Samsung Odyssey G80HS Monitor Review: 6K Isn’t the Way forward for Gaming

Let’s get the principle factor out of the way in which: You don’t want a 6K monitor for gaming.

I spent round a dozen hours total with the just lately launched Samsung Odyssey G80HS 6K monitor simply with the few video games out there that truly assist this decision. For each minute I spent observing each element, each strand of hair, and each pore and blemish on characters’ pores and skin on this $1,600 monitor, I may barely decide the distinction between any title operating at 4K versus 6K. If you’re a gamer decided to spend effectively over $1,000 on a monitor, get your self a high-end, quick, 4K QD-OLED mannequin with all of the fixings. There are a ton of fine ones out there now, together with from Samsung.

But there are different causes to contemplate this display screen. Samsung payments its expensive $1,600 Odyssey G80HS 6K monitor as a semi-gaming, semi-professional display screen for the type of 3D modelers or video editors who legitimately want a high-resolution show for recognizing each pixel misplaced due to the display screen’s peak 224 PPI. It’s a 32-inch show that’s tall sufficient you might not want a secondary show.

After you’re finished with the each day grind, Samsung imagines you’ll use the identical display screen for gaming. It has a 165Hz refresh fee for taking part in PC titles at a quick clip in addition to options like Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync to scale back the possibility of display screen tearing as you desperately attempt to push in-game framerates.

But in that vein, an OLED monitor will supply higher distinction than you may get with the Odyssey G80HS’ “Fast LCD” panel. A high-end skilled monitor, particularly costly ones just like the $3,300 Studio Display XDR, may have a greater brightness spec and a shiny panel constructed for artistic work. Samsung’s 6K show is just not one of the best of each worlds, and it nonetheless prices $1,600.

When this monitor is on sale for lower than its MSRP, it might be one of many cheaper 6K screens out there, whether or not or not you care a few excessive refresh fee. Is it the prettiest? Nah. The brightest? Hell no. Is it extra glare-resistant? Definitely not. But if you wish to be on the slicing fringe of high-end gaming, that is your one (re: solely) alternative, no less than for now.

Remember when 8K was a factor?

We ought to run via the historical past of how and why we’re now speaking about 6K for gaming. Five years in the past, the PlayStation 5 thought it may make a degree towards Xbox by promising it wasn’t only a 4K console however an 8K gaming beast. From the beginning, the promise was outlandish, if not downright false. Only a paltry few video games ever provided an 8K decision choice, together with Gran Turismo 7, F124, and No Man’s Sky. Sony ultimately tore the “8K” brand from its packaging.

Samsung had been one of many champions of 8K decision on a few of its older QLED televisions till just lately, when the corporate stated it was “taking a comprehensive view” of its larger decision show plans.

And so we come to the brand new Odyssey G80HS. The 6K monitor nominally has higher recreation assist than 8K ever had. Samsung instructed Gizmodo that, at the moment, Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2, Alan Wake 2, Horizon Forbidden West, and Ghost of Tsushima all assist 6K decision. In my testing, I found that the latest Halo: Campaign Evolved may additionally push all the way in which to the touted 6.144 x 3,456 pixel decision.

However, that’s nonetheless a naked variety of video games that may maximize the monitor’s decision. The Odyssey G80HS’ complete raison d’être is to supply these with deep pockets the possibility to be one of many first few who can take a look at what could be the subsequent evolution in absolute peak gaming. Hey, you got that $5,000+ PC (due to present reminiscence costs) with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, an costly gaming CPU, and also you need absolutely the peak expertise, proper?

You definitely can proclaim you’re pushing the sting of what gaming can probably supply. But right here’s the factor: I can’t verify whether or not you’d have the ability to inform the distinction between 6K and 4K resolutions. When in movement, you might hardly inform the distinction.

Pixel searching at its worst

I ran all six of those 6K-supported video games on each a high-end Razer Blade 16 gaming laptop computer and a Maingear Zero pre-configured desktop PC full of an RTX 5090 and AMD’s finest gaming CPU, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D. I pushed every recreation as laborious as it might go, ray tracing and all (no less than within the few video games that truly totally assist the real-time lighting results). I attempted, desperately, to seek out out if I may determine 6K content material. I couldn’t.

Horizon Forbidden West is an extremely detailed recreation, from the character fashions to the verdant flora of the sport’s post-apocalyptic world. If there’s any recreation that will profit from extra pixels, it might be this one. I sat in entrance of the display screen for 10, 20, half-hour, dancing my eyes throughout each inch of the 32-inch show. To my eyes, it seemed the identical as once I set the title to 4K.

I requested one in all my colleagues at Kotaku (Gizmodo’s sister web site) if they might spot the distinction. I confirmed them how Hoizon checked out its peak decision, then gave them a blind take a look at, asking whether or not a scene in Horizon was 4K or 6K. They received it flawed. I did the identical blind take a look at to myself in Cyberpunk 2077, randomly swapping between 4K and 6K. I by some means satisfied myself the decrease decision was successfully the identical as the upper one. My colleagues at Gizmodo had some higher luck guessing resolutions, however you must be very explicit about hair follicles to find out the distinction between the 2 resolutions.

That was the sport operating in a static scene, with not even a blade of grass shifting. In movement, it’s much more troublesome to inform. There have been moments when enjoying Red Dead Redemption 2 the place I may persuade myself the sides of Arthur Morgan’s jacket seemed sharper. After sufficient time swapping between the 2, I may reliably inform the 2 resolutions aside, however solely by absolutely the minimal variations in sharpness.

You should additionally take into account the age of the video games that assist 6K. The Red Dead sequel got here out in 2018 throughout the PlayStation 4 period. The textures could not have absolutely the degree of element you’re used to with the newest AAA titles (which, if that truly issues to you, possibly you must decrease your expectations going ahead). More pixels on display screen gained’t essentially make the sport look any higher than it already does. Will that change when Rockstar’s subsequent title, Grand Theft Auto VI, inevitably arrives on PC? I doubt it.

The most up-to-date titles that assist this decision, Alan Wake II and Halo: Campaign Evolved, don’t add something with 2.3 occasions the variety of pixels on show. Each recreation seems to be lovely with or with out the upper decision. The foremost factor that modifications is efficiency. On a near-$5,000 Razer Blade 16 with the laptop computer model of the RTX 5090, I may simply play the sport at Ultra graphics settings at 4K. At 6K, I wanted to depend on DLSS upscaling to get a playable body fee. That could disrupt your desires of a pure, native, high-resolution expertise.

The high-end desktop—the Maingear Zero, a $6,800 PC with its top-end specs—may internet a playable body fee for Cyberpunk 2077 at its demanding Ray Tracing Overdrive graphics preset at 4K with relative ease. At 6K, the sport topped off at about 15 fps throughout gameplay. With DLSS set to “Quality” mode, I used to be managing round 30 frames per second.

If you actually wish to play at 6K and nonetheless attain peak graphics high quality, you want the beefiest PC you may get your arms on. Even then, gaming at this peak will imply you’ll should depend on upscaling, if not body technology. That being stated, there’s nothing that stops you from enjoying video games at 4K or possibly even 5K, the place the monitor helps a 180Hz refresh fee. Dropping all the way down to 3K (3,072 x 1,728) will can help you hit 330Hz. Just ensure that once you’re finished with a day of drudgery, that is the show you really wish to stare at for hours extra.

A critical glare drawback

The Odyssey G80HS is a quick “Fast IPS” monitor, which is to say it’s a high-refresh-rate LCD. It gained’t have the close to instantaneous pixel-to-pixel response time of OLED, although it’s not unhealthy at 1ms for every pixel to vary coloration. This monitor additionally has a surprisingly large viewing angle. The display screen seems barely darker at about 120 levels from the display screen, however you gained’t lose precise picture high quality till you’re standing practically perpendicular with the monitor.

It can be a stable LCD panel if it weren’t for the obnoxious reflectivity of the display screen. My workplace usually will get loads of pure gentle, however even with the blinds down, the Odyssey G80HS picked up sufficient ambient gentle to lose readability across the edges of the display screen.

That’s an annoying drawback for a monitor that’s alleged to be for each work and pleasure. The drawback could also be brightness. For over $1,000, this Odyssey monitor solely hits a typical brightness of 350 nits. At peak brightness in HDR, it’s maxing out at a paltry 400 nits. This could make some video games look boring, forcing you to boost in-game brightness and doubtlessly obscuring element—defeating the entire level of why you went for 6K within the first place.

If you have been searching for a monitor that might make common streaming look good, this will not be it. The Odyssey G80HS helps Samsung’s personal HDR10+ for high-dynamic vary content material however not Dolby Vision. That’s typical of each Samsung TV or monitor you should buy at present.

6K goes vertical

For all its brightness woes, no less than Samsung’s 6K feels has a premium physique, even when it lacks any backup audio system. The monitor packs two HDMI 2.1 and a singular DisplayPort 2.1 slot, however that’s simply scratching the floor of I/O. It has a helpful headphone jack, an Ethernet port, and two USB-A ports for pass-through charging.

This Odyssey monitor could look reasonably boring, with its corrugated plastic heart stand, however it’s a practical monitor with a little bit of aptitude thrown in due to the rear round gentle which will add a little bit of glow to your work-at-home desk.

I used to be additionally shocked by the diploma the Samsung Odyssey G80HS may spin. It includes a -30-to-30-degree swivel and greater than a 90-degree pivot in both path. It has the maneuverability for a lot of sorts of desk setups, regardless of its dimension. The solely draw back is that the monitor doesn’t elevate and decrease greater than 5 inches.

And that turns into an issue when you spin the display screen vertical. The monitor stand doesn’t rise excessive sufficient to present the monitor the clearance it wants to face perpendicular to the desk. Instead, it should sit at a slight angle. It’s an odd oversight contemplating Samsung constructed this display screen as a part-time productiveness monitor.

Do I dream in 6K?

What you actually wish to ask your self is in case you think about you wish to be the guinea pig for Samsung’s massive decision experiment. The cause the Korean tech monolith can name this a gaming monitor is due to options like its touted 165Hz refresh fee on the top-end decision (plus a twin mode of 3K at 330Hz). You can discover 5K creativity screens out there in a wide range of LCD and OLED fashions. There are additionally extra 5K QD-OLED gaming shows on the horizon, like Alienware’s mammoth 39-inch AW3926QW ultrawide monitor.

If I may declare this was nearly as good as another LCD monitor on the market, I’d merely go away the Odyssey G8 G80HS as an costly proof of idea (although possibly you may get it on sale for lower than $1,600). But then you must handle these apparent glare points and boring brightness. So what are you really paying for? In this case, it’s to say you’ve gamed at 6K, though it didn’t change how, when, and why you recreation one iota.

And that leaves me with a lingering thought: Is 4K actually the max that we are able to anticipate from resolutions? After sufficient time with this monitor, you could possibly select the minute variations at 6K versus a decrease decision. That’s provided that you’re an fanatic who stares at their monitor for hours to evaluate insignificant variations in characters’ hair element. The common client doesn’t and can’t care. The solely different means ahead is to boost the image high quality of 4K.