Samsung Introduces 1000R Curvature With 2020 Gaming Monitor Trio

By Niels Broekhuijsen
last updated

The Samsung Odyssey lineup will arrive in 49-inch ultrawide, 27-inch and 32-inch flavors.

Samsung Odyssey G9 49-inch 1000R monitor.  (Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

With the CES tech show kicking off in Las Vegas next week, Samsung has decided to jump the gun and unveil today three new gaming monitors that are so curvy they'll make Pac-Mac jealous.

Each feature a 1000R curvature, and Samsung claimed these are the first "high-performance" 1000R monitors. The vendor believes such displays have "a curve optimizing the human eye's natural field of view," which it also pegs as having a 1000R curve.

Leading the Pack: A 49-Inch, 240Hz Ultrawide

Samsung Odyssey G9 49-inch 1000R monitor. (Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Samsung likes showing off what it can do, which is why the star of the show here is the Odyssey G9: a huge, 49-inch ultrawide display with an impressive 5120 x 1440 resolution. Samsung used a VA panel with an incredibly tight 1000R curvature for a super-immersive experience. 

There is also HDR support with a peak brightness of 1.000 nits thanks to the use of backlighting with local dimming in Samsung's Quantum Dot tech. 

(Image credit: Samsung)

However, it wouldn't be complete as a gaming monitor without a high refresh rate. This display has a 1ms response time and 240Hz refresh rate. That's also where things get a little confusing though, as neither the DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.0 standards have the bandwidth required for pushing 7.4 million pixels at 240Hz.  Given that Samsung specified that its new displays will have DisplayPort 1.4 along with G-Sync and Adaptive-Sync compatibility, we're curious how the 240Hz refresh rate will come to life without making any compromises. Our best guess is that HDMI 2.1 will solve the problem; however, there are no graphics cards yet that support the standard.

Samsung G7: QHD for the Masses

(Image credit: Samsung)

The G7 series Samsung is introducing features a similar design, but comes at a more modest resolution of 2560 x 1440. They'll be available in two sizes -- 27-inch and 32-inch --  and are both VESA DisplayHDR 600-certified on their QLED VA panels.

The three displays will be available at the start of Q2 2020. Hopefully, we'll learn more about the Odyssey G9 and G7, such as price info, when we head to CES next week. 

Samsung Odyssey Monitor Specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0 Odyssey G9 49-InchOdyssey G7 32-InchOdyssey G7 27-Inch
Resolution5120 x 14402560 x 14402560 x 1440
Panel TypeQLED VAQLED VAQLED VA
Refresh Rate240Hz240Hz240Hz
Curvature1000R1000R1000R
Peak Brightness1,000 cd/m2600 cd/m2600 cd/m2
HDR SupportDisplayHDR 1000DisplayHDR 600HDR 600
AvailabilityQ2 2020Q2 2020Q2 2020
Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • DookieDraws
    Please keep us updated on all the latest gaming monitor news. Very interested in an upgrade soon.

    Thanks, guys! And Happy New Year!
    Reply
  • AlistairAB
    more curved nonsense, can't wait until Samsung actually releases a decent flat monitor? a curved 27 inch is far inferior to a flat one
    Reply
  • Warsaw
    Well this sucks. I bought my C49RG9 this past year for $1,500 and it's 120hz. Didn't think they'd advance that quickly or else I would have waited. Especially since I can't even do 120hz with HDR on it! Have to drop to 100hz.
    Reply
  • PBme
    They are still doing the curve in a frustrating way. They are curving it all in the middle more than they are on the outer sections. The current model isn't nearly curved enough to keep the monitor an equal distance from your face at the edges as the middle. This looks like it will be better at that but is doing it by putting uneven distortion by curving even more in the middle instead of having an even curve across the space.
    Reply
  • PBme
    Warsaw said:
    Well this sucks. I bought my C49RG9 this past year for $1,500 and it's 120hz. Didn't think they'd advance that quickly or else I would have waited. Especially since I can't even do 120hz with HDR on it! Have to drop to 100hz.
    I sincerely doubt it is running at a real 240 hz, that is likely some overclock bs. But what it is probably going to do is utilize hdmi 2.1 or displayport 2.0 as the limitation on refresh rate is caused by the displayport 1.4 limitations at that resolution. Note that if this is the case, you'd have to wait until the new video cards come out as well.
    Reply
  • Nemesia
    Good luck doing 240 fps at that resolution even with the best GPU out there.
    Reply
  • Ninjawithagun
    Do these new monitors support mini LED display technology and/or do they use full array local dimming (FALD)?
    Reply
  • husker
    The designers appear to be confusing the ideal focal point of a parabolic satellite dish with the ideal focal point of vision. The parabolic curve of a satellite dish will reflect incoming signals to a focal point where the signal detector is located, which is great. However, this parabolic focal point is NOT ideal for viewing purposes, since, as pointed out by others, it has a lot more curve in the middle and less as you travel outward.
    Reply
  • PBme
    Ninjawithagun said:
    Do these new monitors support mini LED display technology and/or do they use full array local dimming (FALD)?
    No to the Mini LED, only multi-thousand dollar monitors (and TCL HDTV's) have that at these high-zone, mini-led backlights at the moment. The current version of these Samsungs use edge-lit zones that is about the same as not having any zones.
    Reply
  • CharlesVee
    AlistairAB said:
    more curved nonsense, can't wait until Samsung actually releases a decent flat monitor? a curved 27 inch is far inferior to a flat one

    There are plenty of good flat 27" monitors out there.

    Warsaw said:
    Well this sucks. I bought my C49RG9 this past year for $1,500 and it's 120hz. Didn't think they'd advance that quickly or else I would have waited. Especially since I can't even do 120hz with HDR on it! Have to drop to 100hz.

    Hahaha you think your eyes can even tell the difference between 240 or 120. You poor fool falling for the marketing hype. You're probably too young to remember that 30 used to be the standard and 60 is perfectly fine even today.
    Reply