Brightness improves even further in HDR mode. That’s the only way to obtain the Odyssey G9’s rated peak brightness of 1,000 nits, a number we confirmed in our testing with Portrait Displays’ Calman software. Note, though, that we saw brightness in that range in tests utilizing only a portion of the screen (from about 10 percent to about 50 percent). At full-screen, the HDR brightness maxed out at 561 nits. By any measure, the Odyssey G9’s brightness is highly respectable.

As for additional upgrades, the Neo G9 now supports HDMI 2.1. So you can enjoy up to 144Hz refresh over HDMI, including 120Hz with the latest consoles. The full 240Hz action is available only via DisplayPort. And remember that, for now, neither the Microsoft Xbox Series X|S or the Sony Playstation 5 support the G9’s extreme ultrawide aspect ratio and resolution. That HDMI 2.1 interface may come in handy one day, but right now this epic panel isn’t a good fit for any console.The Odyssey G9’s gaming-focused features were a delightful plus in almost every scenario. Its 1ms gray-to-gray response time kept our interactions in games snappy, and the high refresh rate (up to 240 Hz) kept the images always moving in perfect pace with the action. Depending on which video hardware drives your computer, you’ll also appreciate built-in support for Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro adaptive sync technologies (though AMD currently claims the latter is only utilized in 17 titles). The Odyssey G9’s unusual shape results in an unusual resolution: 5,120x1,440 (a 32:9 aspect ratio), or the equivalent of two side-by-side 2,560x1,440 monitors. This is more than three times the size of a standard 1080p (1,920x1,080) display, but still smaller overall than a single 4K (3,840x2,160) screen, so you won’t need as beefy a graphics card to max out the details in your games (though, certainly, having the most powerful one you can find never hurts). This could be changing in 2023; the next generation of the Odyssey G9 Neo, which replaced the original G9, is tipped to be the world's first 8K ultrawide curved monitor. For any content that you submit, you grant SAMSUNG a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you.

The stand does its job, at least. It keeps the monitor stable and includes adjustment for height, tilt, and swivel. The tilt and swivel action are well-tuned, making it possible to adjust the monitor with a light yet intentional touch. VESA mounting is supported with an included adapter. You might want to look up your monitor arm’s maximum weight, however, as the Neo G9’s display panel tips the scales at a hefty 26 pounds. Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 – Features What that means is you have to decide whether you value what this display does best over the alternatives. If you want that crispy pixel density and punchy brightness on a scale never seen before, there's nothing that can touch this monitor. But, arguably, what this screen does best is actually productivity, especially when you factor in the picture-by-picture support. What we did see and what really marks this display out is the elevated pixel density on an epic scale. The 140DPI is exactly the same as a 32-inch 4K monitor, it's just you've never seen this kind of pixel density on such a large panel before. It really is remarkable to experience this kind of image detail across such a huge monitor. Yes, you can now connect an Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 at once, but neither supports an ultrawide or super-ultrawide aspect ratio. The Neo G9 can’t even deliver 4K from a console because its native resolution is 5,120 x 1,440, which is too low to handle 4K’s vertical resolution of 2160 pixels. HDMI 2.1 serves no purpose aside from letting Samsung slap that label on the monitor’s marketing. Functionally speaking, the Samsung Odyssey G9 Neo’s display uses a 49-inch 1000R curved Vertical Alignment (VA) LCD panel which has 5,120 x 1,440 pixel resolution and an ultra wide 32:9 aspect ratio – this is the effective equivalent of bolting a pair of 27-inch QHD 1440p resolution displays together side by side and you’re able to simultaneously display the feed from two different sources in PbP mode so that you are able to game off a console and work on a PC from separate halves of the display.The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 is big. And while that is pretty obvious from the fact that it's a 49-inch ultrawide monitor, it doesn't hit until you take it out of its box to set up on your desk.

The screen fared well in our SDR color tests. Using a Klein K10-A colorimeter and DisplayCal calibration software, we measured the Odyssey G9’s delta-E (its variation from an established color norm) at a solid 0.26, and we determined that it covered 113.7 percent of the sRGB color gamut and 80.6 percent of the DCI-P3 gamut on its default settings (Custom mode). It’s no exaggeration to say the super-ultrawide Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 is a game-changing monitor. It can deliver not just stunning visuals but improve the way you play some titles. Unfortunately, it falls far short of perfection. The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 delivers all of the above yet suffers new problems that take the shine off its best feature. Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 – Design In our tests, the games that came off best were those where you could easily see everything at once by focusing on the center and not having to divide your attention. The sprawling screen area provided a dazzling field of view in the first-person shooter Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, where your open field of vision allowed you to drink in every detail of the devastated Moscow you trudged through. Although the display presets offer a distinguishable amount of variation among them, I rarely found them especially useful. The FPS preset, in particular, was distractingly bright; though this implementation was likely inspired by the frequently dark cast of those games’ playing areas, the murky uncertainty of dark tunnels and shadowy ruins are usually part of the fun, and flooding them with light ruins the effect. Cinema, too, exaggerated colors and brightness, creating a dulling effect on motion picture–style video. To my eyes, the rather darker Custom setting was an excellent choice—if not the best choice—in nearly all situations. Samsung Odyssey G9 review: Gaming performanceThe Samsung Odyssey Neo G9’s exterior is nearly identical to last year’s G9. The only aesthetic change is on the monitor’s lower left bezel, where the prior model’s bright green Nvidia G-Sync logo is replaced by a more subtle monochrome badge. It’s a minor, but positive, tweak. For the record, all this applies to both SDR and HDR modes and, on the Windows desktop, it’s all rather messy and distracting. You could say, so what? This monitor isn’t designed for serious content creation or office work. But at this price point, it’s surely a serious flaw. These are common gaming monitor additions; for most, its unique screen design is what will most set the Odyssey G9 apart—and prove most divisive. Whether the Odyssey G9 makes sense for you depends more than anything else on the types of games you play and what other software you use, as the large amount of space is not universally well utilized. Samsung also leaves the monitor’s functional problems untouched. The stand is an absolute unit that measures 31 inches wide and 9 inches deep. The full depth is 17 inches which, on my desk, places the edges of the monitor closer to the front of the desk than the rear. You might need to plan a desk upgrade to go along with the monitor.

Despite the monitor not being close to true 8K, you’re still looking at an incredibly high resolution with a 32:9 aspect ratio along a deep curve of 1,000mm, or 1000R. The R-number is the radius measurement of a circle that would be created by a hypothetical ring of these monitors placed edge to edge. The lower the millimeter count and the R-number, the tighter the curve is. It’s said that lower numbers better mimic the natural curvature of the eye. A curve of 1000R is the tightest typically seen on gaming monitors, but they can get tighter in a few one-offs like the Corsair Xeneon Flex.Indeed, during our time with the display, we didn't see any of the glitches and bugginess that have blighted Samsung's big Odyssey gaming LCDs of late. So, that's progress of sorts. The monitor’s color-gamut coverage testing is next. The Neo G9 spanned 100% of the sRGB color gamut, 85% of Adobe RGB, and 91% of DCI-P3. Those are excellent numbers, though shy of the near-perfect readings we got from the OLED G9. that is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any person or entity;