MSI Prestige PS341WU monitor

The gaming giant looks to build a more creative pedigree, but is it a to catch the eye of creatives? bit beige

MSI’s been bolstering its offerings for creatives in 2020, and no creative suite is complete without a colour calibrated, high resolution screen. The Prestige PS341WU from MSI is about as high specced as they come, offering a 34-inch, 21-by-9 WideUHD screen with a 5120 x 2160 pixel resolution. While it’s not quite the 6K, 220 PPI of one of Apple’s Pro Display XDR units, it’s enough for high resolution image and video work.

This is backed up by a VESA 600 HDR certification, which is solid for something like a laptop, but is probably around the lower limit of brightness you’d want to be able to get the most out of 10-bit HDR colour profiles. Still this is pretty good for reasonably priced colour calibrated displays. MSI says that it offers a 450nit typical brightness and it’ll hit 98% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, so it’s not bright by any stretch but it’s capable enough for colour grading or RAW image work. The screen does have presets for swapping between Adobe RGB,

DCI-P3 and sRGB which makes it easy to swap between colour spaces if you need to, but you will need a PC with a compatible (or ideally certified) colour output.

While the Prestige PS341WU may not look like an amazing creative work display next to the Apple Pro Display XDR or Microsoft’s Surface Studio 2, it does cost less than a quarter of the former and a bit under half the latter, so this isn’t really a fair comparison. Microsoft’s offering does however, come with all the PC components built-in so it’d probably end up costing a similar amount if you factor in the cost of a suitable workstation or you opt for the P100 workstation MSI designed to go with it (reviewed on page 29).

MSI has designed a bespoke screen management software it calls CreatorOSD. This software connects to the PS341WU over an included USB cable which allows you to adjust screen settings without having to use the screen’s on-board controls. Naturally the software offers the ability to easily swap between colour gamuts, but it also includes the ability to easily run Picture-in-Picture software so you can use two separate computers side-by-side on the screen. CreatorOSD also offers sizing tools that’ll show grids or rulers alongside your work to show you exactly how big it’ll be when printed. This software is a handy bonus that saves you having to cobble together online software for a workaround and it gives you confidence that you’re working in the colour space and scale you are supposed to be.

The included monitor stand has a slimline profile and makes it easy to set up at a wide range of heights. Personally we prefer a curved screen, however with certain forms of media this isn’t practical so we understand the decision to keep it as a flat panel. Fortunately the Nano IPS display has a wide 178-degree viewing angle, so you don’t get any colour loss when looking at the screen’s extremities.

“The Prestige PS341WU from MSI is about as high specced as they come, offering a 34-inch, 21-by-9 WideUHD screen with a 5120 x 2160 pixel resolution.”

A decent 34-inch display for those needing professional colour specifications on a conservative budget.