode.
Has an ergonomic stand.
Includes a USB-C port and a KVM switch.
Bright enough to fight glare in most well-lit rooms.
Distracting reflections in sunny rooms.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M is good for content creation. It delivers detailed images thanks to its 4k resolution, but you may find that its 27-inch screen is too small if you work with long video timelines. Although it comes with a dedicated sRGB mode, you need to calibrate it if you want proper color temperature and white balance. It also has some issues with its picture quality, as its local dimming feature causes an inaccurate image in SDR, depending on the setting you use, and it crushes details in HDR. If you choose not to use the local dimming feature, then blacks look gray, and highlights don't pop as much.
Sharp text and image clarity in 4k mode.
Has an ergonomic stand.
Includes a USB-C port and a KVM switch.
sRGB mode has good gamma tracking.
Bright enough to fight glare in most well-lit rooms.
Black crush and haloing with local dimming in HDR.
Low native contrast ratio.
Needs full calibration to fix white balance and color temperature issues.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has excellent brightness. It makes highlights pop in HDR, and it fights glare in most well-lit rooms.
Bright enough to fight glare in most well-lit rooms.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has a good response time. Its response time is consistently quick at any refresh rate, but there's still blur behind fast-moving objects.
Consistent motion handling across VRR.
Some blur behind fast-moving objects.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has okay HDR picture quality. Using the local dimming feature improves the black levels and makes highlights stand out, but it does this by crushing blacks. Plus, there are highlights around bright objects.
Displays wide range of colors.
Black crush and haloing with local dimming in HDR.
Low native contrast ratio.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has alright SDR picture quality. If you don't use its local dimming feature, blacks look gray. While local dimming in SDR can help improve black levels, it overbrightens content, so the image looks inaccurate, depending on the local dimming setting you use.
Displays wide range of colors.
Local dimming in SDR results in an overbrightened image.
Low native contrast ratio.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has great accuracy. Its dedicated sRGB mode locks colors well to the sRGB color space and has fantastic gamma tracking. However, it has color temperature and white balance issues that you would need to fix with a full calibration.
sRGB mode has good gamma tracking.
Needs full calibration to fix white balance and color temperature issues.
Performance Usages
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the 27-inch MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M, which is the only size available, and the results are only valid for this model. Even though MSI has the similar MAG 274UPDF available, it's a different monitor, as you can see below.
| Model | Resolution & Refresh Rate | USB-C Power |
Body Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| MPG 274URDFW | Native: 4k, 160Hz | 90W | White |
| Dual Mode: 1080p, 320Hz | |||
| MAG 274UPDF | Native: 4k, 160Hz | 15W | Black |
| Dual Mode: 1080p, 320Hz |
Our unit's label indicates it was manufactured in August 2025 in China. We tested it with firmware FW.026.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The MSI MPG 274URDFW is a mid-range gaming monitor with Mini LED backlighting. Featuring a native 4k resolution and 160Hz refresh rate with a 1080p, 320Hz dual mode, it competes against other models with the dual-mode specs, like the Acer Nitro XV275K P5biipruzx. It has what you'd expect in a gaming monitor, like sharp motion, low input lag, and HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, so it's versatile for playing different types of games. However, its local dimming feature is disappointing for a Mini LED display with 1,152 zones, as it has black crush and haloing in HDR, and certain settings overbrighten content in SDR. If you want to get a monitor to take advantage of its local dimming feature to improve picture quality in HDR, you'd be better off going for the Acer, if you can find it available in your region. Otherwise, the MSI is still a solid choice, with some trade-offs when it comes to local dimming.
Also see our recommendations for the best Mini LED monitors, the best 4k 144Hz monitors, and the best 4k gaming monitors.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M and the Acer Nitro XV275K P5biipruzx are competing Mini LED monitors. They share many of the same specs, including 4k, 160Hz and 1080p, 320Hz dual modes, USB-C ports with DisplayPort Alt Mode, and KVM switches. While they both have 1,152 dimming zones, the local dimming on the Acer is more effective at improving the picture quality, as the local dimming on the MSI results in black crush and more haloing in HDR. However, you can't use local dimming in SDR on the Acer, but certain local dimming settings on the MSI cause an overbrightened image in SDR, so you may prefer not using it anyways. Besides that, the MSI has better motion handling across its VRR range, but they're very similar otherwise.
The INNOCN 27M2V and the MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M are both 4k Mini LED gaming monitors. While they each have a native 160Hz refresh rate, the MSI has a dual-mode feature to boost the refresh rate to 320Hz with a lower 1080p resolution, which the INNOCN doesn't have. They also both have 1,152 dimming zones, but the local dimming feature on the INNOCN results in much better picture quality with less black crush and haloing. The MSI has a few advantages for gaming, though, as it has lower input lag at 60Hz, leading to a more responsive feel with lower-frame-rate sources, like consoles.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M and the Acer Nitro XV275K P3biipruzx are both 4k Mini LED displays. One main difference is that the MSI has a dual mode to boost its 160Hz refresh rate to 320Hz with a lower 1080p resolution, which the Acer doesn't have. However, the Acer has a few advantages in picture quality because its local dimming feature is more effective at improving picture quality, and it's a lot more accurate before calibration. The Acer even has superior reflection handling, so it's better to use in a well-lit room.
We buy and test more than 30 monitors each year, with units that we buy completely on our own, without any cherry-picked units or samples. We put a lot into each unbiased, straight-to-the-point review, and there's a whole process from purchasing to publishing, involving multiple teams and people. We do more than just use the monitor for a week; we use specialized and custom tools to measure various aspects with objective data-based results. We also consider multiple factors before making any recommendations, including the monitor's cost, its performance against the competition, and whether or not it's easy to find.
Test Results
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has a rather premium look with an all-white body and some black accents and RGB lighting on the back. While most of the plastic is matte, the black plastic covering the lighting is glossy and reflective.
The build quality is good. The materials feel good for the most part, but some of the plastics, like with the joystick control, feel cheap as they bend rather easily. The bezels are flush to the screen, but they aren't perfectly uniform throughout, either.
Some people have reported this monitor getting hot easily. We played an HDR video for nearly 20 minutes, and the temperature in the hottest spots didn't exceed 40 °C. It didn't get significantly hot at any point during testing, either.
The ergonomics are incredible. You can adjust it in a number of ways, and the adjustments feel fluid and easy to perform, and the screen stays in place well. The stand also has a cutout for basic cable management.
The stand consists of a metal base plate and a plastic pillar, but the screen wobbles easily and takes time to stabilize itself. While the base of the stand is big, it's flat, and you can still place stuff on top. As the stand is tilted, the thickness from the screen to the back of the stand depends on the height you set the screen to. The measurement in the review is with it at its highest setting, and the thickness at its lowest is 7.5" (19.0 cm).
The housing height measurement includes the branding element below the bottom bezel, which adds an extra 0.5" (1.3 cm).
The joystick underneath the bottom bezel controls the on-screen display (OSD) and acts as a power button. However, it feels cheap and unresponsive at times.
- HDMI cable
- DisplayPort cable
- USB-C cable
- USB-A to USB-B cable
- Power cable and supply
- 4x VESA standoffs
- User documentation, including calibration report
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has a poor native contrast ratio without using local dimming. The contrast ratio greatly improves with Local Dimming set to 'Level 3,' as it helps it display deeper blacks. With Local Dimming on 'Level 2,' the contrast ratio is 1,251:1.
Settings
- Local Dimming: Level 3
- Halo Dimming: 100
SDR Local Dimming
The local dimming feature is bad. Despite having 1,152 dimming zones, it fails to effectively improve the picture quality in dark content and has some issues. When using the feature in SDR, the 'Level 1' and 'Level 2' settings don't turn off any of the zones, and instead, they dim the backlight. Setting Local Dimming to 'Level 3' is more effective at dimming the zones, but it results in a more inaccurate image in SDR. Gamma tracking is off, so midtones and grays are overbrightened, resulting in a muted and flat overall image in bright content. You can see this when comparing desktop elements between 'Level 2' and 'Level 3.' However, the 'Level 3' setting is still better than 'Level 2' at improving black levels in dark content, so you have to choose whether you want the more accurate image or better black levels if you're going to use local dimming in SDR.
There's also a 'Customization' Local Dimming setting that allows you to adjust a slider from 0 to 255. However, changes only take effect every seven steps in the slider. Setting it to its max performs like 'Level 3,' but you can still find a balance between the performance of 'Level 2' and 'Level 3' by adjusting the slider between 186 to 204.
HDR Local Dimming
If you're going to use local dimming in HDR, then the 'Level 3' setting looks a lot more accurate than SDR content. It improves the black levels, but it does so by crushing blacks, causing a loss of details in dark scenes. It also has haloing around bright objects, which could get distracting with subtitles. Overall, it's not a good implementation of local dimming, especially for a Mini LED monitor.
There's a Halo Dimming setting that's meant to reduce haloing, but even at its max, there's haloing. Setting it to 0 results in more haloing, but smoother transitions of objects between dimming zones.
Settings
- Game Mode: User
- Brightness: Max
- Local Dimming: Off
The SDR brightness is great. It gets bright enough to fight glare, and it maintains consistent brightness with Local Dimming off. However, if you want the lowest brightness possible, you have to set Local Dimming to 'Level 3.'
Setting Local Dimming to 'Level 2' results in similar brightness, except smaller windows are dimmer:
- Real Scene: 370 cd/m²
- Peak 2% Window: 317 cd/m²
- Peak 10% Window: 385 cd/m²
- Peak 25% Window: 414 cd/m²
- Peak 50% Window: 428 cd/m²
- Peak 100% Window: 443 cd/m²
- Sustained 2% Window: 316 cd/m²
- Sustained 10% Window: 384 cd/m²
- Sustained 25% Window: 412 cd/m²
- Sustained 50% Window: 426 cd/m²
- Sustained 100% Window: 442 cd/m²
- Minimum Brightness: 32 cd/m²
Settings
- DisplayHDR: 1000 nits
- Game Mode: User
- Brightness: Locked to max
- Local Dimming: Level 3
- Halo Dimming: 0
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has remarkable HDR brightness. It allows highlights to pop against the rest of the image for an impactful HDR experience. It also has fairly accurate PQ EOTF tracking, but bright content is slightly overbrightened, and it's tone mapping before your source.
You need to use Local Dimming on 'Level 3' with Halo Dimming set to '0' to get the brightest screen possible, even if that means there's more haloing than with Halo Dimming at its max of '100.' That setting results in a dimmer image, as you can see below:
| Window Size | Local Dimming: Off | Local Dimming: Level 3 Halo Dimming: 100 |
|---|---|---|
| Real Scene | 754 cd/m² | 937 cd/m² |
| Peak 2% Window | 819 cd/m² | 828 cd/m² |
| Peak 10% Window | 820 cd/m² | 1,424 cd/m² |
| Peak 25% Window | 820 cd/m² | 1,683 cd/m² |
| Peak 50% Window | 820 cd/m² | 1,813 cd/m² |
| Peak 100% Window | 820 cd/m² | 1,462 cd/m² |
| Sustained 2% Window | 818 cd/m² | 825 cd/m² |
| Sustained 10% Window | 818 cd/m² | 1,418 cd/m² |
| Sustained 25% Window | 819 cd/m² | 1,674 cd/m² |
| Sustained 50% Window | 819 cd/m² | 1,491 cd/m² |
| Sustained 100% Window | 818 cd/m² | 822 cd/m² |
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has bad black uniformity without local dimming, as there's clouding throughout. This is with Brightness Uniformity on, and it performs similarly even with it off.
Setting Local Dimming to 'Level 3' with Halo Dimming to '100' improves the uniformity, which is the setting we used for the photo in the review. Setting Halo Dimming to '0' results in more haloing. You can see additional photos with Local Dimming on 'Level 2':
The accuracy before calibration in the 'sRGB' Pro Mode is good. It locks colors well to the sRGB color space and has accurate gamma tracking. However, there are white balance inaccuracies, and the color temperature is on the warm side, giving the image a red tint.
Using the 'sRGB' mode locks the Color Temperature, Low Blue Light, and Contrast settings. You'd have to use another, less accurate mode if you want access to those settings.
As explained in Local Dimming, setting Local Dimming to 'Level 3' causes an inaccurate image with overbrightened grays. It's better to disable Local Dimming in SDR if you care about accuracy.
The accuracy after calibration is fantastic. Calibrating it fixes most issues, but some colors, like blue, are undersaturated.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has a superb SDR color gamut. It has near-perfect coverage of both the sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces, with minimal inaccuracies. These results are from after a full calibration, which results in slightly better Adobe RGB coverage than the 'Adobe RGB' mode.
It has a similar spectral power distribution (SPD) to the Acer Nitro XV275K P5biipruzx, as it uses proper quantum dots and not KSF phosphors.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has a fantastic HDR color gamut. It has wide coverage of the DCI-P3 color space used in most content, but it oversaturates greens. It also has good coverage of the Rec. 2020 color space, but most colors are undersaturated.
The HDR color volume is amazing. It displays bright and vivid colors well, but the biggest downside is that it struggles properly displaying the darkest colors.
The viewing angle is alright. The image gets darker at wide angles, but it's fine if you have a friend sitting next to you. That said, colors wash out quickly from the sides, so it's less ideal if you're a content creator showing work to a client or coworker.
The text clarity is fantastic in the 4k mode. Letters look sharp, and using Windows ClearType (top photo) makes text bolder. These photos are in Windows 10, and you can also see them in Windows 11 with ClearType on and with ClearType off.
As expected, the text clarity is much worse in the 1080p mode. Despite the scaling, it still looks fine for a dual-mode monitor.
You can see photos from the 1080p mode below:
The reflection handling is alright. The matte coating absorbs light well, but it still has some mirror-like reflections.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M does a fantastic job at maintaining consistent black levels in bright rooms.
Reflections can get distracting on this monitor, especially if you have it placed in front of a sunny window. That said, it gets bright enough to fight most glare, so it's fine if you still have some lights around the monitor.
The gradient handling is superb. There's minimal banding between shades of similar colors.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has an MSI Dual Mode setting that boosts the refresh rate to 320Hz with a lower 1080p resolution. However, it doesn't always work as intended because turning it on/off sometimes makes the screen go blank, and we wouldn't get an image without turning the monitor off and on again. It would even sometimes limit the refresh rate to 120Hz in the dual mode, and we wouldn't be able to get 320Hz without a custom resolution.
In the 4k mode, your graphics card needs to use Display Stream Compression (DSC) to get a 160Hz refresh rate. There's a DSC setting that you can disable if you prefer, but that lowers the refresh rate.
NVIDIA - G-SYNC Compatibility
Connection
VRR Min
VRR Max
DisplayPort
<20Hz
4k mode: 160Hz
1080p mode: 320Hz
HDMI
<20Hz
4k mode: 160Hz
1080p mode: 320Hz
AMD - FreeSync
Connection
VRR Min
VRR Max
DisplayPort
<20Hz
4k mode: 160Hz
1080p mode: 320Hz
HDMI
<20Hz
4k mode: 160Hz
1080p mode: 320Hz
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M also supports HDMI Forum VRR.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has consistently good motion handling across its VRR range in the 4k mode. The 'Normal' Response Time overdrive setting is very consistent at any refresh rate without noticeable inverse ghosting, but there's still motion blur.
If you're using the 1080p mode, the 'Fast' overdrive setting results in sharper motion, especially at refresh rates higher than 160Hz, as you can see in the overdrive comparison graph. At 160Hz and below, the overdrive settings perform the same in both modes, except at 60Hz. This is because Low Framerate Compensation (LFC) starts at 61 fps in the 1080p mode, compared to 54 fps in the 4k mode, so the screen is actually refreshing at 120Hz with 60 fps content in the 1080p mode.
The refresh rate compliance is good. While it's not perfect, the response time is fast enough to make near-full color transitions before the monitor draws the next frame.
The CAD at the max refresh rate of 160Hz in the 4k mode is very good. The 'Fast' Response Time setting results in sharp motion, but it has some inverse ghosting. The 'Normal' overdrive setting is better to use if that bothers you.
Motion looks smoother at 320Hz in the 1080p mode. Unlike at 160Hz, the recommended overdrive setting is 'Fastest' because it has the fastest response time with minimal overshoot.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has very good CAD at 120Hz. Motion looks the same in the 1080p and 4k modes with each of the overdrive settings. The 'Fast' overdrive setting has the best motion, but it has some inverse ghosting, so you may prefer using 'Normal' if that bothers you.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has good CAD at 60Hz. While all three overdrive settings perform similarly in the 1080p and 4k modes, the 'Fast' setting results in the best motion handling. This is only with 60Hz signals, because, as explained in VRR Motion Performance, motion looks different between the 1080p and 4k modes if the monitor starts at a higher refresh rate and uses VRR to go down to 60Hz.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has an optional backlight strobing feature that's meant to help reduce persistence blur. However, it's limited in how you can use it because it locks many settings, including Brightness and Adaptive-Sync, and it results in image duplication.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has no distracting VRR flicker with changing frame rates. The results are in the 4k mode, and there's no visible flicker in the 1080p mode, either.
While there's some variation in brightness, it's not the same as pulse-width modulation because it's not a full on and off flicker.
The MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M has low input lag for a responsive feel at any refresh rate in the 4k mode. The input lag remains low for the most part in the 1080p mode, but it's a bit higher at 60Hz, as you can see below:
- 1080p @ 320Hz: 2.1 ms
- 1080p @ 120Hz: 4.7 ms
- 1080p @ 60Hz: 13.0 ms
- Backlight Strobing (1080p @ 320Hz): 4.8 ms
There aren't any compatibility issues with a PS5, as long as you're in the 4k mode.
Besides not supporting Dolby Vision, this monitor works well with an Xbox Series X|S. The Xbox doesn't support HDR with 1080p or 1440p signals, so this isn't a limitation of the monitor.
Although the MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M is advertised as having 98W of power delivery, we couldn't draw more than 90W. Regardless, this enough power to charge most laptops while you're using it.
Connection
HDMI 2.1
USB-C
Max Refresh Rate
4k mode: 160Hz
1080p mode: 320Hz
4k mode: 160Hz
1080p mode: 320Hz
VRR Range
4k mode: 48–160Hz
1080p mode: 48–60Hz
4k mode: 48–160Hz
1080p mode: 48–320Hz
HDR
Yes
Yes
This monitor works well with macOS without any issues. If you're using a MacBook with a USB-C connection, HDR looks oversaturated compared to the MacBook's screen in any of the picture modes. SDR looks more accurate compared to the screen. With a USB-C connection, you can close the laptop's lid and continue using the monitor. When you reopen the lid or wake it up from sleep, windows return to their original locations after a few seconds.
With an HDMI connection, everything works as intended, except for the fact that the max refresh rate with VRR in the 1080p mode is 60Hz. We tried with other MacBooks and cables, and never got more than 60Hz in the 1080p mode over HDMI. HDR is a lot less saturated than over USB-C, and looks good compared to a MacBook's screen. With a MacBook connected over HDMI and plugged into power, you can close the lid and continue using the monitor. However, the laptop goes to sleep if you don't have it plugged into power. Like over USB-C, windows return to their original locations after a few seconds when reopening the lid.
The MSI 274URDFW E16M has a number of extra features, including a KVM switch that allows you to use the same devices on different sources. Other features include:
- AI Vision: Automatically changes the brightness and contrast on a per-scene basis.
- G.I.: Includes Smart Crosshair, Optix Scope, and MSI Dual Mode features to enhance your gaming experience.
- HDMI CEC: Enabling this makes the monitor power on when you turn on HDMI CEC devices, like a gaming console.
- Low Blue Light: Limits blue light to help reduce eye strain.
- Image Enhancement: Adjusts the image sharpness.
- Night Vision: Changes the picture quality to make it easier to see opponents in dark areas of games.
- Refresh Rate: Displays the current refresh rate.
- Screen Size: Allows you to change the aspect ratio of the image. It includes a mode to simulate a 24.5-inch screen size.
