Processing and mobility
Today I’ll actually say something about the design. The Samsung has the narrowest bezels of all QD OLED monitors on the market. The aluminum housing is something completely different – compared to the otherwise plastic-dominated competitors. The RGB ring light could be a tad brighter for my taste, but at least it works and comes into its own in a dark room. In general, the workmanship is extremely well done and the design is timeless. As far as ergonomics are concerned, you will have to live with the limitations of tilting and height adjustment without a Vesa mount. From my point of view, this is completely sufficient.
Samsung completely dispenses with active ventilation. That’s right, there is no fan installed – that should make the fan mimics happy. It remains to be seen to what extent the lack of a fan will affect the longevity of the QD panel. Samsung presumably uses the aluminum housing as a passive cooling element. I certainly won’t be unscrewing the monitor to investigate this, as I don’t want to lose my warranty.
Samsung has also equipped the OLED G8 with a light sensor, which is located in the middle below the display. This allows the brightness of the display to be automatically adjusted to the ambient lighting if required.
Connectors, cables and accessories
Why Samsung has opted for the mini or micro connectors is beyond me. There would be room for normal connections. In any case, there is 1x DP 1.4a with DSC, 1x HDMI 2.1 and thus there is also the 175 Hz at maximum resolution with 10-bit color depth. If you connect via USB-C, you will unfortunately only have to make do with 120 Hz.
It is disappointing that Samsung only includes a DisplayPort cable (standard to mini-DP) in the scope of delivery. Who has a Mirco HDMI 2.1 cable at home? I would also like to see a USB-C cable that supplies the 65 watts of power and also functions as a DisplayPort. You have to find such cables first – not that easy – it’s easy to buy the wrong cable. Not to mention the price, which really brings tears to my eyes depending on the length. A two-meter USB-C cable with the right properties costs around 40 euros – yeah, right…
The second USB-C port also delivers 15 watts, so you can charge your smartphone at the same time. There are no audio connections, but if you have Bluetooth headphones, you can connect directly to the monitor – also ok. There is also Wi-Fi and the Tizen operating system. So you don’t necessarily need a PC to watch your favorite movies online. You can also use GeForce Now and other gaming platforms. A suitable Bluetooth controller makes it possible.
On the subject of Adaptive Sync, Samsung advertises with FreeSync Premium. However, the monitor is recognized as FreeSync Premium Pro in conjunction with an AMD graphics card. And this is exactly what will be the downfall of AMD card owners when it comes to HDR – as things stand today. You can read more about this on pages eight and nine.
OSD
You could write a book about the OSD options. Depending on whether you are in Game Mode or in – I’ll call it Tizen Mode – you have different options. I’m not going to go into the micro level, everyone has to find out for themselves. The OLED G8 doesn’t have an FPS display, for example, but it does have various crosshairs and other options that its competitors don’t have. You’ll see this when we talk about calibration and HDR.
The OSD can be controlled via the Off switch on the panel – hold it down for approx. 3 seconds and you can adjust everything. A more convenient way is via the remote control. Press and hold the play/pause button and you’re ready to go. Alternatively, you can press and hold the home button to access the main OSD. That’s what I call it now. The remote control has a battery and can be charged via USB-C if you have a USB-C cable. Which brings us back to the topic of why isn’t this included?
Software
I couldn’t find any OSD software for the PC, but I’ll show you a few pictures from Tizen mode. If you use the OLED G8 as a TV, so to speak.
For my part, I can definitely recommend Disney Plus and Amazon. Here you can use the movies as a full screen in 21:9 format using double zoom – no more black borders. Netflix doesn’t allow this, why? I have no idea! In combination with the built-in speakers, you have an almost fully-fledged TV. That’s what I call that little bit extra! Whether this is everyone’s cup of tea remains to be seen. The fact is, only the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 currently offers this, the other QD OLEDs are pure monitors.
- 1 - Introduction, Features and Specs
- 2 - Workmanship and Details
- 3 - How we measure: Equipment and Methods
- 4 - Pixel Response Times
- 5 - Display Latencies
- 6 - Color-Performance @ Default Settings
- 7 - Direct Comparison and Power Consumption
- 8 - Color-Performance calibrated
- 9 - HDR-Performance
- 10 - Summary and Conclusion
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