MSI PRO MP275Q review – a budget monitor for home and work with decent features

Low-cost monitors are more popular than top-of-the-line models for gaming and professional work due to their affordability. These monitors, despite their more modest configuration and specifications, provide satisfactory quality for everyday use. Previously, we’ve already reviewed the MSI PRO MP275 27-inch all-in-one monitor, which is characterized by “good quality at an affordable price.” Today, we’re going to take a look at another model from the same lineup that has a higher resolution and better features – the MSI PRO MP275Q.

MSI PRO MP275Q specifications

Design

At first glance, the appearance of the MSI PRO MP275Q is almost identical to the PRO MP275. The monitor case is made of practical black matte plastic. The leg and base are also made of plastic, and the only metal element is a plate that attaches the leg to the display case.

In general, the look of the monitor meets the expectations of a budget model in this price category. Differences from MP275 are minimal: a different set of video connectors, a couple of millimeters wider case, slightly heavier weight, etc.

The monitor is made in the traditional “bezel-less” design, in which the screen is hidden under a protective glass, and when turned off, it seems that there is only a thin line of the side edge of the case around it. When turned on, an additional black frame under the glass becomes visible, and in general, the screen is framed by an 8 mm wide frame on the top and sides.

The leg is simple, allowing you to change only the angle of the screen (-5°~20°), and the monitor is screwless. There is a possibility of wall mounting: the monitor has a VESA-compatible mount (100×100). With this design, it turns out to be quite light for a 27-inch model – just over 4 kg.

The video connectors are located to the right of the leg mount. Here you can find two HDMI 2.0b and one DisplayPort 1.2a – a significant “upgrade” compared to the PRO MP275 (which had only one HDMI 1.4b and an analog D-Sub). In addition, there is also a mini-jack for connecting headphones. MSI PRO MP275Q has a built-in power supply.

Menu

The monitor is controlled by a five-way controller located at the rear right. Moving it in any direction launches the selected quick function (e.g. brightness/video mode/signal source), while pressing it opens the main menu. When switched on, the joystick can light up to serve as an operation indicator.

In the main menu, the first item is the Professional section, where you can select video modes, configure overdrive, refresh rate display, and other settings.

There is also a function of rapid vision testing for some specific defects, such as astigmatism or macular disease, which is a rather unusual addition.

The next section, Image, focuses on traditional image settings, such as brightness, contrast, color temperature, reducing the proportion of blue in the backlight, etc.

In the Input Source section, you can manually select the required video source or activate its automatic detection, and the Navi Key section allows you to reassign custom functions to all four joystick deflections.

The Setting section contains other system parameters, such as OSD settings, joystick backlighting, built-in speaker volume, and factory reset. Unfortunately, there is no Ukrainian localization.

Functionality

The MSI PRO MP275Q uses a 10-bit (8-bit + FRC) IPS panel with a diagonal of 27 inches and a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels. The pixel density is almost 109 PPI and the dot size is 0.2335 mm. In addition to the higher resolution, this model has another advantage over the MP275 – a higher bit depth of the panel (in the younger version it is 6 bits + FRC).

This ratio of diagonal to resolution can be considered optimal for most monitor uses: it’s already a fairly large screen, and the number of dots allows you to fit a sufficient amount of information. In addition, the pixels are small enough that from a typical distance from the monitor, the image looks dense and does not break up into separate dots.

If the user does not have very sharp eyesight and is comfortable working at this diagonal at Full HD resolution, we can recommend the more affordable junior version – PRO MP275.

The maximum refresh rate of the PRO MP275Q is 100 Hz, which is not very common in budget models. This ensures a smooth picture and reduces blurring during fast movements. The monitor supports gaming features such as Adaptive Sync, panel overdrive to reduce blurring of moving objects, and MPRT (Moving Picture Response Time) to improve the clarity of dynamic images.

The latter activates frame-by-frame backlighting, which makes the dynamic image in games much clearer (although it does cause flickering). So you can also play games on MSI PRO MP275Q in your free time if you want.

The brightness of the monitor is regulated by changing the current without the use of PWM, which prevents screen flickering and provides comfortable viewing even during prolonged use. We also note the presence of built-in 2x2W speakers.

MSI PRO MP275Q image quality

The monitor has a standard matte screen finish: it is almost completely free of spurious reflections on a dark background, regardless of the angle of view. The crystalline effect is very moderate, and the typical pattern of the reflection-diffusing layer can be clearly seen only in a macro photo.

The declared response time of the PRO MP275Q is the same as in other models of this line – 4 ms (GtG). Despite the fact that the monitor is designed for work, not gaming, it has a typical gaming function – matrix overdrive (Response Time item in the Professional section). It has two levels of overclocking and the ability to turn it off completely.

Without overdrive, even at 100 Hz, fast-moving objects on the screen are noticeably blurred. Switching from Normal to Fast slightly improves the situation, but not significantly. At the second stage of overclocking, Fastest, the dynamic image becomes noticeably clearer, but typical overdrive artifacts appear here in the form of plumes behind moving objects.

Response Time: Normal, Fast, Fastest:

Black uniformity is relatively good: on a black background in a dark room, you can see a slightly lighter spot in the center and a couple of small backlight leaks near the left corners, but in general, for its class, the monitor demonstrates quite acceptable results.

The glow effect is typical of IPS technology: when you look at the screen from the side and from above, a noticeable gray glow with a warm tint appears near the black background.

Viewing angles are also traditional for IPS: when viewed from the side, the brightness and contrast are noticeably reduced. Compared to more expensive IPS monitors, the PRO MP275Q has a slightly stronger brightness drop at high angles (especially when viewed sideways; the effect is not as strong when viewed from above/below) and a warmer tint, but overall, the image quality and color saturation are almost unaffected.

The Professional section of the OSD menu offers various video modes for typical desktop monitor tasks: Eco, Anti-Blue, Office, Movie, etc. After a factory reset, the Eco mode is automatically set, but we will test the basic User mode, which offers higher brightness and the ability to manually adjust all parameters.

Like the MSI PRO MP275, the color gamut of the PRO MP275Q is standard, covering 98% of the sRGB space (78% DCI-P3, 77% Adobe RGB), with colors that are natural and vivid, but duller than models with extended gamut.

The brightness is adjustable in the range of 52-385 cd/m² – the lowest value allows you to work comfortably in almost complete darkness, the highest value is more than enough for typical office lighting. It should be noted that the actual maximum brightness is much higher than the officially declared by the manufacturer (300 cd/m²).

The maximum static contrast at the initial settings in User mode is 980:1; if you switch the color temperature from Normal to Customization, the contrast can be slightly increased – up to 1020:1. This is a good indicator for a budget IPS panel, and it very closely matches the manufacturer’s specifications (1000:1).

Another reason to switch the color temperature to Customization is that the initial value in Normal is quite high (7400K), and this gives the image a cool tint. While in Customization, this value is much closer to 6500K, and the image becomes “warmer” and more comfortable for the eyes.

The PRO MP275Q does not have gamma adjustment, but the factory settings perfectly match the standard value of 2.2, so for an average user who may be interested in this model, the parameters offered by the manufacturer will be quite enough.

The color temperature uniformity is frankly mediocre, although slightly better than what we saw in the younger model: the maximum deviation in different areas of the screen ΔE is 6.2 (PRO MP275 had 7.1). The white field uniformity is also quite typical for a budget IPS monitor: the brightest area is the center, the darkest are the lower corners; the difference in brightness between them is 17-19%.

But the color reproduction accuracy is a pleasant surprise: the monitor is clearly factory calibrated, which is rare for its class. So, with the exception of one color (which is out of the picture due to the peculiarities of the test colorimeter), the maximum ΔE value is 1.2, and the average is significantly less than one. As a reminder, it is believed that the average user is not able to notice the difference between the reference color and the one displayed by the monitor if ΔE does not exceed two or even three.

The other video modes are not very different from each other and have different initial settings for brightness, color temperature, gamma, etc. At the same time, the color coverage remains unchanged (except for the last B&W mode).

You can visually compare them in the following gallery (Eco – User – sRGB – Anti-Blue – Movie – Office – Black-White):