Gaming monitors are a well-defined category. They have high refresh rates, usually some form of variable refresh rate technology, and oftentimes an edgy industrial design. Those criteria do ignore some of the critical qualities that define a display, and as a result things like color saturation and contrast are all too often sub-par on gaming monitors—or at least on models that don't cost four figures. Fortunately, we have the fine folks at MSI to rescue us from this washed-out monitor wasteland with the Optix MAG24C.
First, the basics. The MAG24C is a 24" monitor with a resolution of 1920×1080 and with a tight 1800R curvature. The display refreshes at up to 144 Hz, and it supports VESA Adaptive Sync (aka FreeSync) for some unspecified range below that. Dual-link DVI, HDMI 1.4, and DisplayPort 1.2 inputs comprise the connections on offer.
The fancy part about the MAG24C is that it uses a VA panel with a 3000:1 static contrast ratio. The panel is a true 8-bit-per-color display, and MSI says that it can reproduce 110% of the sRGB space. MSI also rates the display for 178° viewing angles all the way around, and maximum brightness should hit 250 cd/m².
Even more interestingly, MSI gives the panel's response time as "1ms (MPRT)." That specification implies that these displays support motion blur reduction, though that feature isn't listed on MSI's product page. The MPRT term has only appeared one other time that we've seen, and that's on Samsung's gaming monitors.
In fact, this display has extremely similar specifications all the way around when compared to Samsung's CFG70 series. The MSI model lacks those displays' quantum-dot backlights, so its color gamut isn't quite as wide. However, it's possible that MSI's monitors are based on the same panels as Samsung's. If that's the case, I can personally vouch for their amazing color and clear motion.
If you'd like to find out for yourself, you can already order an Optix MAG24C from Newegg for just $250 before a $10 mail-in rebate.