Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds will allow you to customise your machines with tons of devices

You understand how you don’t really need one thing till you really strive it for your self? That’s precisely what occurred between me and the Samsung Odyssey G9. This beast of a monitor has been round for a couple of years, however I by no means gave it a lot thought till Samsung graciously let me strive one.

Spoilers: I don’t know what I’ll do as soon as they take it away.

The Odyssey G9 is billed as a gaming monitor, however I largely used it for work. I genuinely didn’t anticipate a widescreen show to make a distinction — however after spending a couple of weeks with it, I can’t think about going again to a non-ultrawide setup. Not only for the visible actual property, however for the way it quietly reshaped my workflow.

My traditional PC workspace

For years, I’ve relied on the a number of desktop function on each PC and Mac to prepare how I work. One desktop is strictly for writing, analysis, and productiveness. Another is reserved for the a number of chat apps I take advantage of on the day by day: Telegram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and even Viber. And then there’s one for fast social breaks — Twitter, Instagram, or no matter taste of distraction I would like on the time.

It’s a neat, compartmentalized system that works properly on smaller shows, and I used to be satisfied this was the one method I may keep targeted. Anything else, I believed, would solely sluggish me down or break my rhythm.

Enter the Samsung Odyssey G9

To take a look at the Odyssey G9, I needed to totally rearrange my workspace simply to make room for it. This factor is huge — and never in a gimmicky method. It’s a 49-inch ultrawide monitor with a 32:9 side ratio and an immersive 1000R curvature that wraps round your area of view. The mannequin I examined was the LC49G95TSSNXDC, which runs on a QLED VA panel, helps HDR1000, and pushes a crisp 5120×1440 decision at as much as 240Hz refresh price with a 1ms response time.

Specs apart, it’s a type of gadgets that simply appears absurd… till you sit in entrance of it.

I didn’t even use your entire ultrawide display screen for this one.

Having a bigger and wider display screen additionally rejuvenated my curiosity in video modifying. Being capable of see your canvas and timeline feels so refreshing. That’s very true for somebody who has largely labored on a 13-inch show for the higher a part of a decade. Seeing the whole lot clearly — layers, preview home windows, audio tracks — with out always zooming out and in felt like a game-changer.

I shortly found that with this a lot display screen house, I didn’t have to isolate workspaces throughout desktops. Everything I wanted may now exist in a single view. I nonetheless use a number of desktops, however not for segmentation — now they’re simply extensions.

A productiveness powerhouse

I can’t actually present you what I normally work on so simply consider this division as how I normally break up my display screen. STAYC Isa on the left for further work issues and typically YouTube. TWICE Momo within the center for my important work issues. And LE SSERAFIM Chaewon on the proper for the a number of chat apps and socials.

Technically talking, a 5120×1440 show is similar as having two 1440p displays fused collectively — however with out the bodily bezels or the mess of dual-monitor cable administration. That alone already makes it a extra elegant answer.

Compared to a conventional two-monitor setup, the Odyssey G9 felt extra cohesive and much much less chaotic. I didn’t want to show my head as a lot, and the 1000R curve really helps cut back eye pressure as a result of it matches your pure sight view.

You can break up the monitor display screen in many alternative methods.

Whether I used to be writing, modifying timelines, cross-checking paperwork, or responding to messages, the whole lot felt fluid. It’s a type of quality-of-life upgrades that doesn’t shout for consideration however progressively seeps into your muscle reminiscence — till it simply feels unsuitable to return.

Gaming

Stellar Blade on PC with ultrawide display screen help

The Odyssey G9 was made for gaming, so in fact I needed to put that to the take a look at. I primarily recreation on consoles, however because of PC ports with ultrawide help, I gave titles like Horizon Forbidden West and Stellar Blade a spin — the latter being my important obsession for some time.

At first, I didn’t know what to do with all that further horizontal house. My consideration stayed largely within the heart, and I ignored the wingspan of visuals stretching out to both facet.

That modified as soon as I loaded up RoboCop: Rogue City — a first-person shooter the place I ditched the controller for a mouse-and-keyboard setup. That format, mixed with the monitor’s large area of view, took me proper again to Counter-Strike LAN days. Only now, I may see a lot extra.

Peripheral imaginative and prescient issues in FPS video games, and the Odyssey G9 offers you extra of it. Enemies that might usually be out of sight pop into your consciousness simply sufficient to make a distinction. Paired with the 240Hz refresh price and FreeSync Premium Pro help, movement stays buttery easy even throughout intense firefights.

Not a recreation however right here’s what the pillarbox appears like. Watching Zoey from KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix.

Not all video games help ultrawide, although. Some titles pillarbox to 16:9 or stretch awkwardly, so it’s value checking compatibility in case your major use is gaming. But when video games do help it? It’s like discovering an additional layer of immersion.

A second HDMI? Yes, please

Here’s what it form of appears like with a good break up of the display screen. ITZY Ryujin on the left and ARTMS Heejin on the proper.

One function I didn’t totally make the most of — however can completely see the worth of — is the second HDMI port. The Odyssey G9 helps Picture-by-Picture (PBP), which suggests you’ll be able to join two gadgets and consider them side-by-side on the identical display screen.

For most individuals, that might imply a PC and a console, or a laptop computer and a streaming field. For content material creators or streamers, it may be monitoring a dwell chat on one facet whereas modifying or gaming on the opposite. And for the reason that monitor auto-detects energetic inputs, it doesn’t take a lot fiddling to modify or toggle between them.

My workspace didn’t let me make full use of this, but it surely’s the form of utility function that may make an actual distinction for multitaskers and hybrid setups.

Is the Samsung Odyssey G9 your GadgetMatch?

I went into this anticipating a cool gaming monitor — one thing flashy and impractical that I’d get pleasure from briefly after which transfer on from. Instead, I discovered myself rethinking how I work and the way I play.

The Samsung Odyssey G9 isn’t a monitor for everybody. It’s giant, dear, and overkill for informal use. But in case your time is break up between work and play — particularly in case your work includes content material creation, video modifying, research-heavy duties, or heavy multitasking — that is the form of improve that may change the way you see your workflow.

After spending time with it, even the thought of returning to a flat 16:9 panel feels limiting. Once you’ve had a style of this sort of immersion, it’s laborious to unsee it.

The Odyssey G9 didn’t simply make gaming higher. It made the whole lot higher. And now that I’ve had it in my house, I do know one factor for certain: I’m going to overlook it when it’s gone.