There is a new face in the monitor market and it belongs to MSI, a company best known for its extensive line of motherboards and graphics cards. MSI's first monitor, the Optix G27C, is a 27-inch curved panel with a fast 144Hz refresh rate and 1920x1080 resolution.
The company isn't hiding the fact that it's using a Samsung panel. It's listed as having an R1800 curve rate. Compared to R4000 or R3000 curve rates, MSI says R1800 "is the most comfortable for your eyes and suitable for any kind of application, including gaming, office, or multimedia entertainment."
We haven't seen this panel in person, but if the specifications are accurate, the Optix G27C should offer fairly accurate color reproduction. It covers 110 percent of the sRGB color space and 85 percent NTSC, which is around 20 percent more gamut coverage than standard monitors (by MSI's math).
MSI doesn't mention what type of panel the Optix G27C uses, but based on its specs, our guess is a VA panel. Those specs include a 3,000:1 contrast ratio (typical), 300 nits brightness, 4ms typical and 8ms max response times, and 178-degree viewing angle. Connectivity consists of HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, and DVI (one of each).
The display is a bit barebones in other areas, as there's no USB hub or speakers. Similarly, the stand offers a minimal amount of ergonomics, with users being able to adjust the tilt from -5 to +15 degrees—there's no rotate or pivot functionality. While 1080p on a 27-inch panel is a bit low on the DPI scale, the 144Hz refresh rate is nice. Note that there's apparently no FreeSync (or G-Sync) support, however.
The Optix G27C is available now for $350 on Newegg. There is also a $50 mail-in-rebate available, bringing the price down to $300.
