At $299.99, the MSI Trendy MD271UL is a productiveness monitor that is modestly priced for its 27-inch dimension and 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) decision. Its in-plane switching (IPS) display screen is impressively vivid, with a examined distinction ratio that got here in larger than MSI’s official specs, and it affords full protection of the sRGB and superb protection of the Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 colour gamuts. Drawbacks embrace ergonomic features restricted to tilt adjustment and a downright irritating onscreen show (OSD) management system, however the MD271UL is price testing as a price range 4K panel, particularly since each MSI and Amazon have marked it all the way down to $249.99 at this writing.
Helpful Ports and Options
The Trendy MD271UL measures 18.6 by 24.2 by 7.8 inches and weighs in at 12.7 kilos. The design has a easy magnificence to it. The stand is a single piece of silver-colored steel, folded so {that a} roughly sq. portion extending towards the person types the bottom. The half above the fold angles upward and barely ahead to attach with the again of the chassis.
The panel is almost bezel-less on three sides. The underside bezel extends downward a bit greater than half an inch, and its iron grey end is tagged with a number of “stealth” icons that I am going to talk about in a second. The 27-inch antiglare display screen has a pixel density of 163 pixels per inch (ppi), guaranteeing a pointy picture with appropriate enter. This pixel density, coupled with extensive colour protection and excessive distinction, suffices to make the MD271UL an affordable price range alternative for graphic arts and video enhancing. As an IPS panel, it permits each vertical and horizontal viewing angles of as much as 178 levels. The picture retains its colour and brightness if considered from the edges or above.
The monitor’s ports are on the again, going through outward. They’re comparatively simple to achieve, although it’s essential to both stand behind the show or flip it so it is going through away from you. It is small and lightweight sufficient that the latter must be no downside for most individuals.
Inputs embrace two HDMI 2.0b ports, a DisplayPort 1.2a connector, and a USB-C port that helps DisplayPort over USB Alternate Mode and as much as 65 watts of USB Energy Supply (PD), sufficient to energy or cost a laptop computer related to it. Additionally again listed here are a headphone jack and a socket for the monitor’s exterior energy brick.
A Management System That Borders on Chaos
To maintain the MD271UL’s worth down, MSI made a few compromises. The stand’s ergonomics are restricted to tilt adjustment—you may tilt the highest of the display screen as much as 5 levels towards or 20 levels away from you. Additionally, the onscreen show controls consist of 4 tiny buttons on the underside fringe of the monitor, simply left of the facility button. Many displays have dropped OSD buttons in favor of a four-way mini joystick controller with a central button, which I discover typically a lot simpler to control.
Even amongst button programs, nevertheless, I discovered the MD271UL’s notably unwieldy. Within the backside proper nook of the primary OSD menu are three tiny charts displaying the 4 buttons and their features. As an illustration, within the first chart (labeled Exit) the leftmost button is lit, within the second (labeled Transfer) the center two buttons are lit, and within the third chart (referred to as Enter) the rightmost button is lit. It was usually troublesome to determine which button was which by really feel. Worse, a number of occasions I unintentionally pressed the true rightmost (fifth) button and turned off the monitor.
Solely on my second day of testing did I understand there have been icons for the 4 management buttons on the entrance bezel. The distinction between the icons and the bezel’s grey end was so poor they have been seen solely at simply the correct angle below sure lighting circumstances. With their assist, I might navigate across the OSD menus extra rapidly, however due to my preliminary complications, I might should rank the Trendy MD271UL’s as one of the irritating menu programs I’ve encountered lately.
MSI backs the Trendy with a three-year guarantee, a fairly customary size amongst lower-cost displays.
Testing the MSI Trendy MD271UL: A Nice Shock
I examined the MSI MD271UL’s brightness, distinction, and colour protection and accuracy utilizing our customary check gear: a Klein Okay-10A colorimeter, a Murideo Six-G sign generator, and the Portrait Shows Calman 5 calibration software program. MSI charges the monitor’s common luminance at 300 nits (candelas per sq. meter) and its peak brightness at 400 nits, and it topped the latter by a smidge, with a examined 408 nits. That is greater than vivid sufficient for any typical enterprise use, together with photograph and video enhancing and even gaming, even in a brightly lit room. The show’s distinction ratio peaked at 1,232:1, considerably larger than its marketed 1,000:1.
As you may see from the chromaticity (colour protection) chart above, the Trendy covers the complete sRGB spectrum with room to spare. The information factors characterize our measurements, and the triangle represents the sRGB area. All of the factors are outdoors the triangle, and so are the traces connecting the factors on either side, indicating full (100%) protection. Whereas we measure chromaticity by proportion of full protection, MSI charges the monitor’s protection by space, together with factors outdoors the triangle, so it claims 139% sRGB protection. Each strategies, although completely different, are legitimate.
In our testing of different colour palettes, the MD271UL lined 89.5% of the Adobe RGB colour area and 95.4% of DCI-P3. These numbers are wanting MSI’s claimed 95% and 99% respectively, however nonetheless respectable for this type of low-cost panel.
Along with our formal testing, we subjectively consider a monitor’s capacity to render images and video clips. After I perused alternatives from our photograph check suite, the photographs have been vivid, with wealthy colour, and the panel exhibited good renditions of each darkish and lightweight areas. Assorted movies additionally seemed daring and vivid, with distinct shadow element and good dynamic vary.
Verdict: A 27-Inch 4K Discount…However MSI, Ditch These Buttons
Coming in at a price range worth for a 27-inch 4K show, the MSI Trendy MD271UL is enjoyably vivid, with above-average distinction and nice colour protection, particularly in sRGB. We want it supplied extra ergonomic changes and undoubtedly want it had a greater OSD management system, however when you can reside with these creature-comfort shortcomings, the monitor is a robust performer and a very good deal for a 4K panel on a budget.
