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Response, Input Lag, Viewing Angles and Uniformity

It was hard to find five other ultra-wide monitors that weren’t OLEDs to compare with the Odyssey G7. They are Titan Army’s C34A1R, Gigabyte’s G34WQCP and GS34WQC, Xiaomi’s G34WQi, and HP’s Omen 34c.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

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Samsung Odyssey G7 S40FG75 — (Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

180 Hz doesn’t seem to be quicker than 165 Hz in the response test. 6ms is plenty fast, and it will deliver motion that is almost free of blur. Add in the overdrive and you’ll get a smooth experience from any of these screens. The Odyssey G7 has excellent video processing, but it cannot use Adaptive-Sync and overdrive simultaneously.

In the input lag test, the Odyssey G7 is up with the top panels at 23ms total. This is respectable for any monitor running below 200 Hz. You can spend more money for more Hertz and get a marginal gain, but in practice, the difference between 23 and 20ms is nearly imperceptible. To mitigate the loss of Adaptive-Sync when the overdrive is engaged, a faster system is key, so you can keep the frame rate maxed.

Test Takeaway: Aside from the inability to run overdrive and Adaptive-Sync together, the Odyssey G7 delivers excellent video processing and very quick response. The OD effectively eliminates motion blur, and the play experience is very smooth. Input lag is lower than most of the ultra-wides I’ve tested, making this Samsung one of the fastest in its class.

Viewing Angles

The Odyssey G7 is one of the better VA panels I’ve photographed for the viewing angle test. You can see a slight red shift at 45 degrees to the side, but light output stays consistent while gamma gets a tad lighter. From the top, gamma is much lighter, and the red shift is more obvious. This is excellent performance.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

I noted slightly visible hotspots in the corners of my Odyssey G7 sample. They didn’t affect actual content, and they weren’t visible in test patterns above zero percent brightness. I’ve noted a greater range of results in this test among ultra-wide curved panels so the Odyssey G7’s is typical.

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Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.