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The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 is the fourth QD-OLED ultrawide we have checked out up to now, after the 2 Alienware fashions and the newly launched variant from MSI, so loads of attention-grabbing comparability knowledge to get to on this evaluate – plus a couple of uncommon findings.
The Odyssey OLED G8 makes use of the identical panel because the aforementioned 34-inch 3440 x 1440 QD-OLEDs we have reviewed up to now, so do not count on drastic variations in specs. The G8 provides the identical 175 Hz most refresh charge because the Alienware and MSI, in addition to different prime specs like a rated 0.03ms response time, 99% DCI-P3 protection and adaptive sync assist.
Samsung does not declare a 1,000 nit peak brightness ranking, although this can be a recognized efficiency attribute of this QD-OLED panel, so we’ll see how brilliant the G8 will get later.
This Samsung variant can be the costliest of the QD-OLED ultrawides launched up to now, priced at $1,500. That is $200 greater than Alienware’s AW3423DW and $400 greater than the DWF and MSI variants, so Samsung would wish to have some killer options and efficiency to justify this price ticket.
Options and Design
The Odyssey OLED G8 will get off to an amazing begin when assessing the design, one thing I lately criticized on the slightly ugly MSI 342C. This monitor is the exact opposite: it is the smallest, thinnest and sleekest wanting QD-OLED but.
The panel is built-in properly into the entrance with a small backside bezel strip, and the stand – which makes use of a mix of metallic and plastic – appears nice, could be very sturdy and does not take up a ton of desk area.
What impressed me probably the most was the minimalistic design and slim building. Whereas I just like the design of the Alienwares, the OLED G8 appears extra trendy and actually harnesses the thinness of the OLED panel.
The rear makes use of a mix of silver metallic and plastic, which match up moderately effectively regardless of being completely different supplies. It is also the quietest of those displays but, that includes no fan or a fan so silent it is irrelevant.
There are a few downsides to this design although. One is that the underside bezel appears prefer it has some form of protecting movie utilized, like how a whole lot of shiny components include a detachable plastic movie to guard it throughout delivery. Nonetheless once I tried to take away it, it turned obvious that it in all probability should not be eliminated. Do not make the identical mistake I did there!
The stand additionally solely helps top and tilt assist, with no swivel adjustment, though VESA mounting is supported.
Port selection poses a problem, too. For some motive, slightly than utilizing customary full sized ports that we have grow to be accustomed to throughout many displays, Samsung have opted for mini variations.
So this monitor consists of one mini-DisplayPort and one micro-HDMI port plus two USB-C ports, certainly one of which may additionally act as a show enter. The HDMI port is 2.1, which is sweet to see.
For lots of people this in all probability will not be an enormous deal, you will simply use the included 1.5m lengthy mini-DisplayPort to full-sized DisplayPort cable and plug it straight into your GPU. My problem is that discovering top quality mini-DP or micro-HDMI cables is more durable and/or dearer than for regular cables, particularly for those who want a protracted cable like 3 or 5 meters.
It additionally implies that for those who’ve already purchased a high quality DisplayPort cable, you may’t use it with the G8 until you get an adapter (which can be of questionable high quality). And that is for no good motive, because the Odyssey OLED G8 is giant sufficient to suit regular sized ports.
Certain, embody the small variations, too, if you wish to give patrons the choice of a modern, skinny cable look, however for a PC monitor, full sized ports are the first approach to go.
An attention-grabbing and distinctive side of this monitor is that it options full good performance, just like a wise TV. Not like the overwhelming majority of gaming displays that simply act like a dumb show with inputs, the OLED G8 is internet-connected, and might run numerous apps like Netflix, YouTube and Disney+, and helps different options enabled by the chip’s processing capabilities.
That is uncommon to see as the first use case for a show like that is gaming, particularly PC gaming, the place the enter system itself (like a PC or recreation console) can run these kinds of apps completely wonderful and sometimes with sooner, simpler enter entry than the included distant.
I do not suppose it is a unhealthy factor to have built-in app assist, although, however I believe a big chunk of patrons will not discover this handy.
What may need made app assist extra helpful is that if it enabled superior HDR format playback like Dolby Imaginative and prescient, which is not accessible via PC, however the G8 does not assist Dolby Imaginative and prescient. Nonetheless, the advantages of a extra superior OSD is that there is a way more intensive vary of settings with fewer restrictions, it helps firmware updates over the web, it helps Bluetooth performance like Bluetooth audio system, and it is easy to make use of.
Actually the extent of software program options is much forward of its opponents and for those who particularly wished issues like native app assist, there is no such thing as a different QD-OLED ultrawide that provides this.
Display screen Coating, Subpixel Structure, Burn In
Because the Odyssey OLED G8 OLED makes use of the identical panel as different 34-inch QD-OLEDs, those who have learn different critiques will likely be very conversant in among the points surrounding the coating and subpixel construction of this QD-OLED panel.
In the event you had been hoping that the Samsung variant would higher deal with reflections or lower down a bit on ambient gentle reflectivity, this isn’t the case, it appears basically equivalent to the Alienware and MSI fashions.
In the event you’re not conversant in coating, here’s a fast abstract: The QD-OLED panel’s coating is shiny and lacks a polarizer so it might probably replicate fairly a little bit of ambient gentle, relying on the situations.
In a normal indoor viewing setting with synthetic gentle, or in a sunlit room, blacks can seem gray or raised as a consequence of a few of this gentle being mirrored off the panel. That is not like a shiny LG OLED which seems a lot blacker even with ambient gentle within the room.
This ambient reflectivity is exacerbated when there’s extra gentle in entrance of the panel, however is not as problematic when lighting is simply behind the show, and it is a non problem in dimly lit or darkish rooms. This could hamper the deep wealthy OLED expertise in some viewing situations: OLEDs are well-known for his or her black ranges, however with the 342C you will must have an optimized setup to get probably the most out of it.
It is actually laborious to say whether or not this will likely be a problem for you as it may be a case by case foundation. Personally I do discover it annoying and one of many bigger points with these first era QD-OLED panels, however for those who primarily recreation at evening it isn’t anyplace close to as a lot of a priority. On the very least it is one thing to pay attention to.
As for the subpixel construction, it isn’t perfect for desktop productiveness use. The QD-OLED panel makes use of a triangle RGB structure as a substitute of the normal RGB stripe, which may trigger fringing on some excessive distinction edges resembling textual content. This isn’t simply fixable with software program corrections.
Some individuals do not discover this problem, however others together with myself discovered it moderately apparent, particularly subsequent to a traditional LCD. This reduces the crispness and readability of textual content in some conditions, however is a whole non problem for content material consumption, like gaming or watching movies.
OLEDs typically aren’t nice displays for desktop utilization, productiveness apps, and internet searching anyway as a result of they’re inclined to everlasting burn in – so the subpixel problem will not be of big concern in case you are utilizing this monitor as supposed for content material consumption. However for those who do plan on utilizing it for productiveness work, you will not solely must issue within the danger of burn in into your shopping for choice, however the suboptimal subpixel structure as effectively.
As for burn in guarantee, Samsung don’t make any particular claims about burn in protection, and their guarantee coverage varies between nations. It is a important weak spot as their most important opponents provide 3 12 months warranties that embody burn-in protection. That is fairly disappointing given the OLED G8 can be the costliest of those shows launched up to now, you’d suppose that at a premium worth of $1,500 you would be getting premium guarantee assist, however that is not the case.
Show Efficiency
When it comes to response time efficiency, it is no shock to see this QD-OLED panel providing lightning quick speeds, just like different QD-OLEDs we have examined. At its most 175Hz refresh charge, we’re seeing a 0.3ms common response which is extraordinarily quick and that results in very clear movement for this form of refresh charge.
With no noticeable inverse ghosting, the OLED G8 is pretty much as good because the AW3423DW for movement readability, and much superior to any LCD on the identical refresh charge. Cumulative deviation is astonishingly low at simply 44.
The perfect a part of how OLEDs operate is that efficiency is mainly equivalent in any respect refresh charges. This implies whether or not we’re testing at 175Hz or 60Hz, we’re nonetheless seeing a few 0.3ms response time common.
LCDs sometimes get slower because the refresh charge decreases however this is not the case right here, so the G8 OLED provides a single overdrive mode expertise – with none overdrive settings after all, as they don’t seem to be required for an OLED.
There isn’t any distinction in response time efficiency between the OLED G8 and different OLED displays. The one distinction for movement readability on the most refresh charge is the max refresh itself.
The OLED G8 has a superb 175Hz refresh charge, so it is going to be clearer than one thing just like the LG C2 at 120Hz, nevertheless it’s solely a negligible distinction versus the AW3423DWF at 165Hz. Nonetheless the 240Hz displays on this chart, such because the Corsair Xeneon Flex and LG 27GR95QE, do have superior readability as there’s much less pattern and maintain movement blur at the next refresh charge like 240Hz.
The place the massive distinction lies is between OLED and LCD. The OLED G8 is far sooner than the quickest LCD I’ve examined, permitting a 175Hz OLED to ship an identical expertise to a 240Hz LCD when it comes to total movement readability.
It is a huge win for OLED, and it solely will get higher when taking a look at common efficiency. Whereas LCDs do get a bit slower at decrease refresh charges, OLEDs do not, so the hole between OLED and LCD grows. Right here the G8 is round 10x sooner than among the highest finish LCDs in the marketplace at this time.
It is also good to verify glorious cumulative deviation outcomes, although no completely different from most different OLEDs. As anticipated this actually is similar panel that delivers the identical movement efficiency as different QD-OLED ultrawides.
Enter lag is great. The three non-G-Sync QD-OLEDs I’ve examined all have roughly the identical enter lag at 175Hz, that means that even with a special and extra highly effective processor that does extra issues, the OLED G8 is simply as responsive to make use of within the recreation mode because the Alienware DWF and MSI 342C fashions.
The G8 is a very quick product to make use of, whereas the one monitor that lags behind is the Alienware DW mannequin. There’s additionally no distinction between SDR and HDR enter latency.
Energy consumption is just like different QD-OLEDs that I’ve examined, coming in round 100W for a full display screen white 200 nit picture. Nonetheless this can be a worst case state of affairs for OLEDs, so whereas energy consumption can prime out round 125W for HDR content material, typical utilization is quite a bit decrease. For instance, watching a video at 200 nits full display screen used round 50W of energy.
Shade Efficiency
For colour efficiency, the OLED G8 is a large gamut monitor with fairly excessive colour area protection. We get 99.4% protection of DCI-P3, plus 97.1% protection of Adobe RGB which is sweet – although this is not actually a product appropriate for colour important productiveness work.
Shade Area: Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 – D65-P3
In complete we get 80.6% protection of Rec.2020 which is among the many widest gamuts I’ve examined, although just like different QD-OLEDs. This offers a pleasant vary colours that can be utilized whereas HDR gaming.
Default Shade Efficiency
The G8 is the most effective of the 4 QD-OLEDs when it comes to colour accuracy and colour efficiency capabilities. From the manufacturing facility my unit had nice grayscale efficiency, above common for a gaming monitor with a deltaE ITP of simply 3.6 and glorious white stability. The monitor does ship and not using a gamut clamp enabled by default, so SDR content material like YouTube movies will likely be oversaturated for those who do not regulate any settings, resulting in poor delta Es.
When in comparison with different displays the OLED G8 is a category chief for manufacturing facility greyscale calibration. ColorChecker is much less strong, although just like different QD-OLEDs and plenty of vast gamut gaming shows.
sRGB Mode Shade Efficiency
What separates the OLED G8 from the pack is its big selection of colour controls with few restrictions. There’s not likely an sRGB mode for instance, however you may change the colour area of the monitor by way of a setting – switching this to Auto for the SDR mode clamps the gamut to sRGB.
With solely altering this one setting, we get glorious efficiency for SDR sRGB content material. Greyscale efficiency continues to be nice, however now the colour gamut sticks to sRGB, we get no oversaturation and delta Es are excellent at under 5.0 for deltaE ITP in ColorChecker. This result’s pretty much as good as what we see from the Alienware AW3423DWF’s sRGB mode, and higher than the opposite choices.
OSD Tweaked Shade Efficiency
However the G8 has an additional trick up its sleeve which is that not one of the different colour settings are restricted when the Shade Area is ready to Auto. This implies we are able to regulate white stability utilizing the 2-point white stability controls, and use all the opposite settings.
A number of small tweaks can additional enhance efficiency and mainly negate the necessity for a software program calibration, and it is simply really easy to change between the sRGB and vast gamut modes. Individuals who desire a colour correct expertise will love this – and it even helps Samsung’s telephone app primarily based calibration methodology.
Calibrated Shade Efficiency
The one motive you’d wish to calibrate the show additional is for vast gamut work, delta Es cannot actually be improved for sRGB via Calman, however for P3 I received a small enchancment. It is in all probability not price doing, I would just stick to some OSD changes and name it a day.
Most brightness within the SDR mode is equivalent to different QD-OLEDs. There isn’t any automated brightness limiter or ABL enabled, so brightness on this mode is not going to change relying on window measurement, which ends up in an amazing, constant expertise for desktop apps. Nonetheless peak brightness is under common at simply 243 nits, not as unhealthy as WOLED panels, nevertheless it hardly will get very brilliant. With that mentioned I discover 200 nits ample for indoor desktop use, it is solely in brighter environments the place this might not be sufficient.
Additionally I ought to word there’s a setting within the OSD known as Peak Brightness. Within the SDR mode I would suggest preserving this off, which is the default expertise and results in 240 nits of brightness. In the event you set it to the Excessive setting, you will achieve an additional 15 nits or so, nevertheless it completely destroys gamma efficiency, which is not price it for such a small achieve to brightness. Nonetheless for HDR utilization, I would suggest setting it to Excessive.
Minimal brightness was weaker than anticipated at 68 nits, a little bit of a shock contemplating the opposite choices can push right down to under 30 nits. Distinction is excellent although, as like with different OLEDs this monitor is able to switching off pixels to point out black, resulting in zero black ranges and an successfully infinite distinction ratio.
Viewing angles are excellent from QD-OLED panels, so you will not have any points with colour shifting or tint when considered from off angles.
The one concern could be the curve lowering the visibility of your complete display screen, although 1800R is sweet for gaming at this form of measurement and side ratio. Uniformity was nice as effectively, persevering with a development of those QD-OLED panels delivering a pleasant and constant expertise.
HDR Efficiency
A key promoting level to getting an OLED show is for its HDR efficiency, which is leagues forward of nearly all of LCD displays that publicize HDR performance.
Not like these LCDs, OLEDs have true HDR {hardware} capabilities, which ends up in an evening and day distinction when it comes to actual world HDR picture high quality. Significantly the distinction is so huge between an OLED for HDR, and a DisplayHDR 400 LCD monitor for HDR, that you simply’d suppose the LCD monitor was fully damaged.
The primary benefit OLEDs have is they’re self-lit. This implies every pixel can individually illuminate itself for excellent HDR picture high quality. LCDs must depend on a backlight to operate, and most true HDR LCDs then use dimming zones to attain the excessive ranges of distinction required for HDR. Even good full array domestically dimmed LCDs with 2000+ zones do not look as gorgeous because the efficient 5 million zones the OLED G8 offers.
The benefit this has for picture high quality does differ relying on the content material, however OLEDs merely don’t endure from blooming or haloing round brilliant objects, which you’ll be able to expertise on a mini-LED LCD, particularly if the zone depend is inadequate. Now, there are good HDR LCDs on the market, however even the most effective wrestle with wonderful HDR particulars like starfields or Christmas lights, and the worst panels with only some zones look downright horrible. No such points with an OLED panel like this, which appears good in all situations.
OLEDs even have an enormous benefit over LCDs for black ranges and distinction normally. In probably the most tough eventualities a superb LCD might prime out with a distinction ratio round 20,000:1 which is certainly excellent, however the OLED has a straightforward one up with an successfully infinite distinction ratio and true zero-level blacks. The large energy of OLED is due to this fact in darker scenes with a number of shadow element, the place OLEDs can get astonishingly darkish when considered in a dimly lit room.
The trade-off, as all the time, is brightness. The OLED G8 has successfully equivalent brightness to different QD-OLED displays, however this is not particularly brilliant. Full display screen brightness tops out at simply 250 nits, roughly the identical because the SDR mode, whereas 10% window brightness is simply 450 nits or so, decrease than most different show applied sciences.
It is actually just for smaller parts that this QD-OLED panel is able to hitting excessive ranges of brightness, for instance we get 750 nits at a 5% measurement and 970 nits at a 2% measurement. This undoubtedly provides the G8 the capabilities to point out dazzling brilliant highlights, but when giant parts of the display screen are brilliant then this monitor is not particularly brilliant relative to others.
It is no shock then to see combined actual world scene brightness outcomes. When viewing our YouTube video pattern, the G8 was very weak at simply 316 nits which was round 100 nits decrease than the most effective QD-OLED I’ve examined. Nonetheless, in our film pattern, the G8 was nice, hitting 848 nits, the brightest consequence recorded but and just like the AW3423DW. For gaming I used to be additionally capable of hit round 1000 nits, confirming that this display screen is able to 1000 nits whereas gaming.
Nonetheless, and this can be a large caveat to this monitor, all the testing seen up to now is simply legitimate for these gaming on an Nvidia GPU – an enter system that does not use the FreeSync Premium Professional pipeline. In the event you noticed our current video on the AW3423DWF’s firmware replace, I found that monitor had completely different HDR efficiency whether or not you had been utilizing it on an AMD or Nvidia GPU. That is additionally the case for the OLED G8, to a extra substantial diploma.
Nvidia GPU
On an Nvidia GPU, utilizing the Superior HDR10+ Gaming setting, and setting Peak Brightness to Excessive, I used to be routinely capable of hit 1000 nits for small window sizes like 2%. Accuracy was good, although as we moved to bigger window sizes, particularly 25%, the roll-off traits received worse and fewer correct. Nonetheless, on an Nvidia GPU, 1000 nits is achievable and EOTF accuracy is nice, pretty much as good because the AW3423DW.
AMD GPU
On an AMD GPU, utilizing the very same settings (and certainly any setting mixture I attempted), absolutely the most brightness I may obtain was round 450 nits, even at a 2% window measurement. There should not be any distinction, however there may be.
On AMD GPUs the “Sport HDR” setting is greyed out, whereas on Nvidia that choice is offered, however when really testing Nvidia efficiency I didn’t allow that setting and located it to scale back accuracy. Clearly this show is tuned in another way relying on what kind of HDR pipeline is getting used, and for no matter motive 1,000 nit efficiency is restricted on AMD GPUs – weird given this isn’t a G-Sync product, it is really solely branded as AMD FreeSync.
AMD house owners do have a bonus in that HDR accuracy is quite a bit higher at bigger window sizes like 25%, however with out 1,000 nit capabilities it’s totally laborious to suggest – when you have an AMD GPU, one of many different QD-OLEDs will likely be a more sensible choice.
What is not tremendous correct on both model is HDR colour accuracy, normally this monitor is oversaturated within the HDR mode, regardless of having a large colour gamut. This may be corrected although, by switching colour area to auto, and lowering the “colour” setting to round 18. On my unit this considerably improved HDR colour accuracy and for Nvidia GPU house owners this was a very nice expertise.
HUB Necessities Guidelines
Samsung sails via the primary two sections of our Necessities Guidelines with no points, together with an sRGB mode with no limitations, and correct manufacturing facility calibration. They do promote 0.03ms response occasions which is not correct for this product and inflates the distinction between the most effective LCDs and OLEDs, however movement efficiency is nice so this is not a major problem.
The OLED G8 additionally does assist backlight strobing, nonetheless it is solely restricted to 60Hz and at a 16:9 side ratio so it is virtually unusable and never price mentioning.
It is a true HDR product with no points in its HDR efficiency. Nonetheless, it does use a triangle RGB subpixel structure, it’s prone to everlasting burn in, and has bizarre efficiency with AMD GPUs. Fortunately firmware updates are supported, so there may be some hope the AMD efficiency issues will be resolved.
What We Discovered
The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 is probably the most attention-grabbing of the QD-OLED releases we have seen after the launch of the Alienware AW3423DW. Samsung have made a transparent effort to make the Odyssey OLED G8 stand out from the group, together with distinctive options which are solely discovered on this monitor. The general efficiency could be very enticing, giving us the identical unbelievable HDR gaming expertise we have seen from its opponents.
Like different QD-OLEDs, the massive strengths lie with movement efficiency and HDR. At 175Hz and with response occasions within the 0.3ms vary, this can be a quick, clear show for gaming with few if any artifacts. The velocity on provide is equal to a 240Hz LCD, proving as soon as once more that OLED is the higher expertise in the marketplace at this time for movement. It is not the quickest OLED we’ve got, however I believe most individuals will likely be delighted with how the OLED G8 video games.
HDR efficiency is strong when run in the best situations, delivering equal efficiency to different QD-OLEDs. This implies deep zero-level blacks, per pixel native dimming which ends up in no blooming or haloing, glorious shadow high quality, and respectable peak brightness within the 1,000 nit vary.
Brightness is not an enormous energy of this monitor, particularly for desktop SDR utilization, nevertheless it’s ample for HDR and companions effectively with its glorious black ranges. HDR accuracy can be fairly good and it might probably obtain 1000 nits with out sacrificing mid-tones.
I used to be additionally impressed with the manufacturing facility calibration of the OLED G8 and its colour settings. There’s few limitations, there’s an amazing sRGB mode and little must be tweaked out of the field.
That is probably the most correct QD-OLED ultrawide but and the best to configure. Nonetheless it isn’t particularly effectively suited to productiveness work, as a consequence of its non-standard subpixel structure which impacts textual content readability, and its danger of everlasting burn in with no burn in guarantee.
Probably the most distinctive function to this monitor is its good TV performance, which is likely to be helpful to some, however I do not suppose is particularly compelling for PC players. Dolby Imaginative and prescient assist actually would have added to the bundle, however I do not suppose good features are a destructive both, because it permits the wonderful colour options and helps firmware updates over the web.
I used to be additionally fairly impressed with the design, it is modern and slim which appears nice, plus it is silent throughout operation.
The most important downside to the OLED G8 is that it isn’t a superb monitor for AMD GPU house owners, as 1,000 nits shouldn’t be achievable via that HDR pipeline for no matter motive. It is a non-issue when you have an Nvidia GPU, nevertheless it’s regarding to see a couple of displays now the place efficiency and settings don’t behave the identical on completely different GPUs. This isn’t in any respect what patrons would count on, so it actually must be tightened up such that every one HDR enter gadgets get to entry the complete brightness capabilities precisely.
Apart from this, there are the standard issues over the poor display screen coating with this QD-OLED panel, plus the annoyance of solely utilizing mini variations of all of the show inputs.
The large query mark in any case this testing and evaluation is whether or not this monitor is price $1,500 – $200 greater than the Alienware AW3423DW and $400 greater than the AW3423DWF and MSI 342C. That is a hefty premium – particularly when Samsung does not even give a agency assure that burn in is roofed below guarantee.
The large premium is tough to justify, as the basic points to its efficiency are just like different QD-OLEDs, it is the identical panel in any case. However I undoubtedly really feel {that a} smaller premium may very well be justified, as this Samsung monitor has distinctive options and class-leading efficiency in some areas, like its glorious accuracy, good TV stuff, superior design, low enter lag and silent operation.
Relying on what you are after, plenty of these options could also be price paying further for – personally the accuracy, firmware updates and no fan noise make this extremely interesting over the AW3423DW in a face to face battle. It usually occurs that Samsung and different show makers low cost their new fashions a couple of months post-launch. If that occurs, this can be a actually strong QD-OLED providing.
Purchasing Shortcuts:
- Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 on Amazon
- Alienware AW3423DW 34″ QD-OLED on Amazon
- LG C2 42″ OLED TV on Amazon
- Corsair Xeneon Flex on Amazon
- Asus ROG Swift PG42UQ on Amazon
- Alienware AW3423DWF 34″ QD-OLED on Dell
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