The Odyssey G9 gaming monitor is already among the largest and most immersive displays on the market, and now Samsung is updating the panel to make it twice as bright. The 49-inch display already boasts an elongated and massively wide QHD resolution called DQHD, which is the equivalent of having two QHD monitors side-by-side, and new for 2021 is support for a much brighter 2,000 nits of peak brightness on Samsung’s Odyssey Neo G9 49-inch.
For gamers, the HDR2000-rated Odyssey Neo G9 means you’ll see more contrast. This means you’ll see more details in the shadows and highlights, which could allow you to identify things in dark shadows or bright areas of a scene in your game, like enemies hiding in the background. For comparison, both Apple’s refreshed 12.9-inch iPad Pro M1 with redesigned screen technology and the company’s pro-grade Pro Display XDR monitor come in with a peak brightness rating of 1,600 nits. Typical brightness, however, is rated at 420 nits.
To achieve the HDR2000 brightness rating on the Odyssey Neo G9, Samsung is using its Quantum Matrix Technology that’s found on some of its popular QLED televisions, like the company’s Neo QLED TV. The quantum mini LEDs in the matrix “means the backlight has a greater resolution and finer distinctions between light and dark,” the company said. “This next-generation display technology is enabled by a new light source, Quantum Mini LED,” Samsung stated. “At 1/40 the height of a conventional LED, the Quantum Mini LED has incredibly thin micro layers filled with many more LEDs.” The company claimed that this technology results in “perfect blacks and whites” on the display, which employs 2,048 dimming zones and enhanced 12-bit gradation for better light source control.
Overall, the Neo model retains many of the hallmark features from the standard Odyssey G9, which has been on the market for some time, including a 1000R screen curvature and a 32:9 aspect ratio. This year’s model also retains the unique glossy white finish on the backside of the original Odyssey G9 design. And like its predecessor, the Neo edition supports both AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync technologies for tear-free images when playing fast-paced games. The panel supports Display Port 1.4 and the new HDMI 2.1 standard, making it suitable to use with consoles as well as PC games. Both the new Odyssey Neo G9 and the standard Odyssey G9 support 240Hz refresh rates and fast 1ms response time.
The expansive digital canvas of the Odyssey Neo G9 makes this panel ideal for multitaskers who need more screen real estate to manage opened windows and applications. And compared to a multi-monitor setup, the extremely wide width of the Odyssey Neo G9 means that you won’t have to manage the cable clutter of connecting multiple displays together.
Samsung did not give a date for when the 49-inch monitor will start shipping, but preorders will go live on July 29. That said, the price to double the peak brightness on the panel is rather steep — while the Odyssey G9 currently retails for $1,599, the HDR2000-rated Neo model will come in at a $900 premium. Samsung said that the Odyssey Neo G9 is priced at $2,499. However, if you order early, you’ll also get a free JBL Quantum One headset valued at $299 while supplies last.
Flash back almost exactly a year to the day. I was sitting in a half-built demo area playing on a Samsung prototype gaming monitor. The company had loaded up Lies of P — one of my favorite games of last year — and I was proceeding through a midgame Mad Clown Puppet mini-boss. It wasn’t just standard gameplay, though. It was glasses-free 3D, and it worked well enough that I was able to play a game as difficult as Lies of P amid construction noise and blinding lights without breaking a sweat. At CES 2025, Samsung is turning that prototype into a real product with the Odyssey 3D.
Ahead of CES 2025, Samsung has announced its first OLED monitor not explicitly targeted at PC gamers. The Smart Monitor M90SF has an OLED — a first for these devices — bringing the love from the Odyssey gaming line more toward the mainstream demographic. It’s a big deal for those hoping to engage in HDR content, both in terms of creating it and consuming it. It makes sense, too, as the Smart Monitor M9 is built to be an entertainment hub. Like previous models, such as the Smart Monitor M80B, the M9 doesn’t require being connected to a PC to run content on it — like a little television right on your desk. It has Samsung TV Plus, Samsung Game Hub, and pretty much every streaming app you could want — along with a remote for convenient controls.
Samsung is working hard to attract Galaxy device owners to visit and download apps from the Galaxy Store, its own app store, which rivals Google’s Play Store and is pre-installed on all certified Android phones. To do this, Samsung has announced the arrival of Netflix and an exclusive incentive to download it — a special Samsung-only look at the forthcoming Squid Game season 2 Netflix series. Visit the Galaxy Store and an “exclusive, never-before-seen clip” from Squid Game season 2 will be yours, which is said to provide a “darker, twisted look into the storyline for the upcoming season, and is only available on the Galaxy Store.” You’ll have to be quick to see it, though, as the clip expires on December 26, when Squid Game season 2 premiers on Netflix.
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