Samsung Odyssey 1440p VA monitors 240hz curved

Haha, thanks jbltecnicspro & Absalom, I appreciate it. I can assure anyone reading this that I have no skin in the game and am merely just giving the community a heads up on a potential issue to look out for should anyone decide to buy this panel. I'm a filthy casual who is far from a hardcore enthusiast, and my tech prowess is mediocre at best. I'll try to explain the issue I had in a bit more detail incase it is of any help to other users:

It is so subtle that you wouldn't really notice it unless you were looking for it; I actually didn't notice it for the first 8 or so hours that I used the monitor. My MS-Paint picture is a rudimentary representation of how it looks to me when the monitor is OFF. The phenomenon is somewhat hard to describe... When on, I wouldn't say that the pixels within the grey rectangular portion in my drawing appear any differently in color than the rest of the pixels on the panel... instead, the best way I could describe it would be a subtle distortion. It's a shift in texture rather than color; there arn't actually two vertical lines that form the sides of the grey rectangle that I drew, but the shift in texture caused me to visually perceive these two areas as a distortion taking the rough form of a vertical line going down the panel. When the monitor is ON, I cannot actually distinguish anything besides an extremely subtle distortion where the vertical lines that form the sides of the rectangle are; the area between them looks completely normal and unchanged in texture.

Comixbooks, In games, I was only able to notice this distortion when looking for it specifically or when there was a brightly lit area being depicted on-screen (think, a sunny sky or sun coming through cloud). It is extremely subtle and honestly something that is super liveable-with, I just personally didn't feel like living with it given the pricepoint of the monitor. With the monitor off, though, it was readily apparent; it took the BestBuy employee conducting my return only a single glance to recognize it when I told her where to look and what she was looking for after pulling it out of the box.

It is almost as if some internal rectangular component of the panel was ever so slightly showing through from inside the monitor. It seemed too symmetric, centered, and not random to be a one-off defect to me (unless the defect is infact the outter surface of my monitor being out of spec opacity-wise / too transparent). Personally, I never perceived it as a defect, it struck me as more likely to be an aspect of the panel that was overlooked. I'd be curious to see an engineering diagram of the panel; it wouldn't surprise me to see a large vertical rectangular component in the same exact place as where I'm perceiving this artifact to be. Of course, that is my own uneducated opinion and my sample size is but one. Nonetheless, that is why I did not bother arranging an exchange or replacement. If there are panels shipping without this issue; that is awesome, because it's an amazing screen and I enjoyed it thoroughly (a LOT!) otherwise. I likely would've kept it if it weren't for this issue; I put about 18 hours of use on it and really enjoyed it! The only other reason that that I would've returned it is because I simply am not really able to take advantage of the 240hz refresh rate due to the games I play and my current hardware. I'm sporting a 2080 Ti + Ryzen 3900X and only able to achieve about ~140 fps average in COD: Warzone with the panel at it's native 2K resolution. Warzone is the only game I play these days, and there are other 144hz / 165hz options in the 27" / 2K variety that would meet my needs at a lower pricepoint.

It's an awesome panel, but I wanted to give people a heads up about the possible issue all the same.
 
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He also posted a video on the flickering issue. Which is the only issue I have with this monitor. I have the 32" version and I get the brightness flicker in certain games even though my fps is within the VRR range. I still have 14 days to return to amazon for refund/replacement but they don't have any 32" in stock.
This monitor hit all the sweet spots for me but that flickering issue is killing it.

Another issue is with PS4 Pro I have it hooked up to hdmi cause I like to use monitor for both pc and ps4 if I do the 4k res I get really bad color banding in games like Ghost of Tsushima but if I switch it to 1080p it’s fine probably a firmware thing or ps4 pro thing but that’s another issue I’m having as well.




32 inch version
 
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He also posted a video on the flickering issue. Which is the only issue I have with this monitor. I have the 32" version and I get the brightness flicker in certain games even though my fps is within the VRR range. I still have 14 days to return to amazon for refund/replacement but they don't have any 32" in stock.
This monitor hit all the sweet spots for me but that flickering issue is killing it.

Another issue is with PS4 Pro I have it hooked up to hdmi cause I like to use monitor for both pc and ps4 if I do the 4k res I get really bad color banding in games like Ghost of Tsushima but if I switch it to 1080p it’s fine probably a firmware thing or ps4 pro thing but that’s another issue I’m having as well.


Linus acknowledged the flickering issue in his "non-sponsored" review of the G9. Yeah this is the G7 thread, but both are based on the same panel family. Regardless, the issue is described the same in either case. To me, this issue is starting to look like a design issue (speculation at best). At first I was starting to think this was typical "not-quite-gsync-compatible" shoveling, but according to that guy, the issue is present regardless of sync technology used. That tends to demonstrate this issue is present and not going away on its own.

Hopefully for those who are already invested, Samsung acknowledges the issue soon'ish, as well as offering a painless fix.
 
I've noticed some slight flickering (usually only noticeable on black shadows) when using VA panels and VRR.

It is not that annoying. I mean it would be better without it, but I typically cannot see it unless I look for it.

Not sure if that is the same issue with the G7.
 
Seriously? The response times are no different between the different overdrive modes...

But now, this is not surprising. Lots of discrepancies between reviews. Looks like the Samsung panel lottery is back in full force. Better pray you get a good one!
https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/i3bkvf/tim_from_hardware_unboxed_response_to_their/

Lol so first you say HUB's measurements are not to be trusted because RTINGS was showing different results from them...but now RTINGS is the one with strange results? Ok then. Of course this monitor itself could just have a ridiculous panel variation as that's always been the case with gaming LCDs, so yeah that's more likely the case.
 
Lol so first you say HUB's measurements are not to be trusted because RTINGS was showing different results from them...but now RTINGS is the one with strange results? Ok then. Of course this monitor itself could just have a ridiculous panel variation as that's always been the case with gaming LCDs, so yeah that's more likely the case.

It can be both. Both cannot be trusted if the panel variance is this bad. Yes, there's always variance but the DEGREE OF VARIANCE matters. ;)

But I'm sure you'll come up with some excuse to apologize for Samsung since it seems they have your pocket well guarded. On the other hand, I am not new to Samsung's shady history and if, indeed, there is another Samsung panel lottery in 2020 oh dear...
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/proof-of-the-panel-lottery.1501188/
 
It can be both. Both cannot be trusted if the panel variance is this bad. Yes, there's always variance but the DEGREE OF VARIANCE matters. ;)

But I'm sure you'll come up with some excuse to apologize for Samsung since it seems they have your pocket well guarded. On the other hand, I am not new to Samsung's shady history and if, indeed, there is another Samsung panel lottery in 2020 oh dear...
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/proof-of-the-panel-lottery.1501188/

LMAO wtf?? I don't even own this monitor or ANY Samsung monitor/TV for that matter, I have an LG OLED TV. Samsung's rival, oh how ironic. 😉 All I'm gonna say is, you were flat out wrong to call HUB's results untrustworthy and I agree that this panels variance is wack. Samsung having my pocket well guarded hahahaha good one.
 
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Seems like almost any display is some sort of gamble. Luckily, I haven't had too many problems, but you see this with all brands.
 
I see a firmware download for the G7. Says nothing other than 4K support and improved picture quality. Has anyone tried it? I’m on my phone so I cannot link. Maybe that improves the strobing?
 
Well I just started a return on my 32” because some reason Amazon is selling the 32” for 649$ so I’m saving 150$ That’s a pretty big price change

SAMSUNG 32-inch Odyssey G7 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088HHZBGJ

Son, per your link it looks like the 27" is $650 and 32" $799

Also, there is no way this VA panel is not a motion-smear fest @ 240hz....can anybody with legal non-blind eyesight confirm? Also, how horrid is it on transitioning, like black trees against a blue sky as the camera pans....thats always good for a laugh with VA!

Basically, what I am saying is
OLED-CRAP.jpg

Am I wrong???
 
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Son, per your link it looks like the 27" is $650 and 32" $799
It was on sale briefly, looks like the price is back to normal now.

Also, there is no way this VA panel is not a motion-smear fest @ 240hz....can anybody with legal non-blind eyesight confirm? Also, how horrid is it on transitioning, like black trees against a blue sky as the camera pans....thats always good for a laugh with VA!
Am I wrong???
Read the reviews from HUB and RTINGS. They seemed to like the panel at lot, and indicated that the VA ghosting / smearing is much much less than previous offerings.
 
Also, there is no way this VA panel is not a motion-smear fest @ 240hz....can anybody with legal non-blind eyesight confirm? Also, how horrid is it on transitioning, like black trees against a blue sky as the camera pans....thats always good for a laugh with VA!
That's harsh, man.

From what I gathered from the LTT review, Samsung are pulling this off through aggressive overdrive. Honestly, this is pretty much how any other 240Hz LCD panel out there, regardless of panel type, are going to pull it off. 240Hz is nuts. We're still a long ways off getting natural pixel response times that fast.

Back to the G7/G9, there is a tradeoff here. Do you want VA smearing or do you want overdrive halos? Linus seemed to prefer the latter. From what I've seen/read from in-depth reviews, the overdrive halos/ghosting isn't too bad. You can certainly do worse.

Based on what I've seen, I'd personally stick with a lesser 120/144 Hz and the middle overdrive option.
 
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Also, there is no way this VA panel is not a motion-smear fest @ 240hz....can anybody with legal non-blind eyesight confirm? Also, how horrid is it on transitioning, like black trees against a blue sky as the camera pans....thats always good for a laugh with VA!

Basically, what I am saying is
*funny pic*

Am I wrong???
Yo, check this out.

CX OLED at 120hz:
cx-motion-blur-120-large.jpg

SAMSUNG VA at 240hz (G7 Odyssey):
odyssey-g7-motion-blur-max-large.jpg
Boom... headshot. (Unless OLED was actually tested at 60Hz.)
 
Yo, check this out.

CX OLED at 120hz:
View attachment 268121

SAMSUNG VA at 240hz (G7 Odyssey):
View attachment 268122
Boom... headshot. (Unless OLED was actually tested at 60Hz.)
Yeah, Rtings own test makes it looks damn near perfect. Not sure if it's because of that particular test or what, but under their "ideal" conditions they got ideal results. Rting did mention that dark scenes showed overshoot (and the table results back that up), but they didn't really provide any visual evidence to demonstrate that.

Just to take things down a notch, LTT performed the spaceship test on a G9 and it clearly shows overshoot in dark scenes under what they considered "ideal" settings (240Hz, FreeSync On):

(Note that LTT's results are with the G9, but they are literally the same panel other than size)
1596819902697.png1596820689267.png

Still very acceptable, but no where near the "Wow, OMG. Amazing" that Rtings seems to put it under.
 
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Just got my 2nd 32” monitor today for 649$ and returned my first order. I noticed it had firmware 1004 on it. My original came with 1002. I Still get the brightness flicker with adaptive sync on. I usually keep it off but I like it on for certain games I guess now I wait to see if Samsung can fix it via firmware


Son, per your link it looks like the 27" is $650 and 32" $799
You missed it 🙁 I got my order in around 3am
F4F8CB51-F3A3-4CB3-BE69-517A473DD295.png
 
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Yo, check this out.

CX OLED at 120hz:
View attachment 268121

SAMSUNG VA at 240hz (G7 Odyssey):
View attachment 268122
Boom... headshot. (Unless OLED was actually tested at 60Hz.)

But that CX was not in BFI mode was it? Boom MONEY$H0T!!!

That's harsh, man.

From what I gathered from the LTT review, Samsung are pulling this off through aggressive overdrive. Honestly, this is pretty much how any other 240Hz LCD panel out there, regardless of panel type, are going to pull it off. 240Hz is nuts. We're still a long ways off getting natural pixel response times that fast.

Back to the G7/G9, there is a tradeoff here. Do you want VA smearing or do you want overdrive halos? Linus seemed to prefer the latter. From what I've seen/read from in-depth reviews, the overdrive halos/ghosting isn't too bad. You can certainly do worse.

Based on what I've seen, I'd personally stick with a lesser 120/144 Hz and the middle overdrive option.

I want to B-LEAF....but have been burned by VAs in the past.....How does this stack up against the Eizo FG2421? That was the best VA I ever owned, but its 1080pee was weak sauce
 
Good review from TFT as usual. 1000R curve on a 27" non ultrawide? Ridiculous IMHO and would be a deal breaker for me or anyone who has mixed gaming and productivity use cases. The response time with minor overshoot are pretty close to miraculous for VA - definitely the best looking VA panel in motion that I've seen, but the non-variable overdrive means there's a single good setting per refresh rate. If you play games with a wide variety of frame rates, you'd be potentially going into the OSD and changing it (or live with black smear). The patched/revised unit TFT tested had minimal brightness flickering like users have reported which is a good sign.
 
Good review from TFT as usual. 1000R curve on a 27" non ultrawide? Ridiculous IMHO and would be a deal breaker for me or anyone who has mixed gaming and productivity use cases. The response time with minor overshoot are pretty close to miraculous for VA - definitely the best looking VA panel in motion that I've seen, but the non-variable overdrive means there's a single good setting per refresh rate. If you play games with a wide variety of frame rates, you'd be potentially going into the OSD and changing it (or live with black smear). The patched/revised unit TFT tested had minimal brightness flickering like users have reported which is a good sign.

The curve completely kills it for me. I wanted to grab two of the 32" panels to use for a work/game system, but curved displays in 16:9 are horrible and this one in particular is the worst I've ever seen, primarily because the curve is not uniform. The middle third is ridiculously curved and the outer thirds are almost straight.
 
So you can adjust the brightness with MBR mode. So WTF Samsung - can you let the other monitor models do this too?
 
Good review from TFT as usual. 1000R curve on a 27" non ultrawide? Ridiculous IMHO and would be a deal breaker for me or anyone who has mixed gaming and productivity use cases. The response time with minor overshoot are pretty close to miraculous for VA - definitely the best looking VA panel in motion that I've seen, but the non-variable overdrive means there's a single good setting per refresh rate. If you play games with a wide variety of frame rates, you'd be potentially going into the OSD and changing it (or live with black smear). The patched/revised unit TFT tested had minimal brightness flickering like users have reported which is a good sign.

Yeah TFTC also found the G7 to be a chart topper in response times just like HUB, only losing out to the fastest 240Hz TN by a very small margin. Very impressive.

1599601534339.png


It's too bad Samsung took this long to make a proper fast VA, and also that curve ugh.
 
I am looking to buy this monitor to replace the PG279Q that I have. Is the flickering issue fixed or will I be playing panel lottery. Gsync is absolutely critical for me.
 
No feedback on this? Move from ASUS PG279Q -> Samsung G7 => Upgrade or downgrade? Tell me.
 
for what it's worth, I have the G9 now that all the new stock of it have been fixed and I love it!

need a 30 series card to unlock DSC in order to have 240hz, but even at 120hz on my dual 1080ti's its super nice.

I never realized how much of impact input lag and my previous slow screen had on me. 120hz on this panel is sooo smooth and the colors and contrast are way better than I expected. I turned down the resolution just to experience 240hz and it's a huge difference to my eyes so I'm really looking forward to that.
 
Pretty much explains why Samsung couldn't go with traditional G-Sync for these.
Not really. This behavior (having ideal overdrive settings for various frame rates) is the case with most displays and is actually why real G-Sync monitors (with module) review so well - it is part of Nvidia's requirements that the panel+IC driver combo implement an appropriate overdrive as they switch between frame rate ranges, to keep overshoot ideal up and down the refresh rate spectrum.
These kinds of requirements make for better displays but are also expensive to implement, hence the larger cost differential over and above the cost of the g-sync module.
 
No feedback on this? Move from ASUS PG279Q -> Samsung G7 => Upgrade or downgrade? Tell me.
I had that monitor but gave it to my sister since she needed a new one and went with 32" g7 and I don't miss the ASUS at all. I had flickering with adaptive sync on certain games but I mostly play fps games so I have it off anyway. 240hz with csgo and valorant is very nice so it was an upgrade for me.
 
Thanks for those who posted. I can’t play without Gsync so if these issues are not fixed then I can’t use a G7 :(
 
From that review, the 32" is similar performance to the 27" but slightly lower contrast. TFTCentral was able to more easily recreate g-sync mode brightness flickering < 80hz on their 32" review unit. Still an impressive display given the caveats, just expensive enough that I'd think hard about its shortcomings, but there's not much else comparable (VA, 240hz, decent response time and behvaior, relatively affordable given G-sync compatible but not true G-sync).
 
From that review, the 32" is similar performance to the 27" but slightly lower contrast. TFTCentral was able to more easily recreate g-sync mode brightness flickering < 80hz on their 32" review unit. Still an impressive display given the caveats, just expensive enough that I'd think hard about its shortcomings, but there's not much else comparable (VA, 240hz, decent response time and behvaior, relatively affordable given G-sync compatible but not true G-sync).

If Samsung develop a patch for the flickering and the recomended retail price drops after a few months another $100, then for a 32" 1440p screen it seems like a very good option, probably the best right now. Im not keen on the styling with the front 'wing lights' , i prefer a more minimal look tbh but id be willing to overlook this for the great 240hz performance.
Hopefully there will be an ultrawide 1440p version of the G7 using the same panel tuned in the same way as the 27"/32". Given that there is a 49" G9 & a 32" G7 id assume there may be a 34" 'G8' model (unless it already exists and i missed it).

It would be nice to see these panels with HDMi 2.1 / DP2.0 and more dimming zones in the not too distant future. Perhaps a 1600p or larger format 5k2k version.
 
Also, the ULMB mode is a bust on this. Good job Samsung - hit it out of the park why don't you... :rolleyes:

What makes it a fail? It's single-strobe only on 240hz. That's right. 120hz is double strobe and quad strobbed for 60 hz. I expected double-strobe for 60hz but 120hz? Come on Samsung, are you kidding me? This right here makes this one of the most disappointing gaming monitors to come out in a long time. Fail. So much fail. Could you imagine what a home-run this monitor could have been if it had single strobing all the way across the refresh range, or at least starting at 100 or 120hz?
 
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