Samsung Electronics has announced the availability of its first 49-inch QD-OLED monitor with a 240Hz panel, priced at around £2,000 in the U.K., $2,200 in the U.S. and €2,200 in Europe.
The company first showcased the Samsung Odyssey G9 at CES 2023, as one of the first products to use Samsung Display’s new QD-OLED panel sizes. Last year, it announced it would be making 49-inch and 77-inch panels, in addition to its existing 34-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch sizes.
The Samsung Odyssey G9 is a 49-inch ultrawide QD-OLED monitor for gamers, and comes with a 240Hz refresh rate and claimed 0.03ms response time, as opposed to the 0.1ms response time quoted at CES in January. Those numbers suggest excellent motion clarity.
The display boasts a 32:9 aspect ratio and a fairly subtle 1800R curvature, plus per-pixel dimming to deliver excellent HDR performance, with freedom from halos and blooming. Other capabilities powered by QD-OLED include true blacks and a near infinite contrast ratio, Samsung said. It’s also certified under the VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black scheme.
On the display, users will find connectivity options such as DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, mini HDMI 2.1 and two USB ports. The stand provides height and tilt adjustments and the display integrates two 5 watt speakers.
As an added incentive, the display comes with streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video built in, making it possible to act like a TV without accessing content through a PC. It also has the Samsung Gaming Hub, which enables video game streaming from Xbox and Nvidia’s GeForce Now, without a console.
The Samsung Odyssey G9 will compete with LG Electronics’ 45-inch ultrawide 45GR95QE OLED monitor, which retails at just $1,700 in the U.S. and also claims a 0.03ms response time.
“Building on the success of Odyssey OLED G8 (G85SB), the new monitor joins the lineup to open a new era of OLED gaming,” Samsung said in a statement. “Measuring 49 inches in size with a 1800R curvature, the Odyssey OLED G9 is the first OLED monitor to offer Dual Quad High Definition (DQHD; 5,120 x 1,440) resolution with a 32:9 ratio.”
The display will also go head to head with 49-inch QD-OLED monitors from Asus and MSI, which are also expected to launch soon. The Odyssey G9 will ship on June 26 in the U.S and elsewhere by the third quarter, but can be pre-ordered now.
