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Exploring the Design of the Samsung Odyssey G9
The appearance of the Samsung Odyssey G9 is truly remarkable. It's not just about the expansive 32:9 aspect ratio, massive size, and futuristic control panel with backlighting. Another significant feature is its curvature. While most modern models have a curvature radius of 1800R, or simply put, 1800 mm, the Samsung Odyssey G9 has a curvature radius of 1000R (1000 mm, or approximately 39 inches). The curvature becomes more apparent upon closer inspection. According to Samsung, this is the world's first monitor with a curvature radius of 1000R. Samsung claims that this curvature is in line with the contours of the human eye, believed to have a positive impact on perception when using the monitor.
The monitor stand features a distinctive cogwheel design and is impressively sized and weighted. Given the large size of the monitor, it requires adequate stability on the desk. However, it also occupies a considerable amount of space on the desk.
The back of the Samsung Odyssey G9 is almost entirely made of glossy white plastic. There's a silver stripe decoration in the middle and the logo of the Samsung Odyssey gaming product line on the left. Surrounding the area where the stand is attached to the monitor is the circular RGB Infinity Core lighting. The stand itself can be detached, and in its place, a VESA wall mount can be installed. The lower part of the body with all the connectors is covered by a detachable cover.
What's the Leading Gaming Monitor without RGB Backlighting? The Infinity Core Lightning Looks Futuristic, Reminiscent of a Jet Engine. You Can Customize It: Choose Colors, Different Effects, or Just Turn It Off. In the Evening, When the Lights Are Off, It's Particularly Impressive if the Monitor Is Placed Flush Against the Wall.
The stand is also topped with a glossy white plastic cover. There's an option for cable management that we'll discuss in more detail later.
The monitor boasts an impressive desk depth, which makes sense when considering its shape and capabilities. Specifically, along with the stand, the monitor has a depth of 16.39 inches.
All monitor controls are executed with a five-position control button at the bottom of the chassis. It's quite sufficient, and it's convenient to use.
All connectors are downward-facing and located on the wide area to the right of the stand. After plugging in the cables, all of these will be covered by a protective cap.
Despite its large size and adjustability, the design of the Samsung Odyssey G9 is very well thought out. The assembly process truly takes only a few minutes. There are no complaints about the quality. Except, we may question the convenience of glossy plastic for the back of the monitor. Physically, the Samsung Odyssey G9 looks fantastic, just as expected from a high-end gaming monitor.
User-Friendly Setup and Connectivity
The array of ports isn't overly abundant, but the essentials are there. Two DisplayPort 1.4 inputs and one HDMI 2.0. Why there's no 2.1 in the current flagship model remains a mystery. There's also a 3.5mm headphone jack and USB 3.0 for two ports. For some reason, Samsung also decided to forgo Type-C and Thunderbolt.
The design of the stand becomes convenient, intelligent, and multifunctional. The white casing on the outside can be completely removed, cables are routed inside, resulting in everything looking tidy and nothing loose.
At the top of the stand, you can hang your headphones on a foldable hanger.
The stand allows you to adjust the monitor's tilt from -3° to 13°:
The height adjustment range is 120mm. At the lowest position, the monitor practically touches your desk.
You can also tilt it by - / + 15 °:
The monitor is adjusted by a five-position control stick. It's quite sufficient for comfortable work with the monitor.
The on-screen menu has a completely familiar logical sequence, so it won't be difficult to understand. The first press opens a quick menu, from which you can turn off the monitor, quickly navigate to menu items, set up PIP (Picture-in-Picture) and PBP (Picture-by-Picture), and the full settings menu. It's cleverly divided into separate sections for image settings, gaming functions, backlighting, software updates, etc. The only difficulty is that the monitor has a large number of functions and additional features (up to the screen range). Don't be lazy and take the time to customize everything to your liking. Additionally, some features cannot work simultaneously. This is a fairly common issue with gaming models.
How's the Image Quality?
This monitor features a 10-bit curved VA panel, 49 inches (48.8) with QLED technology (Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode), simply put – Quantum Dot. Notably, it's a true 10-bit screen, instead of 8+2 FRC, providing 88% NTSC 1976 color gamut, 125% sRGB, and 92% Adobe RGB. The curvature radius is 1000R, resolution is 5120×1440 (pixel pitch – 0.233mm, pixel density – 109 PPI), using W-LED backlight.
The pixel response time is confirmed to be 1 ms (GtG) and the refresh rate goes up to 240 Hz. The declared maximum brightness is 420 cd/m2 and the peak is 1000 cd/m2 (when displaying bright white in a small area of the screen), meaning the monitor complies with VESA DisplayHDR 1000 specifications. There's support for HDR10+ and the promised contrast ratio is 2500:1.
Rich colors, ample brightness reserves, excellent viewing angles, and very deep blacks are characteristic of VA panels. Contrast reduction at different angles is minimal, and there's not too much blooming. Weak silvering can be easily noticed at some angles. The uniformity of the backlight is very good. Yes, in some angles you can see slightly brighter areas, but this is only noticeable in a dark room with a dark background.
Measurements were performed in four display modes, with settings reset to default. In sRGB mode, the maximum brightness is 404.553 cd/m², color gamut close to sRGB, all values are close to reference values, and the average color error ΔE is 3.32. This is a very good indicator for a gaming model.
In FPS mode, the maximum brightness is slightly lower: 392.395 cd/m², significantly wider color gamut compared to sRGB, and color rendering shifts towards cooler tones:
In Movie mode, the maximum brightness is 419.394 cd/m² (as declared), color gamut, as well as in the last case, wider than sRGB. But in the rest, this mode is slightly worse in color accuracy and gamma curve has a very strange shape and is far from the standard.
In RTS mode, the maximum brightness is 391.662 cd/m² and with other indices, brightness is nearly equal to FPS.
Is the Samsung Odyssey G9 worth using?
The Samsung Odyssey G9 is primarily a gaming monitor. And from a gaming perspective, everything is perfect: it supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-Sync, along with high-quality and bright display, frame rate up to 240 Hz, and a claimed response time of 1 ms (gray to gray) theoretically allowing you to achieve very high-quality images without artifacts, tearing, and blurred images. Why theoretically? The natural 5120×1440 resolution demands powerful hardware to achieve high frame rates in modern games. We used a laptop with AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS and mobile 16GB nVidia GeForce RTX 3080 for testing, so there were no performance and FPS issues.
In our personal experience, it looks great in most cases, although there's minimal blurring effect on the edges of the image. But you should understand that the wow effect is not present in all games. Firstly, this monitor is perfect for first-person shooter and simulation games. Although it's also quite useful to have more space in strategy games. Most modern games already support such 'extended' screens, but with older games, there will be black bars on the sides. And cutscenes in some games will look like this:
For the rest, there are no other difficulties when using the monitor. If we talk about working on the Samsung Odyssey G9 and in general, the benefits of this format, we should note that in reality, we have two 27-inch monitors equivalent to a 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 2560×1440, stuck together. So, if you're used to two monitors, there will be no question: one side is for spreadsheets and one side is for browsing, extended timeline in video/audio editing software, two signal sources simultaneously – everything is really comfortable. But it takes a little time to get used to it. To quickly and conveniently arrange the space, there's a built-in Easy Setting Box utility.
3 Things to Know About Samsung Odyssey G9:
It's equipped with a high-quality VA panel with Quantum Dot technology and supports HDR10+.
The monitor's refresh rate is 240 Hz, pixel response time is 1 ms, + supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-Sync.
The workspace offers the equivalent of two 27-inch monitors with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 2560×1440.
