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
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
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.
