MSI MPG 322URX QD-OLED  Monitor Review

The MSI MPG 322URX has a gamer aesthetic, including RGB lighting and an aggressive artistic etching on the monitor's back.

The build quality is excellent. Despite the outside of the monitor's body being plastic, it feels very solid and doesn't have much flex. 

The ergonomics are okay. You can make any common adjustment for horizontal use, though its swivel range is limited. The stand features a cutout for cable management. You can also detach the monitor from the stand and connect a VESA mount.

The stand holds the monitor well, and it doesn't wobble very much when bumped.

The monitor has a joystick to control the on-screen display. It also has a macro key (left) and a power button (right).

• HDMI cable
• DisplayPort cable
• USB-B to USB-A cable
• Power cable
• VESA wall-mount adapter screws
• Documentation

The MSI MPG 322URX has a near-infinite contrast ratio and displays perfect blacks next to bright highlights in a dark room. However, in brighter environments deep blacks appear purple.

The MSI MPG 322URX doesn't have a backlight, so it doesn't require a local dimming feature. However, with a near-infinite contrast ratio, there isn't any blooming around bright objects, and it's the equivalent of a perfect local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the monitor so you can see how the screen performs and compare it with a monitor that has local dimming.

Settings

• Game Mode: User (after calibration)
• Pro Mode: User (after calibration)
• Brightness: 100
• Pixel Shift: Slow
• Static Screen Detection: Off
• Multi Log Detection: Off
• Taskbar Detection: Off
• Boundary Detection: Off

The SDR brightness is fair. While it can't overcome glare from a bright window, it's easy to see in a room with a moderate amount of light. However, the monitor has consistent brightness, which is helpful for tasks requiring consistent brightness, such as photo editing.

Settings

• Game Mode: User
• Pro Mode: User
• DisplayHDR: Peak 1000 nits
• Brightness: Locked
• Pixel Shift: Slow
• Static Screen Detection: Off
• Taskbar Detection: Off
• Boundary Detection: Off

The HDR brightness is alright. Small highlights pop against the rest of the image, but larger ones are more muted. Additionally, while it follows the PQ EOTF target curve well, it has a slow roll-off near peak brightness, so highlights don't get as bright as possible.

If you set DisplayHDR to 'True Black 400, ' brightness is reduced at both a 2% window (453 cd/m²) and a 100% window (253 cd/m²). The PQ EOTF also has a more gradual roll-off.

Note: We tested the 322URX with a newer version of Calman than the MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED, so the numbers on the EOTF graph are different. However, the scale is still the same, and you can compare the 322URX's EOTF curve to the 321URX's.

The gray uniformity is superb. There's no notable dirty screen effect or dimming at the monitor's edges.

The MSI MPG 322URX has outstanding black uniformity, with a uniform black level across the screen.

The accuracy before calibration in the 'sRGB' Pro Mode is fantastic. Its white balance is great and its color accuracy is excellent. Additionally, its color temperature is close to the 6500K target. Gamma follows the target quite well, though very bright parts of scenes are a bit too bright.

Locked-out Settings

Using the sRGB mode locks out the following settings:

• Contrast
• Low Blue Light
• Color Temperature

If you want to access these settings, then you need to use another mode with worse accuracy, like 'User.'

The accuracy after calibration is superb, and you won't notice any inaccuracies.

The SDR color gamut is fantastic. It displays virtually all colors in the sRGB color space, and nearly all colors in Adobe RGB. However, in Adobe RGB it oversaturates red, and green is inaccurate.

The HDR color gamut is outstanding. It displays virtually all colors in the commonly-used DCI-P3 color space, as well as a wide range in Rec. 2020. Additionally, it's quite accurate in both spaces, though white is slightly inaccurate in Rec. 2020.

The color volume is excellent. It displays bright colors vividly, and darker colors look accurate in a dark room. However, in bright rooms very dark colors lose saturation, and don't look as dark as on WOLED displays.

The horizontal viewing angle is incredible. Although it technically isn't perfect, you visually won't see any inconsistencies when viewing from the sides or if you sit close to the screen.

The text clarity is amazing. Enabling Windows ClearType (top photo) improves the boldness of letters. These photos are in Windows 10, and you can also see them in Windows 11 with ClearType on and with ClearType off.

Due to the triangular subpixel layout, there's some color fringing around letters and at the edge of windows. It's hard to see unless you look closely at the monitor. Some people notice this more than others. You can also check out the 27-inch ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM if you want better text clarity, as the higher pixel density results in less fringing.

The direct reflection handling is decent. As it has a glossy coating, bright light bounces off like a mirror, but it doesn't have too much glare either.

This monitor has distracting black level raise in bright rooms. Blacks look purple, like on any QD-OLED, mainly due to the fact that it lacks a polarizer. This means that it only displays perfect blacks in a dark room.

This monitor has minimal reflections. It absorbs light well, and even direct reflections from bright light sources aren't distracting.

The gradient handling is fantastic, and you won't notice any banding.

This monitor is capable of reaching its maximum refresh rate over DisplayPort without using DSC (Display Stream Compression) if your graphics card supports UHBR20 (80Gbps) bandwidth. However, you need to use DSC to reach its maximum refresh rate over HDMI, but it has a setting to disable DSC if you prefer.

In addition to FreeSync and G-SYNC compatibility, this monitor also supports HDMI Forum VRR.

The MSI MPG 322URX has remarkable motion handling across its VRR range. There's minimal blur or smearing with fast-moving objects, and it remains consistent as the refresh rate drops. Any blur at low refresh rates is persistence blur.

The refresh rate compliance is superb. It makes full-color transitions before drawing the next frame because of its near-instantaneous response time.

The CAD at the max refresh rate of 240Hz is fantastic. Motion looks very sharp and there's no noticeable blur.

The CAD at 120Hz is fantastic. There isn't noticeable smearing or inverse ghosting.

The CAD at 60Hz is fantastic, and any noticeable blur is persistence.

This monitor doesn't have a black frame insertion feature to reduce persistence blur.

Despite the monitor producing quick flashes that aren't picked up in the test, most of the time, they aren't that distracting. However, larger frame rate changes cause flicker that's much more noticeable.

The backlight isn't technically flicker-free because it has a slight dip in brightness that corresponds to the monitor's refresh rate.

The input lag is very low at its max refresh rate. However, input lag increases a bit more than expected at lower refresh rates. These results are with DSC 'On.'

If DSC is 'Off,' the input lag is slightly reduced at lower refresh rates, as you can see below:

The Xbox Series X|S doesn't support HDR at 1080p or 1440p. However, this is a limitation of the Xbox, not the monitor.

You can connect the monitor to your laptop via USB-C, charging it with at least 90W of power, while also displaying an image on the monitor. 

MSI lists this monitor's maximum power delivery at 98W, but our testing device only draws a maximum of 90W, so we can't confirm the monitor's maximum power delivery.

The MSI MPG 322URX works well with macOS. VRR works well, though HDR colors look oversaturated. If you're using a MacBook, closing the lid doesn't cause the computer to go to sleep, and windows migrate from the MacBook's screen to the MSI. Opening the lid again returns windows to their original position. Additionally, waking the MacBook from sleep returns windows to their pre-sleep location.

This monitor has some extra features designed for gamers, such as:

• Mystic Light: A soft ambient light that you can sync with other Mystic Light products.
• AI Crosshair: Overlays a crosshair that changes color to stand out on the screen, even with changing content.
• AI Vision: Enhances the visibility of detail in dark areas as well as optimizing contrast and color saturation.
• Gaming Intelligence App: Allows you to adjust monitor settings with your keyboard and mouse rather than the 5-way joystick control on the monitor.

It also has a KVM switch, which makes it easy to switch between sources and use the same keyboard and mouse connected to the monitor.

OLED Care

Like other OLED panels, this monitor has a few settings to help mitigate the risk of permanent burn-in when exposed to the same static elements over time.

• Taskbar Detection: Reduces the brightness of taskbars if they're detected.
• Boundary Detection: Reduces the brightness of boundary areas such as pillars and vertical lines.
• Pixel Shift: Moves the image a few pixels at a time so that each pixel isn't always displaying the same thing. You can set it to 'Slow,' 'Normal', or 'Fast'.
• Multi Logo Detection: Reduces the brightness of static elements, like logos, that stay on the screen for a long time.
• Panel Protect: Activates a pixel refresh cycle to reduce the risk of permanent burn-in. A message pops up every four hours of usage to run the cycle, which takes a couple of minutes to complete. However, the message can pop up at any time, including while you're gaming. You can adjust the feature to activate after 16 hours instead of 4, though this may make your screen more prone to burn-in.

You can find more information about the monitor's OSD in the User Guide.