MSI MEG 342C QD-OLED 175Hz Ultrawide with HDMI 2.1
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made using the “Buy” button at the bottom of this post. Where possible, you'll be redirected to your nearest store. Further information on supporting our work.There’s a great deal of interest in OLED technology, particularly for the rich entertainment experience it can provide. The MSI MEG 342C QD-OLED provides the ‘Quantum Dot enhanced’ version of this technology favoured by panel manufacturer Samsung Display, in high refresh rate ultrawide format. The monitor offers rather bold styling, with a mixture of dark matte plastics and golden-coloured highlights on the bottom bezel and stand base. The underside of the bottom bezel includes customisable ‘SpectrumBar’ RGB LEDs, with an integrated microphone and light sensor also included. The monitor is able to adjust its brightness according to ambient lighting. The OSD (On Screen Display) is controlled by a gold-coloured joystick and buttons at the rear of the monitor, towards the right side as viewed from the front.
A ~34″ Samsung Display QD-OLED (Quantum Dot OLED) panel is adopted with 3440 x 1440 (21:9 ultrawide) resolution as well as a 1800R (moderate) curve. This is designed to draw you into the experience a little, without giving an unnatural feeling. VRR is supported via HDMI 2.1 (‘HDMI 2.1 VRR’) and also Adaptive-Sync, allowing technologies such as AMD FreeSync and Nvidia ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ to be used, with 48 – 175Hz VRR range plus LFC. A glossy screen surface is included with anti-reflective treatment, whilst a 1m:1 static contrast ratio, 178°/178° viewing angles and 10-bit colour support are specified. The screen is ‘flicker-free’ with 250 cd/m² (1000 cd/m² HDR peak) typical maximum luminance and ‘Less Blue Light Pro’. This includes a peak of blue light shifted to less energetic wavelengths to potentially aid viewing comfort (TÜV Rheinland certified hardware solution). A 99.3% DCI-P3 (97.8% Adobe RGB, 139.1% sRGB) colour gamut coverage is specified. The monitor responds to HDR10 content with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification and additional HDR settings designed for higher brightness pulses. The monitor can put its per-pixel illumination, 10-bit colour support and generous gamut to good use here.
A 0.1ms grey to grey response time is specified – a figure we’ll often say to pay little attention to, though OLED technology is known to offer very strong pixel responsiveness either way. The stand offers tilt and height (100mm or 3.94 inches) adjustment and can be removed to reveal 100 x 100mm VESA mount provision. Most of the ports face downwards and include; AC power input (internal power converter), 2 HDMI 2.1 ports (48 Gbps), DP 1.4, USB-C (65W PD, DP Alt Mode, upstream data) and 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports plus Type-B upstream. At the left side of the screen, as viewed from the front, there are 2 further USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack and possibly microphone jack. KVM functionality is included, allowing easy display input switching and USB peripheral sharing between 2 systems, with PiP/PbP also supported. The monitor may include a ‘4K’ UHD downsampling mode which could theoretically work at up to 120Hz, enhancing console support for consoles such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X. The monitor has the bandwidth for this via HDMI 2.1 and the manufacturer is usually keen to implement such features, though it isn’t explicitly mentioned on the product page.
Further details can be found on the manufacturer’s website. The monitor is listed for ~$1100 USD.
