New MSI Optix Gaming Monitor Has Gaming Dial, Second Screen

MSI is introducing the Optix MEG381COR Plus, a new gaming monitor that the company is billing as the “World’s First HMI Gaming Monitor.” HMI, or human computer interaction, aims to make it easier to use while also sporting many useful features for gamers.

The monitor itself is a 38-inch curved IPS display with a 3840 x 1600 resolution. The Optix MEG381COR Plus display covers 96.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and 128.7% of the sRGB spectrum, and sports 10-bit color depth, a 1000:1 contrast ratio, and a brightness level up to 600 nits. The icing on the cake is the DisplayHDR 600 certification. This should make it a content creator’s dream while also being perfect for content consumption.

The headline feature is MSI’s HMI, which pairs a secondary display with a gaming dial. This allows easy adjustment of monitor settings just by twisting the dial. MSI may be stretching the limits of what the term “HMI” generally refers to, but the feature seems to be useful nonetheless. Fiddling with monitor settings can be very annoying and it’s great to see MSI making that process a bit easier.

This model is obviously geared toward gamers, as there are plenty of gamer- and streaming-specific features. The Optix MEG381COR Plus features a 175MHz refresh rate and a 1ms response time, and is Nvidia G-Sync Ultimate certified. The DisplayHDR certification will also make it useful for games that support HDR and the Auto-HDR feature in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

The MSI monitor includes a handy camera cradle on top of the monitor to mount your webcam, DSLR, or smartphone for streaming. There’s also a handy mouse bungee to help keep your mouse cord out of the way while gaming. MSI partnered with SteelSeries to include Game Sense to synchronize the RGB lighting with currently playing games. Imagine the lights turning red or orange when at low health.

Finally, the MEG381COR Plus supports VESA mounts, includes two HDMI 2.0 ports and one DisplayPort 1.4, and sports a USB hub with three USB-A 3.2 Gen1 ports and a USB-B 3.2 Gen1 port. Interestingly, there are no HDMI 2.1 ports for future-proofing and console compatibility. There are also microphone in and audio out jacks to complete the I/O lineup.

Overall, the specs on the Optix MEG381COR Plus seem top-notch on paper. The more unique features, such as the gaming dial and secondary screen — but also the camera cradle and mouse bungee — are great add-ons that should make using the monitor much easier.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any pricing information or even a general release date, but keep an eye on this one if you’re in the market for a new gaming monitor.

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