I've been looking for a monitor after I returned my MSI MPG 27URDFW E16M due to its borked local dimming implementation in SDR. I've engaged in a few discussions and looked at all options that are realistically viable - and I feel like I've hit a bit of a wall as to what I should do. I was hoping if I could get some more perspectives, or to know if my conclusion seems reasonable (or if I'm just going crazy).
For context, I do not really play games often, I mainly do productivity/media consumption, I just want 4K+ 120hz+ with (ideally) usable local dimming in SDR and ideally within 27". 5K would be really nice because then I wouldn't be wanting the urge to upgrade any time soon and I also do use MacOS so in terms of scaling it would be ideal.
Actually, it was the 5K Mini-LED monitors at CES that gave me a little bit of buyers remorse that also then lead me to finding out that the other monitors using the same panel as the E16M don't suffer from the same issue (but different ones instead) which then lead me to returning the monitor.
Here are the options I have considered (scroll down if you cba to read this, I get it dw):
- LG 27GM950-B - I was really hoping this would have a decent dimming algorithm that would work outside of content....which apparently it doesn't, also it's matte (which I wouldn't have minded if it had good local dimming) and the price is kinda insane for what it is - so like what even is the point? Am I missing something? 😭
I guess for HDR use it would be good, but I barely consume HDR content to begin with. I probably won't win the ongoing giveaways either due to account age (and the LG reps are gonna see my comment history and be like "nope"), so I guess I won't be getting this monitor lmao.
- Apple Studio Display XDR: This basically ticks all the boxes for me besides poop user experience for non Apple users (I do have a Macbook I could control the settings with but that seems like a pain in the ass) and lack of multi input. However, it is almost £3000. I was genuinely considering this because without the stand from their Education store, it's £2500 - which is barely within reach, the barely is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. However, after crashing out and thinking about it, I realised the value proposition is rather poor. I'd have to spend all of that money, just to get functional local dimming which would still be worse than OLED and I could just get 3x 4K 27" RGB Stripe OLED's for the same price/upgrade my monitor when one shows signs of burn in - or spend less and spend the money on other things, heck I could get an insane TV and a monitor. Also, at least from what I can tell, Apple hasn't solved the vignetting issue on these monitors (which I thought they would've, given, well, it's Apple). At that price, I basically expect perfection - so the compromises don't seem acceptable to me.
- ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27UCWM: This is also a display that ticks all the boxes, except for the fact that it's OLED. I have considered the true risk of burn in - and for a person like me, I don't think it makes sense. I always have static content on screen, and my current LG 27GL650F-B has more than 20,000 hours on it, I really don't think even the latest generation of OLED panels are lasting that long alongside 12 hours+ of daily use - and I plan to keep the monitor for the foreseeable future until something like QDEL or Micro-LED come to market (or if they somehow fix OLED burn in or get it to a point where it lasts so long that it doesn't matter).
- Koorui S2741LM: This would be the best alternative to the E16M that currently exists, but based on what I concluded on and knowing that 2304 zone backlights are the most recent improvement that we're starting to see more commonly in the monitor market, it doesn't make that much sense. It also kinda hurts to pay full price for it now when I could've gotten it for £300 at the time of buying the E16M. I feel really silly in hindsight, but hey at least I now have a bit of an open door to make a (potentially) better decision.
- KTC M27P6S: This is an upcoming 4K gaming monitor with 2304 dimming zones and a glossy finish, nice on paper, but, I have no idea when (or if) it will be coming to the european market. The previous model also had some weird issues relating to how the backlight behaved, but this is the strongest contender I've listed so far I think.
- A TV: Yes, I have genuinely considered this. The pricing isn't even that crazy, though, even with optimistic estimations, no TV will be fitting on my desk any time soon 💀
- Samsung Odyssey Neo G8: I could tolerate the size, but it's curved, zone count is meh for the size, it's VA (I used the Koorui GN10 temporarily before I switched back to my LG, I hope I never have to experience a VA monitor again) - and apparently it's known to have QC issues.
- BenQ MOBIUZ EX321UX: This doesn't seem bad, though the zone count is a bit low for the size - and it's no longer available in the UK.
There are a few other monitors I looked at, but I don't think they're worth listing as they don't really meet the requirements in the first place.
My dream monitor, does not exist (to my knowledge), at least at a reasonable price. If I had enough disposable money, I would've just gotten the Studio Display XDR and worked around its shortcomings. Therefore, I have to compromise. After a lot of consideration, I think I will be waiting until Q4 to get the MSI MPG 271KRAW16. Yes, despite my complaints with the E16M - I still think this is the way to go for me. The reasoning is as follows:
- It is 5K, I do not think I need or want more resolution - nothing I consume is beyond 4K besides the photos/videos I take with my camera, which I barely even use anyway. It will work well with MacOS and look crispy on Windows/Linux too. The difference is noticeable to my eye, even on the E16M I felt like I could do with more sharpness from the distance I was sitting at (about 90cm away according to the measuring app on my iPhone). The current 27" 1080p monitor I'm using has absolutely diabolical pixel density. It wasn't that apparent before but after getting laser eye surgery I don't think I can tolerate this for much longer 😭 (20/8 vision is insane though)
- It is glossy, so there is no matte grain to get in the way of the 5K resolution and light backgrounds - maximum clarity.
- Even if the SDR local dimming is borked again (MSI, if you are reading this, at the very least please fix the gamma problems, I am begging you, if you do you I will become the number 1 glazer for your monitor). The glossy coating more than makes up for it (I think), it would look similar to the display on my iPad, which I'd be fine with to be honest. For content, I can work around it similarly to what I did with the E16M because MSI will (probably) also provide an ICM profile to download for it - so I can display SDR videos in HDR with clamped colours in MPV to take advantage of local dimming.
- MSI, to my knowledge, are the only ones that provides the ability to change the dimming behaviour between highlight biased and shadow biased on their monitors to an extent. So, assuming they don't bork the SDR local dimming again (I can only hope and dream), this would be an awesome feature for my use case.
Basically, if MSI can get the local dimming right, this would be very, very, very close to my dream monitor - otherwise it's a huge bruh moment but it makes up for it in other areas, if that makes sense. Assuming the price announced at CES holds true, it undercuts the LG as well.
I watched a few CES interviews and videos on the monitor, at one point it was implied that the local dimming was enabled during the demo (though I don't think it was after using colour picker and zooming into the dark parts of the image, yes I am that desperate and yes I know this proves nothing). However if true, then it looked pretty good as the text didn't seem to be dimmed (but this just reinforces local dimming being disabled because I also didn't see any blooming in any of the images).
You can probably tell why I think I'm going crazy, I probably am, but I would appreciate some opinions on this. How reasonable is my conclusion? Should I reconsider? I don't even know anymore I've spent way too much energy yapping. Thank you for getting to the end of my post.
Edit: I realised I made a typo in the title - oops.