Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 in post-test – Firmware 1622 gives free rein to the AMD FreeSync Premium Pro pipeline with 1000 nits

1 - Introduction, Features and Specs 2 - How we measure: Equipment and Methods 3 - Color-Performance @ Default Settings 4 - HDR-Performance 5 - Conclusion

Grayscale, color fidelity, saturation and gamut to factory settings

With every firmware update, I check the SDR settings to see if there have been any changes. This has happened very often, the best example being the Cooler Master GP27U. New firmware for HDR and all SDR calibration was gone! Since I didn’t even notice the 1622 update, I knew that there couldn’t have been any changes – I would have noticed that. Because I measure – among other things – once a week whether my white point of 6500K at 160 nits still fits. The UPRtek is simply worth its weight in gold for this, you just have to hold it up and read off the display.

Gray Scale, Saturation, ColorChecker @ Custom Setting APL 10 %

I can only recommend my settings for gaming to you. Just try it out and then you can decide whether it’s right for you – or not. I’ll explain why I set it up this way.

In other words, I use the 80 percent Rec. 2020 with an almost perfect white point and a very good RGB balance. Fortunately, Samsung didn’t get the gamma tracking right. Both Gamma 2.2 and BT.1886 are basically far too bright. What is this guy talking about who is usually so keen on accuracy? Come on – keep calm. With NVIDIA I recommend Gamma 2.2, if you have an AMD GPU you should use BT.1886 (it won’t be quite as bright). Please leave the other settings at default. And now let’s take a look at this in relation to Display P3 (D65, Gamma 2.2).

I have seen worse results. And now, why am I using these settings?

Quite simply, a black equalizer or shadow boost mode – whatever the manufacturers call it – basically does nothing else. You shift the gamma curve from 2.2 down towards 1.8, or even further. The dark areas become much brighter and you can see opponents better. As we are using an OLED panel here, which already has more contrast in SDR – than any current LCD (even with FALD) will ever have – I make use of this. Really dark things (0 to 15) are extremely dark due to the gamma peak up to 2.6, everything between 20 and 80 is then displayed more brightly, although not quite as extreme as it may be for eSports players. Due to the “infinite” contrast, an OLED can emphasize these differences in such a way that I can recognize opponents very well without messing up the entire picture so much that I lose interest. I hope you can understand what I’m saying?

Gray Scale, Saturation, ColorChecker @ Custom sRGB (OSD Color Space Auto) APL 10%

If I only change one setting by switching from Color Space Native to Auto, I can limit the color space to sRGB. It will look like this:

Color Performance Samsung G8 OLED sRGB Profile Custom

Why do this now? With some games, it’s better to capture the colors a little. The games are usually only mastered in sRGB and if it gets too colorful, it can be annoying. Furthermore, you can also use it on the web, where basically everything is sRGB. The color accuracy is easily good enough for me.

Interim conclusion

The FW update 1622 has no effect on the SDR settings or the calibrated sRGB mode. You can let me know later in the forum to what extent you like my settings. One more note: If you only use 160 nits in SDR, then you can simply turn 60 nits up or down without major white point deviations. If you go from 250 to 100 nits (e.g. at night), then you shift your white point so that it can be perceived.

Then we come to the subject of HDR. Next page…