Buzz
Design
The control panel and the base cover of the main monitor part are predominantly made of matte black plastic. But there are also glossy areas – the logo on the back and on the base. The exterior surface of the control panel is black, matte, with distinct features. The monitor looks like a solid surface wrapped by a strip of plastic at the bottom and a narrow plastic bezel at the top and sides. After displaying an image on the screen, you can notice there are gaps between the outer edges of the screen and the actual display area (8 mm on each side at the top and sides and 24 mm at the bottom).
The manufacturer's logo is barely visible in the center of the bottom compartment. On the backside are the 5-way control buttons in the lower right corner. The power button and the white diffuser of the status indicator are located below, near the control joystick. The rear panel also features a Kensington lock slot. All interface connectors and power connectors are placed in a recess on the back panel and directed downwards.
Connecting cables to these connectors is very convenient if the monitor is rotated in portrait orientation. The cable from the monitor connector can be routed through a cutout at the bottom of the stand.
On the rear side, there's a subtle decorative light strip under the 'G-Sync 360' text marked lightly in green (toggleable in the settings menu). There are some ventilation grilles at the top and bottom, as well as in the compartments with connectors.
To support the weight of the monitor, some crucial parts of the stand are made of aluminum alloy and thick steel. The construction of the stand is quite sturdy, providing good stability for the monitor. The rubber pads under the stand protect the desk surface from scratches and keep the monitor from sliding on smooth surfaces.
The stand has a fixed height, but the steel rail bearing mechanism supported by springs allows vertical movement of the monitor cluster it's attached to. Thanks to this, the monitor can be easily adjusted to the desired height. The built-in hinge attachment of the monitor unit allows the monitor unit to slightly tilt forward from the upright position, lean further backward, and rotate clockwise and counterclockwise. Additionally, a swivel part on the stand allows you to move the stand left and right along with the monitor block.
Our MSI Oculux NXG253R review unit is packaged in a relatively large, color-designed folding hardcover box with grooved handles on both sides. Foam pads are used inside the box to distribute and protect the items inside.
Connectivity
The MSI Oculux NXG253R gaming monitor is equipped with three digital video inputs: one DisplayPort and two HDMI, all in full size. Among these, only DisplayPort supports input signals with the maximum resolution and refresh rate for this monitor. The input is selected in the menu (quick or full), additionally, if there is no indication on the current input, automatic selection of the active input will be activated (this function can be turned off). There's an integrated USB hub (3.0) for three ports. One of the USB outputs (top) supports hardware output latency detection - Nvidia Reflex Latency Analyzer - then you need to connect a mouse for this function to work. The package includes three interface cables - HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB (3.0).
Both HDMI and DisplayPort inputs are capable of accepting digital audio signals (only PCM stereo), outputted after conversion to analog signals through the 3.5mm miniJack headphone jack. The headphone output power is sufficient to provide enough volume in 32 ohm headphones with a sensitivity of 92 dB but lacks depth. The headphone audio quality is good – clear sound, wide frequency range reproduced, no audible noise during pauses, although the volume is not controlled by the monitor.
Features
During the evaluation of the MSI Oculux NXG253R, the indicator lights have a dim backlight in white, glowing orange in standby mode, and not lit if the monitor is normally turned off. The indicators are not visible from the front. If the monitor is operational and there is no menu on the screen, when control is needed to move up/down or left/right, shortcut menu for the designated function in this shift will be displayed on the screen.
Pressing the control key will open the main menu. The menu labels are large and easy to read. Thanks to the forward logic and control buttons not requiring you to lift your finger, navigating through the menu is very convenient and quick. If necessary, you can adjust the transparency level of the background and select the standby time to automatically exit the menu.
Among the additional features, there are three 'gaming' functions: frame rate counter, timer, and display of the selected type on the screen. The positions of these items on the screen can be adjusted, but only one item is displayed.
To test the G-Sync mode function, we used the Nvidia G-Sync Pendulum Demo program – it works. G-Sync is supported on both DisplayPort and HDMI. Nvidia's DisplayPort connection lists the supported frequency range from 1-360 Hz.
Screen
When connected to a computer via DisplayPort, a resolution of up to 1920 × 1080 is supported at a refresh rate of 360Hz at the input, and the image is also displayed at this frequency. This resolution and refresh rate support HDR color encoding, 8 bits per color, and RGB without compromising color fidelity. Additionally, in the case of HDR, expansion to 10-bit is achieved using dynamic color mixing, seemingly with hardware assistance from the graphics card. When the refresh rate drops to 300 Hz, 10-bit video signals are supported. For HDMI, it supports up to 1920 × 1080 at 240 Hz, as well as HDR with 8 bits per color and 144 Hz – which is already 12 bits.
The MSI Oculux NXG253R features HDR capability. To test this mode, we used the official DisplayHDR testing tool recommended by VESA to verify that the display devices meet certification criteria. The results are positive: a specially designed test slope shows the presence of 10-bit output (excellent quality, even when expanded to 10 bits by the graphics card and by the monitor itself) and the maximum brightness in HDR mode reaches 445 cd/m2 (however, not different from SDR mode). Even considering the fact that the color gamut is not wider than sRGB, the HDR support in this monitor cannot be considered entirely nominal.
The Cinema mode was tested when connected to the Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player. The testing work was done via HDMI. The MSI Oculux NXG253R accepts signals 576i/p, 480i/p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p at both 50 and 60 frames per second. 1080p @ 24fps is also supported, and frames are output with the same duration in this mode. In the case of interlaced signals, the video is only output outside the margins. The subtle transition of different shades in both bright and dark areas. The brightness and color accuracy are very high. The low-resolution interpolation to the panel's resolution is performed without significant artifacts.
The outer surface of the control panel is black, matte, and the outer layer of the control panel seems relatively rigid. The matte surface of the control panel allows for comfortable work in the case of specific screen layouts (on the table), gamers (in front of the screen), and lighting (on the ceiling) in the room. There is no 'crystal' effect.
Specifications of MSI Oculux NXG253R
- Screen: 24.5-inch anti-glare IPS panel
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (FHD)
- Refresh Rate: 360Hz
- Response Time: 1ms GTG
- Brightness: 400 nits
- Viewing Angle: 178° (H) / 178° (V)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
- Pixel Pitch: 0.2829 (H) x 0.2802 (V)
- Color: 1.07B (8bits + FRC)
- DCI-P3 / SRGB: 84.09% / 109.63%
- Features: Nvidia G-Sync Technology, Nvidia Reflex Latency Analyzer, Nvidia ULMB, Game Modes, Shadow Brightness Boost, On-Screen Sight, Frame Rate Counter, Timer, HDR Support, Flicker-Free,
- Ports: 1x Display Port (1.4), 2x HDMI (2.0b), 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type B, 1x Headphone Output
- VESA Mount: 100 x 100 mm
- Stand: -5° ~ 20° (Tilt), -45° ~ 45° (Swivel), 0 ~ 130mm (Height), -90° ~ 90° (Rotate)
- Dimensions: 560.1 x 399.3 x 233.7 mm
The response time depends on the value of the corresponding setting, matrix overclock control. When overclocking increases, characteristic light clusters appear in some transition processes. Visually, artifacts may be difficult to perceive even at maximum overclocking.
In our opinion, even at the highest overclocking level, the panel's speed is sufficient even for the most demanding games. We determined the total output delay by shifting video frames to the start of image display on the screen (resolution - 1920 × 1080). Remember that this delay depends on the characteristics of the Windows OS and the graphics card rather than just the monitor: 360Hz/DisplayPort = 2.7ms or 240Hz/HDMI = 3.5ms.
The latency is very low and not perceptible in any way when working on PC and in high-end games, it will not lead to performance degradation.
A feature in this MSI Oculux NXG253R monitor is the Nvidia Reflex Latency Analyzer, where you can determine the hardware output latency in order, for example, to try to reduce it by changing the settings of the graphics card. For everything to work, you need to connect a mouse to the top USB port of the monitor, find the moment in the game when something on the screen changes when you press the mouse button (for example, a flash appears when shooting), and adjust the sensitive area on the screen to the exact position of this flash.
The monitor self-determines the elapsed time by pressing the mouse button (more precisely, by transferring the corresponding package via USB) when there is a flash and displays the result value in the top left corner of the screen (the sensitive area is a green rectangular shape, you cannot display it on the screen):
In our review of the MSI Oculux NXG253R, we opted for a test program rather than a game, where clicking the left mouse button toggles the background of the window from white to black and back again. Additionally, in GeForce Experience, you can configure this latency display (PC + Display Latency) and some other parameters.
Note that at a refresh rate of 360Hz, the lowest latency we observed in our review of the MSI Oculux NXG253R was 7.1 milliseconds. This is higher than the average latency (2.7 ms), but this is expected because the steps to receive the signal from the mouse and display the image were not included in our review of the MSI Oculux NXG253R. It is also noted that the Nvidia Reflex Latency Analyzer function only reacts to changes from dark to light, and to operate more accurately or less so, you need to pause longer between shots.
Overall, it is clear that this is an interesting and useful feature, but not quite clear what to do with the knowledge gained, which requires you to research this issue more thoroughly than the owner of this monitor, you can do that in your spare time.
Conclusion
The MSI Oculux NXG253R is a top-of-the-line gaming monitor, even for eSports. This statement is evidenced by its very high refresh rate, fast IPS panel, low output latency, G-Sync support, and a range of gaming features, including hardware-defined output latency. The design of the monitor is very sleek and flexible, with a modern borderless display, visually appealing. There is extremely discreet decorative backlighting that does not cause glare, and users cannot see it.
