We tested the local dimming with Adaptive Sync and Low Input Lag enabled and there isn't much of a difference when using either of those modes. 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.

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. Updated the monitor to firmware 1011 and retested the HDR Brightness, HDR Color Gamut, and HDR Color Volume. The update only results in minor differences in performance. HDR performance is beyond the HDR1000 certification, too. In HDR test video, it's clearly capable of beyond 1,000 nits of brightness. Actually, you can see that in games, too. Pan the camera up to the sky and the desert sun in Cyberpunk 2077 and the panel absolutely sizzles. HDR video content looks spectacular, too.The rated HDR2000 peak brightness isn’t just for show and the brightness is breathtaking indeed if you have the appropriate footage to fully appreciate it but its sheer size and image quality will ensure anything you view on it is given due justice.

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. use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity. 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). I get it. This is a big monitor with a big curve, so it’s going to take up space. Still, I can’t help but think the monitor would be more practical with a less extreme curve and a stand that trades size for heft.

Samsung’s uber gaming monitor gets a mini-LED upgrade.

It's hard to overstate just how much this monitor will blow you away the first time you use it. Samsung was somehow able to double the peak brightness over the 1,000 nits in last year's model to 2,000 in the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9. That gives it an HDR 2000 rating, which is the best HDR you'll find outside of just playing your PC games on a top-end OLED TV. 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 performance

Now, of course, you can use another stand with this monitor, as it has a standard VESA-compatible mount. However, the massive weight of the monitor gets in the way again, and you're going to have to make sure you get a stand that can handle it. Honestly, we'd recommend just mounting it on your wall – and when we spoke to Samsung about this display its representatives told us the same thing.Bezels are definitely still visible, especially along the bottom, but because the screen is so big, it's not something you're going to notice on a day-to-day basis. Plus, the only logos you'll find on the front of the display is the Nvidia G-Sync logo, which we would rather not be there. But hey, at least the monitor has G-Sync. Added in the Variants section that the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9/G95SC S49CG95 is a newer version of this monitor with a QD-OLED panel. Color accuracy held up to scrutiny as well. The Neo G9 recorded a Delta E of 1.4. The higher the Delta E, the more the colors tend to stray from their intended hue. A value under 1 is ideal, though most gaming monitors tend to hover closer to 2, especially with out-of-the-box settings. Unfortunately, that's also where the biggest issue in this monitor's design arises. Likely because of how heavy this monitor is – and trust us it's very heavy, the stand doesn't really have any channels you can use to hide cables. That makes cable management a little bit harder, which is definitely a shame with a monitor of this class. Because anyone who is going to fork over the cash for a monitor of this caliber is probably going to take their desktop appearance pretty seriously – obviously not us, though.