What just happened? Samsung has unveiled details of two more massive monitors that will soon join its lineup of large displays, including what the company says is the world's first dual UHD (DUHD) gaming monitor: the 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9 and the 55-inch Odyssey ARK.
The new 57-inch Odyssey, which has the model number G95NC, boasts a massive 7,680 x 2,160 resolution, comparable to having two 32-inch 4K displays side by side.
The monitor comes with a 1,000R curve on its matte display and a blistering 240Hz refresh rate, the same specs as the 49-inch version. It uses Samsung's Quantum Matrix technology that powers the Mini LED lighting, offering smaller, more discreet dimming zones. Samsung says the result is sharp contrast and less blooming.
Elsewhere, the Neo G9 57-inch is Vesa DisplayHDR 1000 certified with 1,000-nits peak brightness, has a 1ms GtG response time, and comes with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. It also has features such as Core Lighting+ and CoreSync, as well as Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture modes.
Port-wise, the monitor boasts DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1, and a USB hub. Not surprisingly, the new Odyssey Neo G9 carries a hefty price tag: $2,499.99. It will be available for pre-order beginning at Gamescom 2023 and launches in the US this October.
Samsung first revealed the monitor at AMD's RDNA 3-reveal livestream last year. Scott Herkelman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Graphics Business Unit at AMD, said, "By bringing DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity to their premium gaming monitor, Samsung is opening new doors for gamers. More bandwidth, higher speeds and faster refresh rates provide new levels of performance and visual fidelity in games, and together the new Samsung displays and Radeon RX 7000 Series graphics cards will deliver the most vivid and immersive gaming experiences yet."
The second monitor Samsung announced is the upgraded 55-inch Odyssey Ark. It doesn't appear as if much has changed here; the 165Hz refresh rate, 1,000R curve, and 3,840 x 2,160 resolution all remain, as does the ability to spin the screen into portrait mode, of course.
Samsung says one of the added features in the new model is Samsung Multi View, which lets users see 4 inputs on screen at once. It also significantly enhances split-screen capabilities, apparently. The new Ark model also gets a KVM switch, which is always a useful feature in a monitor. No price has been announced, but the original Ark arrived with a frightening $3,500 MSRP.
The 2023 Odyssey Ark will be available for pre-order in September. It will be available in the US this October.
Another large monitor unveiled at Gamescom came from Philips. It showed off the 49M2C8900, a 48.9-inch Double-QHD (5,210 x 1,440) display with a 240Hz refresh rate. The display features a 10-bit QD-OLED panel with DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification (450 nits peak brightness).