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Brightness and Contrast

To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

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MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD — (Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The MPG321UR-QDX pumps out plenty of light in its SDR mode, over 418 nits peak. That’s enough for outdoor use, perhaps in a film or television production setting. The downside is that minimum brightness is quite high, 121 nits, which makes it difficult to use in a dark room. You can work around this by using the Eco picture mode or by selecting the Custom color temp which limits output to 143 nits and allows a correspondingly lower minimum.

Black levels are about average for an IPS panel, so the contrast is just under 1,000:1. If you engage HDCR, that ratio goes up to around 3,000:1 but it makes the picture brighter with no way to adjust the peak level.

After Calibration to 200 nits

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My calibration consisted only of reducing the brightness slider to hit 200 nits. I made no changes to the color temp because the custom mode limits output to 143 nits, too low for a fair comparison to other monitors. Contrast remains solid at 979.8:1.

The MPG321UR-QDX Xbox Edition's ANSI score was harmed by its uniformity issue in the lower right corner. 809:1 isn’t a bad result, but it is a tad below average for an IPS panel.

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Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

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