MSI MPG 271QRX Review (1440p/360Hz QD-OLED)

Monitor response time testing is a new addition to our reviews, where we use the Open Source Response Time Tool (OSRTT), developed by TechTeamGB. This measures grey-to-grey response times and presents the results in a series of heatmaps, the style of which you may be familiar with from other reviews.

Initial Response Time is the time taken for the panel to transition from one colour to another, where lower values are better. We present the initial response time, so overshoot is not taken into account and is measured separately. We use a fixed RGB 5 tolerance for each transition.

Overshoot is the term given for when a monitor's transition exceeds or goes beyond its target value. So if a monitor was meant to transition from RGB 0 to RGB 55, but it hits RGB 60 before settling back down at RGB 55, that is overshoot. This is presented as RGB values in the heatmaps – i.e. how many RGB values past the intended target were measured.

Visual Response Rating is a metric designed to ‘score' a panel's visual performance, incorporating both response times and overdrive. Fast response times with little to no overshoot will score well, while slow response times or those with significant overshoot will score poorly.

We test the 271QRX across the refresh rate range.

As I've started doing with OLED reviews, there's no need to spend much time looking at all the results in-depth as everything is exactly what we'd expect – we see very fast response times across the board, regardless of the refresh rate used.

We know, however, that doesn't mean motion clarity will be flawless regardless of the refresh rate – with OLED, the higher you can pump the refresh, the smoother things look.

Coming into this review I was most interested to see if there is a visible difference between a QD-OLED at 240Hz and one at 360Hz. There's no doubt the difference is small, but I think it is perceptible as we can see from these pursuit images using the BlurBusters UFO test.

One thing that is fascinating to look at is how a 360Hz OLED monitor compares to a 360Hz IPS LCD. Compared here are the 271QRX, alongside the MSI Oculux NXG253R using its Fast overdrive mode. This is the only 360Hz LCD screen I have to hand and it's a couple of years old at this point, but it serves as an illustration that OLEDs really are incredibly impressive when it comes to motion clarity at high refresh rates.

As expected then, the overall response time chart has the 271QRX up there with all the other OLED monitors tested.

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