Custom PC - UK (2020-06)

T

heOptixMAG272CQRaims toprovidea great

balanceforallsortsofgaming,fromsingle-player

titlestoesports.The27indiagonaland2,560x

1,440resolutionarea goodstart,resultingina pixeldensity

of109ppi.That’scrispandimmersivewithoutbeingtoohigh

formainstreamgraphicscardstohandle.

TheMSI’sVApanelhasa 165Hzrefreshrate,andlike

theIPSmonitorsintheLabs(seep52),itsadaptivesync

implementationworkswithbothAMDFreeSyncandNvidia

G-Sync,eliminatingtearingartefactsonbothcompany’s

GPUs.Thatrefreshrateis highenoughtoensuresmooth,

responsivegaminginhigh-speedesports,andtheMSI’s

quoted1msresponsetimeis alsoexcellent.

TheMSI’s1500Rradiusis tighterthanmostcurveddisplays,

whichareconfiguredat1800R,butthatmakessense,because

it helpsimmersiononsmallerdisplays.Meanwhile,the

DisplayPortandHDMIconnectionsarejoinedbyUSBType-C,

whichcanbeusedasa DisplayPortinputordevicecharging.

TheOptix’sstandalsohasheightadjustmentandcanbe

tilted,althoughit hasnoswiveloptions.It looksgood,with

slimbezelsandnarrowlegs,andit’ssturdytoo.There’sa

headphonehookanda slateofRGBLEDsattherear.

Meanwhile,theon-screendisplaymenuis fastand

straightforwardtonavigate,withkeyinformationalways

displayed.It’sonlynavigatedwithonejoystick,butit works–

everykeyoptionis accessible.

TheMSIalsohasgoodcoreimagequality.Itsdefault

brightnessmeasurementof229cd/m²is decent,anditsblack

pointof0.09cd/m²is stunning– deeperthan

mostgamingdisplays,andlowenoughtogive

hugedepthtoshadowedanddarkerareas.The

resultingcontrastratioof2,544:1is superb:better

thananyIPSdisplayandhighenoughtodeliver

hugepunchandvibrancy.It doesn’tmatchMSI’s

claimed3,000:1figure,butit’sstillgood.

ThedeltaE of2.07is alsodecent,andthe

colourtemperatureof5,989Kis reasonable.

Thatlatterfigureis a littlewarm,whichleaves

lighterareaswitha slightredpall,butit’snot

hugelynoticeableingames.TheMSIalso

displayedanimpressive99.4percentofthe

sRGBcolourgamut.

Themaximumbrightnessof293cd/m²is

alsoreasonable,andcontrastandcolour

accuracyweremaintainedwiththebacklight

increased.TheMSIis uniformtoo:itsbacklight

onlyweakenedby11 percentinthecorners, which is a good

resultfora curvedgamingpanel.

TheOptixisn’tinfallible,ofcourse.Its genre modes all

ruinthedeltaE,andtheMSIisn’tbrightenough to handle

HDR,despitethefirm’sclaimsthatit’s‘HDR Ready’. We

alsonoticeda tinybitofghostingwhenusing aggressive

overdrivesettingsbeyondthemaximum 165Hz refresh

rate,likelyduetoitsrelianceonVAtechnology rather than

IPSorTN.Mostpeoplewon’tbebothered by this, but it’s

a minorcomplaintforcompetitivegamers who might be

lookingfortheclearestresponseathigh frame rates.

TheMSIhasnospeakerseither,anditsUSB ports are

awkwardlyinstalledattherear.

Conclusion

TheMAG272CQR’sresolution,refreshrate, size and curve

makeit animmersive,crispoptionforgaming – from

smoothsingle-playertitlestofast-

pacedesports.It hasgreatcore

imagequality,top-notchcontrast,

deepblacklevelsandreasonable

colouraccuracy.It can’thandletrue

HDR,buttheMSIiswell-balanced

andcheaperthanmostotherdisplays

withthissortofspecification.

MIKEJENNINGS

REVIEWS / MONITORS

VERDICT

A well-balanced specification

joined by great core image quality

and a fair price.

OVERALLSCORE

85 %

IMAGE QUALITY

48 / 55

FEATURES

13 / 15

VALUE

24 / 30

SPEC

Screen size 27in

Resolution 2,560 x 1,440

Panel technology VA

Maximum refresh rate 165Hz

Response time 1ms

Contrast 3,000:1

Adaptive sync Free Sync and

G-Sync compatible

Display inputs 1 x DisplayPort

1.2a, 2 x HDMI 2b, USB Type-C

DisplayPort

Audio None

Stand adjustment Height, tilt

Extras 100 x 100mm VESA

mount, 2-port USB 2 hub

OPTICAL

• 
  

  Great contrast

  
  


• 
  

  Superb black point

  
  


• 
  

  G-Sync
  compatibility

  
  

TRACKBALL

• Not truly HDR


• Minor ghosting
  if overdriven


• Disappointing
  genre options

SUPPLIER currys.co.uk

MSI OPTIX

MAG272CQR/£339 inc VAT cc

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