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HDMI 2.1 vs HDMI 2.2: Biggest differences explained and when you should upgrade
With the arrival of HDMI 2.2, many might be curious how much of an upgrade it offers and if it's even worth getting a new set of cables over HDMI 2.1.
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Tom's Guide
11 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
I review TVs for a living and most people spend too much on HDMI cables — here's what you really need
I've been testing TVs for over a decade, and in that time, I reckon I've answered more questions from friends and readers about HDMI cables than about TVs themselves. If you search for HDMI cables on Amazon, you might get the impression that the results go on forever. It's no wonder that folks are confused. But I'll let you in on a secret: While there's no shortage of pricey cables, you don't need to spend a lot on these things. I mean, sure, you should avoid cheap, flimsy cables that'll likely need to be replaced in short order, but you shouldn't overspend, either. Here's what you need to know. There are two types of HDMI specifications found on today's TVs: HDMI 2.0 and HDMI 2.1. The latter is a newer spec that allows for better audio support, higher refresh rates and additional gaming enhancements like Variable Refresh Rate (VRR). Affordable TVs tend to offer HDMI 2.0, while high-end models — including most of the best TVs on the market — are equipped with a full slate of HDMI 2.1-compatible ports. Mid-range TVs often come with both. If you own an entry-level TV, or one from several years ago, there's a very good chance it doesn't support HDMI 2.1. If you're planning on buying (or already own) a mid-range or high-end TV, at least two of its HDMI inputs are likely 2.1-compatible. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Folks in the first group can safely settle for Premium High-Speed HDMI cables. Forget all the jargon, though. Instead, just look for sturdy cables from a reputable brand with the following bandwidth: 18 Gbps. 18 Gbps will support everything your TV has to offer. It supports HDR and allows gamers to enjoy 4K titles at 60Hz (though not 120Hz). It'll work with whatever you've decided is the best streaming device for your living room. It has its limitations, but if you're sticking a small-ish TV in a guest bedroom with nary a soundbar, you'll be fine. These 18-Gbps, High-Speed HDMI cables come in a pack of two for around ten bucks. If you're a casual viewer using an affordable TV that only supports HDMI 2.0 functionality, these are a good place to start. People who own a mid-range or high-end TV — especially those released in recent years — ought to avoid Premium High-Speed HDMI cables limited to 18 Gbps if they want to make the most of their TV's HDMI 2.1's perks. These perks include a host of gaming features (like playing 4K games at 120Hz or above), but there are audio-related perks to consider, too, like eARC support. (You can read more about that in our guide to ARC and eARC.) Folks who find themselves in this group should buy Ultra High-Speed HDMI cables with a bandwidth of 48 Gbps. 48 Gbps is enough to make the most out of a TV's HDMI 2.1-related capabilities. If you bought your TV (or plan on buying one) in part because it supports things like 4K gaming at 120Hz or eARC functionality, just make sure that the cables you pick up are 48 Gbps. These 48-Gbps, Ultra High-Speed HDMI cables from Monoprice are affordable, braided for additional durability and capable of supporting your new TV's A/V- and gaming-related features. Personally, I wouldn't spend more than this on Ultra High-Speed HDMI cables. You will not see a difference in picture quality between a gold-plated cable and a basic cable. Take it from someone who's been drowning in cables for years: You really don't need to get fancy with these things. For home viewers, the advantages of silver-, bronze-, or gold-plated cables are primarily aesthetic. You will not see a difference in picture quality between a gold-plated cable and a basic cable if they're rated for the same features. Now, you might decide that a braided cable feels more sturdy, or you might just appreciate how the look of a more premium cable blends in with the rest of your A/V equipment. If you feel comfortable spending up on these options, by all means, indulge. Just don't expect to get a better picture. When shopping for new HDMI cables, consider the following: cable length, bandwidth and the sturdiness of the materials. Is your TV limited to HDMI 2.0 inputs? Buy 18-Gbps HDMI cables. Does your TV support HDMI 2.1-related features that you'd like to use? Buy 48-Gbps cables. Are you unsure about what HDMI-related features your TV supports? Play it safe and stick to Ultra-High Speed, 48-Gbps HDMI cables. They're not that much more expensive, and in the worst-case scenario, you'll have better, more capable cables to use in the future.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business Insider
LG's new G5 TV delivers nearly perfect picture quality. Here's what makes this premium OLED so special.
I review lots of TVs every year, and as performance improves across the board, it's becoming harder for flagship models to stand out. But LG's G5 doesn't have this problem. Simply put, the G5 OLED offers the best picture quality I've ever seen from a consumer TV. Panasonic's upcoming Z95B has a chance to surpass it, but for now, the G5 is the premium 4K TV to beat. Using LG's latest OLED panel technology, the G5 balances perfect contrast with high brightness, sharp detail, rich colors, and wide viewing angles. This is the kind of high-end image quality that makes home theater nerds like me geek out. The G5 also has solid smarts via LG's webOS interface and some cool new perks like AI voice recognition. However, the G5 isn't quite perfect. Though the set's image performance is nearly flawless, it does have some minor issues with color gradients and over-brightening. These imperfections are subtle, though, and the displays' many strengths outweigh them. I also wish LG's webOS placed less emphasis on shopping recommendations, but I'm more than willing to ignore an ad here and there if it means getting such a fantastic viewing experience. It's also important to note that this is an expensive display. Most people will be satisfied with a cheaper midrange OLED, like LG's C5 and C4, or Samsung's S90D. But premium sets like the G5 aren't geared toward most people. This is a pricey TV built for enthusiasts willing to spend top dollar on top picture quality and design. And in that sense, it's the best TV of its kind. The TV has an elegant design, but a stand costs extra LG's G5 is available in 55, 65, 77, 83, and 97 inches, with list prices ranging from $2,500 to a whopping $25,000. For this review, I tested a 65-inch unit, which retails for $3,400. With the exception of the 97-inch model, all sizes offer the same specifications. The 97-inch model uses a different kind of OLED panel, so it can't get as bright as its smaller counterparts. The G5 uses LG's One Wall design, which allows it to be mounted with virtually no gap. A bracket is included in the box to accomplish this, so you don't need to buy one separately. On the downside, LG doesn't include a traditional pedestal stand, so if you don't want to mount the G5, you need to purchase a stand on your own. LG sells a stand for $106 (which was used for this review), and the G5 is compatible with many of the best TV stands made by third-party manufacturers. Though the G5 looks best when mounted, it still has an elegant style when placed on its pedestal. The display is made of premium materials and has a thin profile that measures just under an inch thick. The build and aesthetics are what you'd expect from such a pricey display and are a clear step up from the cheaper construction of more budget-friendly models. LG also gets points for including four HDMI 2.1 ports to enable support for up to a 4K/165Hz signal. Many rival brands, including Sony, only include two HDMI 2.1 ports and use HDMI 2.0 for the remaining inputs. This is a great perk for gamers who want to connect multiple systems to the TV, as HDMI 2.1 is needed to unlock the smoothest performance on current-gen consoles and high-end PCs. LG redesigned its Magic Remote for 2025, and this new version is mostly an improvement. It has a thinner, more traditional shape instead of the bulky body used on past LG remotes, which makes it feel better in hand. Its main selection button, which doubles as a scroll wheel, also feels sturdier, making clicks more responsive. Sadly, the remote is not backlit, which has become standard on some competing TVs from TCL, Hisense, and Roku. Like past models, the Magic Remote lets you choose between navigating via standard button presses or by using motion controls (the "magic" part) to point the remote at the screen to move a virtual cursor. Unfortunately, there's no way to fully deactivate motion control if you don't like it. Clicking on the directional pad temporarily turns it off, but it gets turned back on if you slide the scroll wheel, and this is too easy to accidentally trigger. The remote's button layout has also been simplified, and I generally like this more minimalist approach. But there are two odd choices. First, there's no longer an input select button. To switch inputs on the TV, you have to hold down the Home button to pull up a smart hub menu or scroll through the homepage and find the input you like on screen. Second, there's no mute button. You can still activate mute by holding the remote's volume down button, but this means there's no way to rapidly lower the volume instead of fully muting it. These are small complaints, but they just strike me as strange choices. The G5 delivers a new benchmark for premium image quality The G5 is the first consumer TV to use LG's new four-stack OLED panel design. This type of screen has key benefits over the standard WOLED panel used on LG's cheaper C and B series TVs. A four-stack design optimizes how an OLED produces color and light, allowing for higher brightness and a wider color gamut — all while maintaining the pixel-level contrast, deep black levels, and wide viewing angles that the best OLED TVs are known for. You can learn more in our QLED vs. OLED comparison. The results are spectacular, and the TV offers a big leap in brightness over last year's G4 model. In fact, the G5 is now the brightest OLED TV available, dethroning the Samsung S95F. Using the TV's Filmmaker mode with a 10% HDR test pattern (a white box that takes up 10% of the screen against a black background), I measured a peak brightness of 2,410 nits. That's nearly 1,000 nits more than last year's G4, which is a substantial bump. It's also about 240 nits more than the S95F, which is a more subtle but still noteworthy jump. While such high brightness is impressive, it's important to remember that it's only beneficial in certain circumstances. For example, high brightness gives you more headroom to pump up luminance to help overcome glare in rooms with a lot of ambient light. It also allows the G5 to produce more impactful and accurate high dynamic range (HDR) images with highlights (like explosions) that pop from the screen. But the G5's full brightness capabilities only get unleashed when watching movies and TV shows mastered for above 1,000 nits. You can learn more about HDR mastering and how it relates to content and TVs in our HDR guide. Raw brightness is only a part of what makes the G5's image quality so noteworthy. What makes this TV shine is how it's able to precisely harness its brightness and combine it with pixel-level contrast control, inky black levels, and rich colors. I watched a wide range of movies and TV shows across several weeks with the G5, and I've never seen a consumer TV that matches its picture capabilities. Some of its benefits over other high-end sets are subtle, and it has some flaws that a few rivals handle better, but overall, the G5 rises above the competition. Fiery explosions in high-brightness HDR movies like "Mad Max: Fury Road" radiate from the screen with rich saturation, while deep shadows in the opening sequence of "The Matrix" remain perfectly dark without any halos around lighter elements of the picture. Tricky sequences in movies like "1917" and shows like "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" that trip up the local dimming backlights on many QLED TVs I've tested are displayed with perfect, uniform contrast. And image quality barely shifts if you're off to the side of the screen, so everyone gets a good viewing experience no matter where they sit. LG's picture processing continues to improve year after year, and the G5 is able to hold its own against high-end Sony TVs. Lower-quality content like compressed HD YouTube streams and cable TV upscale nicely on the G5. To be clear, they still don't look as good as native 4K sources, but the TV does a good job of minimizing imperfections without introducing an unnatural look. But as phenomenal as the G5 is, the TV's image quality isn't flawless. When it first hit stores, the G5 had issues with color banding, also called posterization or false contouring. This caused some gradations of colors and dark shades to look blocky rather than smooth. This problem initially appeared in some Dolby Vision and HDR10 content, but during my testing, LG released a firmware update that corrected Dolby Vision playback. However, some banding still popped up in isolated scenes when watching a small selection of HDR10 videos. But throughout my weeks with the TV, this flaw was very subtle and only appeared in a couple of movies I sampled out of more than a dozen. After my evaluation period ended, LG released another firmware update in June. This latest version reportedly corrects those lingering problems with HDR10 so long as you use the TV's Filmmaker preset. With all that in mind, I don't consider this to be a major drawback. Another small imperfection I encountered involved some slight over-brightening in near-black content, which caused dark shades to faintly glow. I noticed this a bit when watching some dim sequences in the Amazon Prime series "The Wheel of Time," but it was never too distracting. This issue is common on OLED displays like this, and the G5 performs about on par with what's expected. Finally, it's also worth noting that while the G5 rises above competing flagship OLEDs in nearly every way, there is one area where top models from Samsung and Sony still have a slight edge: color volume. High-end OLEDs from those brands use quantum dots, which is a feature the G5 is missing. This allows those TVs to maintain high saturation a bit better when displaying especially bright colors. The G5 improves upon the G4 in this area, but it still can't quite match OLEDs that have quantum dots. Gamers get cool features like a 165Hz refresh rate and support for Xbox streaming The G5 is one of the most advanced gaming TVs there is. It supports ALLM (auto low latency mode), VRR (variable refresh rate), and a dedicated Game Optimizer menu that lets you easily adjust settings. The G5 sets itself apart from most competing TVs with its support for up to a 165Hz refresh rate. Most high-end TVs max out at 144Hz. This is only useful for PC gamers with high-end hardware, but it's still a cool perk. LG is also one of two brands (Samsung is the other) that supports the Xbox app directly through the TV's interface. If you have a Game Pass membership, this app lets you stream Xbox games so you can play them without needing a console. The quality isn't as good as playing a game directly through a system, and playability is heavily reliant on the stability of your internet connection, but it works well enough for casual gaming. I also tested the G5 with a PS5 using a 4K/120Hz connection, and it delivered excellent image quality and smooth motion. I didn't see any flicker or ghosting with VRR active, which is something I've seen on some QLED TVs. Some flicker did show up when I pulled up the TV's settings menu while playing games, but this went away as soon as I closed the window. However, I've seen some user reports of banding in certain games when using the TV's HDR Game mode, even after the latest firmware update released in June. But outside some subtle bands in the sky when playing "Cyberpunk 2077" and some slight contouring in menus, I didn't encounter any egregious banding when playing various HDR titles, including "The Last of Us Part 1," "Spider-Man," "No Man's Sky," "Dragon's Dogma 2," and "Baldur's Gate 3." LG's webOS adds some new AI features, but they're mostly unnecessary Like all LG TVs, the G5 uses the webOS smart TV system. The platform is easy to set up, as LG guides you through some basic housekeeping items. The interface has access to all of the best streaming services, though it's missing a few niche apps that some other platforms support, like the Criterion Channel. General navigation is smooth, and I didn't encounter any major lag when moving through services. That said, the interface's design could annoy some users. By default, webOS displays a banner ad at the top of the homepage, and the screen prominently features a row for shopping recommendations. You can deactivate the banner ad if you navigate through some buried menu options, but this leaves that space unutilized. You can also turn off the shopping recommendations, but this deactivates all of the platform's content suggestions, leading to a barebones interface. It's great that LG offers the option to fully deactivate the ads, but I wish there was a better balance to begin with, so it could display content recommendations while demphasizing some of the sponsored material. For 2025, LG is touting a lot of new AI features, but most of these functions are just improved iterations of features that have already been available on past-generation TVs. For instance, there are AI picture modes that are meant to enhance the image, especially with lower-quality content, but the adjustments these modes make are unnecessary. The company has also brought back its AI Picture Wizard and added a new AI Audio Wizard. These features present you with various sample images and audio clips. Based on which ones you select, the wizard learns what kind of picture and sound settings you like the most, and then creates custom modes for you. Again, I highly recommend just using the TV's Filmmaker mode and Standard audio mode to get the most accurate playback, but if you're unhappy with how the G5 looks or sounds, this is worth playing around with. LG's remote also emphasizes AI more this year, as the microphone button has been rebranded as the AI button. Pressing it pulls up LG's AI concierge. This is supposed to present smart content recommendations based on your viewing habits, but I didn't find them to be all that useful. Holding down the AI button allows you to search with your voice or speak commands to control the TV. The G5 also supports hands-free voice search. I'm not sure what the issue was, but during my first week or so with the TV, I ran into a lot of server errors and "voice not recognized" messages when using the G5's voice search. Over time, these glitches stopped popping up, and voice search worked consistently. That said, I found the TV's voice recognition to be less accurate and slower than some competing systems, like Roku and Google TV. On the plus side, the G5 does have a new voice feature that's actually pretty cool. It's called AI voice recognition, and it automatically switches user profiles based on who speaks to the TV. So, if your spouse was using the set and you both have different profiles, once you speak to the TV, it will switch to your personalized home screen with your preferences and recommendations. Should you buy the LG G5 TV? Few TVs have left me as utterly impressed as the LG G5. Some competing high-end sets from Sony and Samsung offer better performance in certain aspects, but when looking at picture quality as a whole, the G5 is the best premium display I've seen. Panasonic is set to release a similar TV later this year, called the Z95B, so I'm curious to see how it stacks up. But for now, the G5 is the reigning king of premium TVs. Though picture performance isn't flawless, the TV's combination of pixel-level contrast and high brightness is unmatched and outweighs any shortcomings. LG's webOS interface isn't my favorite, and I did run into some software issues that ironed out over time, but it gets the job done. The new AI voice recognition feature is also a cool addition. The G5 is expensive, so it's only suited for big picture quality enthusiasts and those willing to spend extra for high-end design flourishes that you can't get on cheaper TVs. But if you fit that bill, the LG G5 TV earns my highest recommendation.
Tom's Guide
3 days ago
- Tom's Guide
I just tested this QD-OLED monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate — and it's the ultimate gaming upgrade
If you're looking for an incredibly slim and super-fast gaming monitor, then the MSI MPG 321URXW QD-OLED certainly fits the bill. Despite its mouthful of a name and $1,000+ price tag, this is easily one of the best monitors I've ever tested. From its sharp 4K QD-OLED 240Hz panel to its stunning all-white design, the MPG 321URXW is a gorgeous monitor through and through. However, MSI didn't stop there as they also added a built-in KVM switch (Keyboard, Video and Mouse), and its USB-C port offers one cable connectivity for your laptop with 90W of Power Delivery (PD). The one thing that really surprised me, though, is just how thin it is. The MPG 321URXW is 2.7-inches deep in total as all of its ports are located in the middle of the monitor. However, on the sides, it's just a few millimeters thick. At $1,099, this QD-OLED monitor is certainly an investment and more than some TVs. Still, it performs just as well for work as it does while gaming, thanks to its large 32-inch panel and useful extras like its KVM switch. If you're not after an all-white monitor, you can get the black version for slightly cheaper. Plus, it goes on sale quite often. My MSI MPG 321URXW QD-OLED review will help you decide if this is the best gaming monitor for you and whether or not it's worth the more premium price. Price $1,099 Display 31.5 inch Resolution 3840 x 2160 Aspect ratio 16:9 Refresh rate 240Hz Response time 0.03ms Panel type QD-OLED Color depth 10-bit DPI 137.68 PPI Backlight OLED Inputs 2 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1 x USB-C w/PD 90W, 2 x USB-A, 1 x USB-B, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack Extra features KVM, OLED Care 2.0 Dimensions 28.2 x 2.7 x 16.4 inch (without stand), 28.2 x 9.5 x 19.0 inch (with stand) Weight 14.5 pounds (without stand), 20.5 pounds (with stand) Warranty 3-year burn-in protection The MSI MPG 321URXW is a beautiful monitor thanks to its thin and light design with colors that pop and deep, dark blacks. It's also incredibly fast, and the included stand doesn't disappoint, though the monitor is very easy to mount on a monitor arm, too. Thanks to the panel MSI chose for this monitor, the MPG 321URXW is incredibly thin at just a quarter of an inch on the top and sides. It's slightly thicker at the bottom, and then it extends out to 2.7 inches in the middle of the monitor, as this is where its main board, video out ports and KVM switch are located. I really like how this design leaves you with an incredibly thin display for the most part, and all of its ports are in a central location that's easy to reach. As for the display itself, the MPG 321URXW sports a flat, 240Hz QD-OLED panel with a response time of 0.03 milliseconds. You don't have to worry about sacrificing speed for port selection either, as you can get a refresh rate of 240Hz with whatever video out port you choose. On the underside of the back of the monitor, there are two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4a and a USB-C port with DisplayPort Alt Mode that also delivers 90W PD. You also get two USB-A ports and a USB-B port if you want to use the MPG 321URXW's built-in KVM switch to use your mouse and keyboard with two computers, say one of the best laptops for work and a gaming PC for when it's time to have some fun. Finally, there's a 3.5mm headphone jack that proved particularly useful for me when testing out this display, since, like most gaming monitors, it doesn't have built-in speakers. During testing, I tried out the MPG 321URXW with one of the best mini PCs and a PS5 Pro. While the Atomman G7 Ti was able to take advantage of its faster 240Hz refresh rate, the PS5 Pro can only do 120Hz at 4K. Still, both devices worked really well with the monitor, though I did have to connect a pair of the best computer speakers as I didn't want to be limited to using a gaming headset. Since this was my first time using a QD-OLED monitor, I was immediately impressed by both its vibrant colors and its deep blacks. However, I was also worried about burn-in at first until I enabled MSI's OLED Care 2.0. OLED Care 2.0 includes a number of features designed to prolong the life of your monitor, including Pixel Shift, which moves the display's pixels at regular intervals, and Pixel Protect, which refreshes its pixels if the display is active for more than four hours. You can configure OLED Care 2.0 right from the MPG 321URXW's On-Screen Display (OSD) menu, and once this is done, it will run after every 16 hours of usage or when the monitor goes into standby mode when you step away from your computer. Just to be safe, I also downloaded Wallpaper Engine and used an animated wallpaper as my computer's background. After using the MPG 321URXW for both work and gaming for two months, I'm happy to report that I haven't experienced any issues with the display. While videos look great on its QD-OLED panel, it was the games that really stood out to me. For instance, while playing Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on the PS5 Pro, the reds in Spider-Man's suit, along with the blues in the sky over Manhattan, really popped. On the PC side, I finally started working my way through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and it was a sight to behold on the MPG 321URXW. It's worth noting that the monitor also features Nvidia G-Sync for tear-free gaming. I primarily used the MPG 321URXW to game on at night, since its QD-OLED panel picks up a lot of reflections even with an anti-reflection surface treatment applied to its display. However, I did have it set up next to a window in my living room and later, across from a window in my office. For the best experience, I'd recommend keeping this monitor in a dark room away from ambient light if possible. In our lab tests, the MPG 321URXW achieved a Delta-E score of 0.28, where a lower value means better color accuracy. This puts it ahead of the HP Omen Transcend 32, which has an OLED panel, and just slightly behind the Alienware AW3423DW, which also has a QD-OLED one. In my experience, colors looked great on the MPG 321URXW, and it was as good for photo editing as it was for playing games on. MSI MPG 321URXW HP Omen Transcend 32 Alienware AW3425DW Delta-E 0.28 0.31 0.24 Normally, when I buy a monitor for personal use, I immediately set aside the included stand and use one of the best monitor arms instead. However, I was very impressed with the one MSI paired with the MSI MPG 321URXW. It's white and matches the monitor's bottom bezel, and it's quite adjustable. You can tilt the display forward or backwards by -5 to 15 degrees, swivel the monitor to either side by 30 degrees and raise the MPG 321URXW's height by up to four inches. As I wanted a very clean desk setup to test it out, I decided to mount the MPG 321URXW on a monitor stand on the back of my desk to free up space. While some gaming monitors have a circular cutout at the rear, limiting them to 75x75 VESA mounting holes that often require an adapter, MSI kept things simple with a square cutout and standard, 100x100 VESA mounting holes. Since many third-party monitor arms and stands add some extra bulk on the sides, MSI includes four threaded standoffs you screw into the back of the MPG 321URXW if you want to mount it. They were easy enough to install, but I did have to break out a pair of needle nose pliers to tighten them. Given that the MPG 321URXW weighs 14.5 pounds and has a flat display as opposed to a curved one, you won't have to pay extra for a heavy-duty monitor arm or stand. Instead, you should be able to just use a standard one like I did here. Once mounted, the MPG 321URXW remained firmly in place both on this stand and on a monitor arm from Corsair, once I incorporated it into a black and white desk setup I put together for another review. The MSI MPG 321URXW is a fantastic QD-OLED monitor for gaming or work, but it's not without its downsides. This includes its premium price and that it can be dim in SDR mode without HDR enabled. Besides its extra-large display and QD-OLED panel, one of the main reasons for picking up a premium gaming monitor like the MPG 321URXW is to play games with High Dynamic Range (HDR) enabled. However, some people prefer Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) over HDR for a number of reasons — from increased eye strain to higher blue light emissions. The MPG 321URXW has a VESA DisplayHDR certification of True Black 400, which allows it to display deep, true blacks at peak brightness. However, the monitor's brightness can go as high as 1,000 nits. In our lab testing, the MPG 321URXW reached 440 nits with DisplayHDR True Black 400 and 966 nits at peak brightness with a 2% pattern. We didn't have a 1% pattern available for testing, but if we did, we may have been able to get over 1,000 nits. When it came to SDR, the MPG 321URXW reached 235 nits, which is a bit short of MSI's claim of 250 nits without HDR enabled. MSI MPG 321URXW HP Omen Transcend 32 Alienware AW3425DW Nits (brightness) 235 (SDR), 440 (HDR) 245 (SDR), 241 (HDR) 227 (SDR), 270 (HDR) If you want the brightest image possible, then you're definitely going to want to enable HDR with this monitor. However, if HDR doesn't agree with you or most of the content you work with or watch on your PC is in SDR, then it might be worth considering a less premium monitor over this one. At $1,099, the MPG 321URXW is far from a budget or even a mid-range monitor. For the price, you do get a beautiful QD-OLED panel, a 32-inch display, plenty of ports and extra features like the built-in KVM switch and MSI's OLED Care 2.0. For those that want the best of the best right now and consider upgrading to a premium monitor like the MPG 321URXW an investment, its higher price won't likely be a turn off. However, if the idea of buying a monitor that costs as much as a laptop doesn't sit right with you, then you may want to consider something cheaper instead. One alternative that sports a large but slightly smaller 31.5-inch screen is the Acer Predator XB323QK. This 4K gaming monitor does cut some corners compared to the MPG 321URXW in terms of features, refresh rates and picture quality, though. For example, it's a standard LCD monitor instead of a QD-OLED one with a max refresh rate of 160Hz and a response time of 0.5ms. Still, if you like the idea of big-screen 4K gaming, then it might be worth checking out. If you want the picture quality and deep blacks of a QD-OLED monitor, then the MPG 321URXW delivers and then some. Likewise, if you aren't building an all-white desk setup, you can pick up the black MPG 321URX for $50 less and I've seen it drop as low as $849 during big sales events like Black Friday. The MSI MPG 321URXW QD-OLED is a fantastic monitor for both work and gaming if you can stomach its higher price. Its incredibly thin design and excellent port selection make it an easy monitor to add to any desk setup. While it's the norm with gaming monitors, I would like to see built-in speakers in the next version of this monitor, even if they aren't nearly as loud or powerful as a pair of dedicated computer speakers. During my time testing the MPG 321URXW, all of the games I played looked stunning on its QD-OLED display, and its faster 240Hz refresh rate was awesome to experience on PC. The included stand is far better than those offered with some of the other monitors I've tried, but I also like how MSI includes mounting hardware in the box. If you already have a high-end gaming PC that you want to pair with a top-of-the-line display, then the MPG 321URXW is easy to recommend even at this price. However, if you mostly play on console or prefer not to enable HDR, then there are cheaper options out there that will better suit your needs.
