MSI Prestige PS341WU monitor
When 4K is not quite enough...
As first world problems go, the fact that it’s hard to find a PC monitor with more than eight million pixels has got to be up there. But if you want a truly high density display, your options are limited.
Yes, you can choose from a huge array of 4K UHD monitors, but 4K doesn’t automatically equal high DPI. Take a typical 32-inch 4K screen. That works out at 138 pixels per inch, not much higher than the circa 100 dpi that most flat panel monitors have offered for years.
You can, of course, achieve higher pixel density with the same resolution via a smaller panel. A 24-inch 4K monitor clocks in at a decent 184 dpi. But who wants to pay big bucks for a mere 24-inch monitor? Enter, at last, the MSI Prestige PS341WU. Its main claim to fame? A native resolution of 5120x2160, also known as 5K2K. That’s three million more than the 3840x2160 4K pixel grid.
Applied to the PS341WU’s 34-inch ultrawide panel, the result is 163 pixels per inch. Not quite Apple Retina standard, then, but a big upgrade compared to larger format 4K monitors. Of course, pixel density isn’t the only thing this MSI monitor has going for it, which is just as well, given the premium price of around $2,000. You also get a very high fidelity Nano IPS panel from LG. MSI claims static contrast of 1,200 to one, but the PS341WU also supports VESA DisplayHDR 600, which requires local dimming.
As it turns out, the PS341WU’s local dimming tech is about as rudimentary as it gets, with just 12 zones. But you do at least get support for HDR content, even if the specs suggest you can’t expect a true HDR experience. In practice, that’s pretty much how it plays out. The HDR support is more of interest from a content creation perspective than content consumption.
But that’s OK, given the overall image quality on offer, which is pretty special. The Nano IPS is gorgeous. It’s so vibrant, but so natural. The contrast and viewing angles are great, too, and MSI’s default calibration is nicely executed. MSI has also included calibrated presets for the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and PCI-P3 color spaces, which is handy even if you’ll still want to manually calibrate for really serious workflows. Oh, and for the record, MSI claims the Prestige PS341WU achieves 100 percent coverage of the sRGB gamut and 98 percent of DCI-P3.
Add the tight pixel pitch to the luscious panel quality and you have a feast for the eyes. This is also a flexible, user-friendly monitor, primarily thanks to the USB-C interface with support for charging. Once you’ve gone to single-cable USB-C, especially if you drive a laptop PC, you won’t want to go back to multiple cables.
So, the MSI Prestige PS341WU is an all-around winner, then? Not quite. Size is part of the problem. At this price, 34 inches feels stingy. Build quality and styling are also issues. Some of the plastics used in the chassis are not befitting of a premium monitor. The same goes for the stand’s cheap, sprayed base.
Styling is a subjective issue, of course, but the overall aesthetic is an odd mix of professional and gaming cues. MSI is, perhaps, not quite in its comfort zone operating in the pro display market, and it may take a few iterations to find its form. In the meantime, the Prestige PS341WU is a very fine display in need of just a little polish.