MSI Shows off its QD-OLED Displays at CES

[TheLostSwede]

Back at Computex 2022, MSI first announced the MEG 342C QD-OLED display, which finally appears to be ready to hit retail, as the company was showing off it, alongside its upcoming MEG 491C QD-OLED display, which was teased back in November. MSI revealed some additional details of the 34-inch MEG 342C QD-OLED, beyond the fact that it's using a curved 1800R, 3440 x 1440 resolution panel with a 175 Hz refresh rate. As such, we now know the monitor has an unspecified DisplayPort input, a pair of HDMI 2.1 inputs, a USB Type-C input with DP Alt mode support and 65 W USB Power Delivery support, as well as a USB-B upstreams port and four USB-A downstreams ports. MSI has also kitted out the monitor with OLED Care, which the company claims reduces image sticking and burn-in. Other features include a built in KVM, PBP and PIP support as well as a VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification, although the monitor has a peak brightness of 1000 nits. The MEG 342C QD-OLED is said to have an MSRP of around US$800.

The MEG 491C QD-OLED appears to be based on the same QD-OLED panel as Samsung's OLED G9. The model on display at CES was apparently non functional, which suggests that we might have to wait another six months before it becomes available, if the MEG 342C QD-OLED is anything to go by. The monitor sports the same 1800R curvature as the Samsung OLED G9 and obviously has the same 5120 x 1440 resolution and 240 Hz refresh rate. MSI didn't share much else in terms of specifications, so we're going to have to wait for the actual launch to find out more, including what will probably be a prohibitively high price tag.







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[Vayra86]

Amazing though how they're all happily pushing a clearly inferior for monitor work monitor out like that. The subpixel arrangement is still absolute crap, straight up copy/paste material here and as it seems for the rest of 2023.

My money's on LG doing it properly I guess.

 

[konga]

Amazing though how they're all happily pushing a clearly inferior for monitor work monitor out like that. The subpixel arrangement is still absolute crap, straight up copy/paste material here and as it seems for the rest of 2023.

My money's on LG doing it properly I guess.

LG also uses a non-standard subpixel layout for their monitors. They're WRGB stripe. The stripe format helps a little, but the additional white subpixel means you still get wonky text rendering sometimes, resulting in blurry text with color fringing if you try to use ClearType.

The triangle RGB format in QD-OLED is a necessary evil until they change over to using single-substrate panels. I forget the details on why exactly it's needed, but it's a quirk of how their dual-substrate panels are manufactured. It's not something they can just change on a whim, in any case. It's expected that their single-substrate panels will use simple RGB stripe subpixels, and this change should come late this year or early next.

 

[Vayra86]

LG also uses a non-standard subpixel layout for their monitors. They're WRGB stripe. The stripe format helps a little, but the additional white subpixel means you still get wonky text rendering sometimes, resulting in blurry text with color fringing if you try to use ClearType.

The triangle RGB format in QD-OLED is a necessary evil until they change over to using single-substrate panels. I forget the details on why exactly it's needed, but it's a quirk of how their dual-substrate panels are manufactured. It's not something they can just change on a whim, in any case. It's expected that their single-substrate panels will use simple RGB stripe subpixels, and this change should come late this year or early next.

Interesting info! Thx

 

[Scrizz]

the text rendering stuff is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be...

 

[SirMaster]

I work on my Alienware QD-OLED every day writing software and have not had a problem with the sub-pixel arrangement.

IMO it's a completely over-blown issue.

 

[sephiroth117]

I work on my Alienware QD-OLED every day writing software and have not had a problem with the sub-pixel arrangement.

IMO it's a completely over-blown issue.

I think some people are quite sensitive to things like pwm brightness frequency, sub-pixel arrangement, others sit too close to the screens etc.

I wouldn't code on a QD-OLED but not because of the sub-pixels, rather, for burn-in..but since dell has a 3 years burn-in warranty it's ok, just me I've been traumatized by my galaxy S1 back then

 

[Virtual_Fleeces]

Is.. Is that a glossy finish?!? Aaand a competitive price?!? If they get this to market with these features, MSI is gonna make a killing from this. I was considering pulling the trigger on the alienware qd-oled, but now it's looking like I'll have to wait for the meg. Dangit MSI, just how many of your products must you tempt me with?

 

[konga]

Is.. Is that a glossy finish?!? Aaand a competitive price?!? If they get this to market with these features, MSI is gonna make a killing from this. I was considering pulling the trigger on the alienware qd-oled, but now it's looking like I'll have to wait for the meg. Dangit MSI, just how many of your products must you tempt me with?

The 34" monitor will have the same finish as the alienware monitor as they are the same panel, and the coating is applied at the factory by samsung. This panel is actually semi-gloss, offering all of the downsides of matte finishes with none of the anti-reflective upsides.

 

[Virtual_Fleeces]

The 34" monitor will have the same finish as the alienware monitor as they are the same panel, and the coating is applied at the factory by samsung. This panel is actually semi-gloss, offering all of the downsides of matte finishes with none of the anti-reflective upsides.

Oh, good to know. Damn it, all I want is a high refresh oled non tv-sized monitor with a glossy finish. Still, if it's the same panel and 300 dollars cheaper it'll be worth waiting for. Hopefully it comes to market soon.