Samsung Odyssey ARK 55" 4K Gaming monitor

Zepher

Zepher

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check out this beast, 55" 4K gaming screen that can go portrait mode,
 
That's a rather interesting display. Of course, the video doesn't talk about specs. It only showcases the control device, which admittedly makes the device potentially more useful than other large format displays. However, I wouldn't be interested in it unless it was at least capable of 120Hz refresh rates and features G-Sync/FreeSync capability. That's my minimum for 4K displays at this point.
 
The interesting thing about this is not the display but that controller for managing multiple sources and resizing the screen. I would love to have something like that released as its own device that I could plug between any display considering how bad support for things like PbP is on large TVs nowadays.
 
1000R? They really expect you to sit only 1m away from a monitor that big?
 
Mr Evil said:
1000R? They really expect you to sit only 1m away from a monitor that big?
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Why not? I've sat 3' away from 40, 43, 48, and 49" displays. It's been fine. It fills my peripheral vision and the text is large enough that I don't need font scaling.
 
Interesting....presumably it isn't adjusting the resolution when changing the aspect ratios?
 
Dan_D said:
Why not? I've sat 3' away from 40, 43, 48, and 49" displays. It's been fine. It fills my peripheral vision and the text is large enough that I don't need font scaling.
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Exactly this! I have a 43" that my eyes are about 26" away from and it is just right. There is no "one size fits all" - everyone has their own preference.
 
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Samsung keeps marketing this in portrait mode, which is a gimmick and stupid, but this thing in landscape mode could be a game changer. Its an ultrawide with more vertical space, which many many people have been clamoring for.
 
burburbur said:
Samsung keeps marketing this in portrait mode, which is a gimmick and stupid, but this thing in landscape mode could be a game changer. Its an ultrawide with more vertical space, which many many people have been clamoring for.
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Sure, but 55 inches? Wouldn't a 38" ultrawide be more appropriate for a desk?
 
burburbur said:
Samsung keeps marketing this in portrait mode, which is a gimmick and stupid, but this thing in landscape mode could be a game changer. Its an ultrawide with more vertical space, which many many people have been clamoring for.
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Not enough PPI
Not enough refresh rate either

It's not 2018 anymore
 
I have a Samsung QN5580T I use as my monitor. This looks like a curved version with (hopefully) a higher refresh rate, though 60hz is ok for my old eyes. I am mostly happy with this, but 4k seems a bit too stretched on it. A higher res would be nice.
 
Assuming reasonable quality and price, I'll buy it for sure unless a comparable OLED is announced in the mean time. The curve is a must-have for me, and 34" is getting too small.
 
55" is too large for a monitor. The image is too tall, and looking up is uncomfortable. Also, the pixel density is too low with a 4K resolution on that size panel - text looks rough. Needs 8K.
 
Bigmonitorguy said:
55" is too large for a monitor. The image is too tall, and looking up is uncomfortable.
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Ironic considering your user name. ;) I have been using one of the 27" monitors at work in portrait mode an am comfortable with it. Distance is also an important factor, I am planning on about 0.8 m from my eyes. Still, putting it as far down as it goes and angling it up will probably be a must.
Also, the pixel density is too low with a 4K resolution on that size panel - text looks rough. Needs 8K.
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Yeah, it's not ideal, but I know from experience I can live with it. And again, distance matters. In fact, I'll probably be using some scaling in the OS or browser.
 
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Desert Fish said:
Ironic considering your user name. ;) I have been using one of the 27" monitors at work in portrait mode an am comfortable with it. Distance is also an important factor, I am planning on about 0.8 m from my eyes. Still, putting it as far down as it goes and angling it up will probably be a must.

Yeah, it's not ideal, but I know from experience I can live with it. And again, distance matters. In fact, I'll probably be using some scaling in the OS or browser.
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Adding distance and scaling pretty much defeats the purpose of the large monitor. Also, your eyesight and prescription for corrective lenses is a critical factor with distance because the eyes cannot focus equally well at all distances, particularly as you age.
 
Yeah price is ridiculous. You could buy 3 nice monitors for that price and have something better with more desktop space and resolution. At 8K res and this price I might be interested.

Doesn't mean I'm not interested in seeing this thing in real world action though.
 
Yeah I would love to at least play around with it. Knowing Samsung though it will be $2500 in 3-4 months.
 
Is it a general thing with curved monitors that the center is curved and the sides flatten out? That's definitely how it appears in the pictures of this one.

I don't really have experience with curved panels but seeing as my work relies on straight lines I really don't like the idea of them and this apparent mix of curved and flat seems even worse.
 
Senn said:
Is it a general thing with curved monitors that the center is curved and the sides flatten out? That's definitely how it appears in the pictures of this one.

I don't really have experience with curved panels but seeing as my work relies on straight lines I really don't like the idea of them and this apparent mix of curved and flat seems even worse.
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That seems to be how Samsung curved displays are. The CRG9 seems to be an exception but it has much less curve so it at least looks more uniform to my eyes.
 
Linus has a somewhat crappy video of it up right now. He says the display cannot do multiple HDMI inputs split screen! Come on, that was the only way this would make sense!
 
Senn said:
Is it a general thing with curved monitors that the center is curved and the sides flatten out? That's definitely how it appears in the pictures of this one.

I don't really have experience with curved panels but seeing as my work relies on straight lines I really don't like the idea of them and this apparent mix of curved and flat seems even worse.
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If you need straight lines for work then you wouldn't want any sort of curve period.
 
LTT did a review today. That stand lol. I kinda want it..

 
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MistaSparkul said:
If you need straight lines for work then you wouldn't want any sort of curve period.
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Yeah, the biggest reason I've never used one. I don't have a separate rig for work and gaming (unless you count the Steam Deck) so I've always needed a do-it-all flat display. The only time I'd be tempted by curved panels is if I ever build myself a racing sim rig.
 
How is this not just a curved TV with a useful stand? A very, very heavy stand.

I like how the special use shown of the portrait mode is to make it a trio of vertically stacked no-internal-bezel 2160x1280 monitors with a roughly 16x9.5 aspect ratio.
 
Well that is really all it is but the main distinction is that I think its using a CSOT fast VA like on the Neo G7/G8 and not a slow TV VA panel.

The price is more a reflection of the low volume, R&D as well as whatever software development was required for the controller/OS. I'm sure the external one connect box adds some cost too since its the only real solution to a freely rotating screen without all your cables getting snagged in the process.
 
They should curve the entire screen more like a sphere since it's a 16:9 aspect ratio taking up your entire fov instead of just the sides like a dumb ultra wide.
 
Now a massive information and marketing dump on this monitor....

https://www.samsung.com/us/computin...mini-led-curved-gaming-screen-ls55bg970nnxgo/
https://news.samsung.com/global/sam...-next-level-with-global-launch-of-odyssey-ark
https://videocardz.com/press-release/samsung-introduces-odyssey-ark-a-55-inch-curved-gaming-display
https://www.sammobile.com/news/samsung-odyssey-ark-mini-led-gaming-monitor-pre-order-price/
https://www.gsmarena.com/samsungs_n...ming_monitor_with_cockpit_mode-news-55426.php
https://www.dpreview.com/news/28634...-a-55-curved-4k-monitor-with-impressive-specs
https://www.engadget.com/samsung-od...itors-to-a-whole-new-dimension-140056568.html
https://www.theverge.com/23292407/s...ming-monitor-55-inch-hands-on-demo-experience



As I suspected, there really isn't dynamic aspect ratio switching, its just changing the screen ratio size - I am no expert on displays but how does it maintain a 4K resolution when changing the screen size from 16:9 to 21:9 or 32:9? Still too large for my desk anyway.
 
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Remember when triple 1080p or triple 1600p arrays in portrait were a thing? Anybody going to try three of these in portrait... ?
 
KazeoHin said:
My only question:

Who asked for this? It's awesome, sure. but... why?
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Curved displays have been around a while, and some people do use and love curved displays. Using TVs as monitors has also been a thing for a few years and has become increasingly popular with LG OLEDs the past few years. It's just a natural evolution combining those two things.

I think the main problem with this is it's an LCD and not an OLED. If they did this with one of their QD-OLEDs you would see a people here actually be excited about it.

And using it in portrait mode will guarantee you have neck pain and is just stupid but marketing doesn't care.
 
Gatecrasher3000 said:
Yeah this is the most odd oversight, how could they not add this feature?
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Most likely simply cost of development. This is by all means just a repackaged TV.


TVs all tend to have 4 HDMI inputs nowadays, but very few support any multi-view options. LG had it on their OLEDs but buried it so it was hard to find, didn't let you use more than 1 HDMI source like this Samsung and then later just ditched it altogether. I don't know what extra hardware you need to be able to composite multiple HDMI signals on one screen, but based on what even separate multiview devices cost, it's probably a good bit of money. But at least allowing for two sources at once would have been nice as it's not as if Samsung hasn't done it before.

For example my Samsung CRG superultrawide supports Picture by Picture. It can be configured as either 16:9 + 16:9 or as 21:9 + 11:9 from the OSD and switching between them is not a big deal, the computer detects it simply as display connection having been changed.

My guess is that the challenge here is compositing and maybe the bandwidth for that. Considering you can change, move and rearrange the screen, then compositing 2-4 HDMI signals at once and having them all resize and rearrange nicely is beyond the capabilities of its processor. With internal apps I assume this all becomes less complex.
 
^ while true, it seems that Samsung is marketing this screen for media consumption in all its forms, but yet it only allows for one media source at a time. I'm surprised you can't have four sources running at one time honestly.
 
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