MSI Optix MPG341CQR Gaming Monitor Changes Settings Based on Your Face
Your face can already unlock your phone and your PC. With MSI’s new Optix MPG341CQR gaming monitor, your mug can also activate your preferred display settings.
MSI teased the monitor, originally unveiled at CES in January, at its Taipei offices ahead of the Computex conference this week. The company confirmed it's coming out in Q3 and is expected to cost $799.
The 34-inch has ultrawide QHD resolution (3440 x 1440) with a 21:9 aspect ratio and 1800R curvature. Speed isn’t a concern with an anti-glare VA panel boasting a 144 Hz refresh rate and 1 ms response time.
But it's the facial recognition camera on the bottom bezel that lets MSI calls this a “smart” or “AI” monitor. Not too different from Windows Hello, the MPG341CQR uses facial recognition to identify the user and change its settings based on that user’s saved profile. Additionally, the monitor self adjusts its brightness level based on the amount of lighting in the room.
With a 3,000:1 contrast ratio, 84% DCI-P3 and 105% sRGB color gamut coverage, plus 400 nits max brightness (DisplayHDR 400), we already expected the MPG341CQR to deliver brilliant colors (MSI pegs the color count at an impressive 1.07 billion). But yet another boost to this display’s color delivery is a nifty feature MSI is debuting called Night Vision.
When you turn on Night Vision in the OSD, the MPG341CQR identifies dark areas in the screen and brightens them up without overexposing other parts of the image. MSI showed us a demo with the feature in action during that infamously dark episode of Game of Thrones this season. Without the feature on, Jon Snow looked like he was fighting a line of shadowy figures through a dark alley. With Night Vision on, I could see the fighters’ metal armor.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Night Vision in action with the actual monitor. But if it’s anything like the demo in real-life use, it should be a noticeable advantage when gaming too.
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Paired with some discrete starship-like details on the back, the MPG341CQR is adorned with RGB lighting on its backside and underneath. With Steelseries GameSense, the lights sync with what’s happening in your game.
Ports include two HDMI 2.0, two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A and one each of DisplayPort 1.4, USB-C, USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-B, headphone, mic in and a PC to monitor audio jack combo.
And if that’s not enough to make a gamer’s mouth water, the MPG341CQR alsocomes with a bracket for attaching your favorite streaming webcam and a mouse bungee, simply because you deserve it.
Photo Credit: Tom's Hardware
Scharon Harding has over a decade of experience reporting on technology with a special affinity for gaming peripherals (especially monitors), laptops, and virtual reality. Previously, she covered business technology, including hardware, software, cyber security, cloud, and other IT happenings, at Channelnomics, with bylines at CRN UK.