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We can’t go any further without talking about the new coating. MSI calls this PureBlack, but it’s a new feature of the 5th Gen panel from Samsung, designed to mitigate the issue with previous QD-OLEDs where black levels look raised in brighter conditions due to the lack of a polarising layer.
There’s no doubt this is a good improvement over previous QD-OLED panels, as you can see above – with both screens still turned off, the 341CQR X36 looks noticeably darker, whereas older QD-OLED is a lot more grey in these bright conditions.
That translates well for gaming, with the new panel offering a much ‘contrastier' look thanks to the increased black depth.
Of course, if you can control the lighting or you mostly game at night, the differences are much less obvious, as the issue with QD-OLED only presents itself in brighter ambient conditions, so that’s always something worth keeping in mind.
Compared against the ASUS ROG Strix XG27AQWMG though, with its 4th Gen Tandem WOLED panel and ASUS’ TrueBlack Glossy coating, we can still see that the issue isn’t completely resolved for 5th Gen QD-OLED, given the screen now looks more like a dark grey compared to the ASUS screen.
It does do a better job at helping reduce mirror-like reflections which is something to consider depending on your setup, but in those bright conditions, black levels are still elevated.
Again, though, if you do game in darker conditions, I don't think you would be able to tell the difference between the two panels, so it all really depends on your setup and what things are like in your environment.
Either way, the new coating on the 341CQR X36 is still a huge improvement over older QD-OLEDs, and I’d say for most people, it probably mitigates the issue down to a level where it’s less of a key factor to consider, but there is clear room for improvement versus the likes of ASUS' TrueBlack Glossy coating.
