MSI's new monitors cause uproar on Reddit over firmware update limits

[zohaibahd]

Facepalm: A controversial decision to limit firmware updates on some new MSI gaming monitors ticked off enthusiasts. However, casual gamers will likely flock to the display's impressive specs and affordable pricing. The trade-off could be a gamble for a company still cementing its spot in the monitor market.

The gaming community has lashed out at MSI for not providing firmware updates for some models in its new lineup of QD-OLED gaming monitors. The company is preparing to launch MPG and MAG series monitors later this year, but a recent Reddit thread has exposed that not all models will receive support for firmware updates after purchase.

The news came from a pinned post on the OLED_Gaming subreddit from an MSI employee seeking to generate hype for the upcoming monitors. However, one detail raised some red flags: firmware updates through USB-B only support MPG monitors, not MAG models. When questioned further by commenters, the rep confirmed that two of the three MAG monitors – the 27-inch MAG271QPX and 34-inch MAG321UPX priced at $750 and $900, respectively – would not get any firmware updates at all after release.

Potential buyers immediately criticized the decision, saying they would cancel their pre-orders or avoid those models altogether.

"Not even gonna bother with the MAG version, just canceled my order," one disgruntled Redditor wrote.

That said, MSI's upcoming QD-OLED monitors are impressive, especially for the price. They offer vibrant quantum dot OLED panels ranging from 27 to 49 inches. They support many gaming-friendly features, including high refresh rates of up to 360Hz. The MAG screens, in particular, have been promoted as more affordable than rivals like the $1200 Alienware 34 QD-OLED.

However, these monitors will only ever run launch firmware, and the attractive specs matter less to buyers if MSI intends to 'abandon' them after launch. The lack of ongoing support would prove problematic if the initial firmware is buggy.

As a relatively new player in the gaming monitor space, MSI is still building loyalty in such a competitive market. Considering how these monitors significantly undercut the competition, the brand can likely get away with such a faux pas this time.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/102011-msi-new-monitors-cause-uproar-reddit-over-firmware.html

 

[yRaz]

Why does this matter? In my 30 years of being a techie, this is the first time the idea of updating the firmware on a display has entered my mind. I guess if you have smart features, which I've never used on anything, then it would matter.

 

[Fearghast]

Why does this matter? In my 30 years of being a techie, this is the first time the idea of updating the firmware on a display has entered my mind. I guess if you have smart features, which I've never used on anything, then it would matter.

On good displays there are usually tweaks to resolution support, scaling, freesync/gsync implementation, minor tweaks if new release console does something different, better implementation for USB-C hubs etc.
Usually nothing groundbreaking, but nice to have and prolonging the life of display.

 

[opckieran]

The question is: did MSI definitively claim this feature would be present on these specific products?

If yes, L MSI
If no, L Customer


Costs get cut for a reason people. Stay vigilant.

 

[bviktor]

It's simple: get it right on launch, then it won't need updates.

Too bad this doesn't happen very often these days.

 

[Skjorn]

Idk if I'd consider DP 1.4a the latest tech. I consider these screens outdated before they even launch.

These are console monitors to me.

 

[Trapped Nowhere]

$900 monitor lmao

 

[axiomatic13]

This absolutely matters. MSI is making a huge mistake. I own a ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ and if you were to go read its "story" on RTINGS.com you will learn that if this model had not had upgradable FW there would have had to have been a recall.

 

[hahahanoobs]

What's the current monitor update/no update ratio?

 

[m4a4]

When did it become important to have long update support for monitors..? Have newer ones been released more buggy than usual or something?

 

[Superconductor]

34-inch MAG321UPX typo. The product page shows 32 inch.

 

[toooooot]

How is that even possible, what if there is a serious bug, is it gonna stay forever, on a 750 dollar monitor?
I had a particularly annoying problem on my first decent monitor (700 bucks).
I would be very unhappy if there were no updates regardless of how stable it would be.
And after years and the bug fixed, I realize that I do not want products that come without updates.
Firmware eligibility on many new monitors implies it, there are many things that can go wrong.
I would be ok to go without optional tweaks, but the bugs must be fixed, always.

 

[MaestroIT]

Why does this matter? In my 30 years of being a techie, this is the first time the idea of updating the firmware on a display has entered my mind. I guess if you have smart features, which I've never used on anything, then it would matter.

Monitor firmware updates means soon we will see Monitor firmware malware/miner/spyware !!!

 

[yRaz]

Monitor firmware updates means soon we will see Monitor firmware malware/miner/spyware !!!

In just looking at comparable displays being $300+ more and people are canceling pre-orders for a feature they likely will never use? I'm mean, at this point, everything important is part of the displayport and HDMI standard. It's not like when Gsync came out and the monitor "required" a special module to make VRR work. These days everything uses off the shelf parts and the only difference is the overloading.

It probably uses the same panel that's in 5 other displays with a driver board that's in several other displays with a chip likely made by Samsung or Qualcomm that'd also in several other displays

 

[ZedRM]

So what MSI is really saying here is: "Please buy your products from someone ELSE! Thank You."

My answer? Ok MSI, whatever you say! Done!

 

[Fastturtle]

I have an Asus ProArt 27 inch monitor and have never seen a Firmware update and didn't know that it was even a thing. So why is everyone screaming about something that no monitor has ever announced in the last 20 years?

 

[Mr Majestyk]

$900 monitor lmao

For the specs the price is great. You may be too young to recall how expensive high end CRT monitors were 20 years ago, but try up to $4K in Australia for Sony Trinitron monitors with flat screen and 1920 x 1440 resolution.

My only problem these OLED are useless for real work, as they will get burn-in if you use it for productivity and to pay that much money for a monitor that might last 5 years is a joke.

 

[brucek]

Monitor tech and display standards have gotten significantly more complicated over the years. HDR alone seems to take the average monitor manufacturer multiple swings at the plate. Even if your monitor looks great today there's no guarantee that your video card, playback software, or required DRM system won't get a mandatory update that your monitor needs to also adjust for. If a monitor was so cheap that I'd be willing to throw it out in say a year, or knew that I'd never ask it do anything beyond displaying a desktop, then fine. Otherwise this does not sound viable to me.

Edit: My Samsung Odyssey monitor, and LG and Samsung TVs, have all received multiple updates in the time I've had them for primary display quality (meaning not just streaming apps or other optional UX components although of course those gets lots of updates too).

 

[Endymio]

Monitor firmware updates means soon we will see Monitor firmware malware/miner/spyware !!!

It's very well possible. There are already multiple confirmed cases of smart TV firmware containing malware. The downside of these firmware updates, of course, is that each and every one is a stability risk. An update to address an issue with a graphics card you don't even known could very well cause a problem with the one you're actually using.

 

[foxrox]

What is the problem that needs a firmware update to correct? What is broken or malfunctioning? If the answer is nothing, there is no reason to update the firmware. I guess people just need something extra to get worked up over. Seems like a ridiculous reason to be upset if the monitors are functioning as intended.

 

[Burty117]

Funny comment section, you can tell who buys higher end screens and who doesn’t, or haven’t bought a screen in many years.

The story of the G-sync Alienware with the first gen QD-OLED panel is another story of “if it had the ability to be firmware updated, it would have saved a lot of pain”. Instead of it having to be sent back to Dell for a firmware upgrade…

Asus’s latest QD-OLED has got Dolby Vision support being added via firmware update just after release.

Screens have gotten more advanced, HDR, Variable Refresh Rate, Backlight Strobing, then depending on screen technology, you have backlight algorithms, or static object recognition. More screens are reaching for 100% of the DCI-P3 colour space, higher refresh rates, higher resolutions. Different format standards such as HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision need to be accounted for etc…

It’s actually rarer to find a monitor release with a Good HDR implementation than a bad one. At least with firmware updates, there’s a chance of fixing bad implementations.

 

[foxrox]

I have an Asus ProArt 27 inch monitor and have never seen a Firmware update and didn't know that it was even a thing. So why is everyone screaming about something that no monitor has ever announced in the last 20 years?

Exactly. I have been into computers since the 8088 processor was the newest thing and I do not ever remember updating monitor firmware, and can't think of a reason I would need to if it is working correctly.

 

[foxrox]

Funny comment section, you can tell who buys higher end screens and who doesn’t, or haven’t bought a screen in many years.

The story of the G-sync Alienware with the first gen QD-OLED panel is another story of “if it had the ability to be firmware updated, it would have saved a lot of pain”. Instead of it having to be sent back to Dell for a firmware upgrade…

Asus’s latest QD-OLED has got Dolby Vision support being added via firmware update just after release.

Screens have gotten more advanced, HDR, Variable Refresh Rate, Backlight Strobing, then depending on screen technology, you have backlight algorithms, or static object recognition. More screens are reaching for 100% of the DCI-P3 colour space, higher refresh rates, higher resolutions. Different format standards such as HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision need to be accounted for etc…

It’s actually rarer to find a monitor release with a Good HDR implementation than a bad one. At least with firmware updates, there’s a chance of fixing bad implementations.

If MSI needs to fix a problem or a design defect that is firmware related, I suspect they'll either release an update or replace the monitor. The article says "limited" not "eliminated" firmware updates.

If there isn't a problem that needs to be fixed, then there is no need for an update. Getting free features added after release might be a nice gift, but the possibility of not getting free features added due to an intent not to provide any seems a bit silly.

 

[mikaelad]

Samsung has added couple good new features and fixed bugs since the Odyssey C49 was launched. Of course it would have been better to have all of those at launch but at least the monitor supported updates.

 

[Burty117]

If MSI needs to fix a problem or a design defect that is firmware related, I suspect they'll either release an update or replace the monitor. The article says "limited" not "eliminated" firmware updates.

From the article:

If you got "they'll release firmware fixes" from that, I don't know what to tell ya.

If there isn't a problem that needs to be fixed, then there is no need for an update. Getting free features added after release might be a nice gift, but the possibility of not getting free features added due to an intent not to provide any seems a bit silly.

I was using that as just an example, there's plenty of forum posts, YouTubers and dedicated articles to modern monitors that got firmware updates that fixed issues (RGB not working reliably, screen turning off after a period of time for no reason, volume not doing anything etc...) and some firmware updates made the screen work properly, HDR and colours now working properly with AMD cards vs Nvidia's as a recent one.

My point being, if a screen can't have, or in this case, the manufacturer is telling you "we will never release an update for this screen", I will be more cautious, if another manufacturer says they will allow firmware updates, even with no promise of one, I'd pick over a definite no.

Question, why would you prefer to send the screen back to manufacturer for a software fix? Not only do you lose the screen to use for a while, its an awful waste of time and money.