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Samsung Odyssey G9 Neo QLED preorders start July 29 for $2,500

The company has released the details of its eagerly anticipated gaming monitor.

Lori Grunin Senior Editor / Advice
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
Expertise Photography, PCs and laptops, gaming and gaming accessories
Lori Grunin
2 min read
samsung-odyssey-g9-neo-qled-s49ag950nm
Samsung

Whither Samsung's mainstream TVs go, its monitors are bound to follow. In this case, Samsung's updated 49-inch curved Odyssey G9 gaming monitor (model G95NA), teased earlier this year, features its Quantum HDR 2000 with a typical peak brightness of 2,000 nits and is the first to incorporate the company's new Neo QLED screens. You can preorder it starting July 29 for $2,500, about the same as the price of its 1,000-nit predecessor, and it begins shipping Aug. 9.

Neo QLED is Samsung's brand line name for its Quantum Mini-LED-based local-dimming backlight, which boosts brightness and offers more precise control over pixel-by-pixel illumination. The G9 has 2,048 zones, which is a good number given the size of the display (by the math, each zone is about 0.3 square inch or 2 square cm). 

The monitor also uses Samsung's Quantum Matrix technology, which helps focus the LED light more accurately. According to the company, that means it delivers better HDR highlights with minimal blooming -- stray illumination that bleeds from bright into dark areas -- better shadow detail and a minimum black level of 0.0004 nits for improved contrast. 

Gamers still get a 240Hz refresh rate with 1ms gray-to-gray pixel response, but now the monitor includes two HDMI 2.1 ports -- it loses one of the DisplayPort connections in favor of being able to connect to a PC and a console -- and FreeSync Premium Pro/G-Sync Compatible adaptive refresh. 

For the day-to-day, it keeps the same 5,120x1,440-pixel resolution, which means a usable pixel density of about 109ppi and a typical brightness of 420 nits -- higher than your average work monitor.

In most other respects It's the same housing and design as the previous model, including the lighting, the tilt-and-swivel (but not height-adjusting) stand, the 100x100 VESA mount and 1000R curvature.