Samsung’s been making gaming displays for years now, however execs within the firm’s show division say final 12 months’s Odyssey G9 was its first flagship gaming monitor. Now there’s a brand new Odyssey on the town, and from what we’ve seen up to now, it handily claims the gaming monitor crown.

The new Odyssey Neo G9 is identical measurement and determination as its predecessor, however for the latest mannequin, Samsung has switched to a Quantum Matrix panel with miniLEDs and Quantum HDR assist. It’s much like what you discover in Samsung’s high-end TVs, however a primary for gaming shows. After checking this factor out in particular person, the affect that new panel has is profound.

On the Neo G9, peak brightness now tops out at a stunning 2,000 nits (up from 1,000 nits on final 12 months’s mannequin), with 2,048 dimming zones offering a lot better distinction whereas virtually fully eliminating the distracting halos you typically see on shows with older tech.

As earlier than, pixel response stays blistering fast at simply 1ms, whereas the ridiculously large 32:9 5,210 x 1440 facet ratio show offers you extra display actual property than you most likely know what to do with—or a minimum of that’s how I felt. The Neo G9’s 240Hz refresh charge has additionally stayed the identical and stays fairly spectacular for a monitor this massive, and it additionally consists of assist for variable refresh charges through AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, with each DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1 connections round again.

In particular person, the Neo G9’s excessive curvature nonetheless appears virtually comical, till you really sit down in entrance of it and understand that its 1000R bend signifies that the display stays the identical distance out of your eyes no matter the place you’re wanting. This means your eyes by no means should refocus like they might on a historically flat show of the identical measurement, which, together with built-in blue mild filters, helps you keep away from eyestrain or complications throughout lengthy gaming periods.

But that’s not all. Alengthy with a elaborate new panel, Samsung is stepping up the Neo G9’s design by doubling down on that massive mild orb in again. The previous G9 was restricted to an assortment of preset patterns and light-weight combos, however on the Neo G9, Samsung has included a new CoreSync characteristic, which might routinely analyze no matter content material you’re after which undertaking related colours onto the wall behind the monitor, including a little bit of built-in bias lighting.

Samsung’s take a look at setup didn’t do one of the best job of exhibiting off the Neo G9’s new bias lighting in particular person, however when all the pieces involves collectively, what you get is a gaming expertise in contrast to the rest in the marketplace. In video games with native HDR assist like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Doom Eternal, the wealthy shadows and dynamic lighting are downright enchanting, whereas that massive 49-inch display wraps round you want a cocoon. And even in video games with out full HDR like Cyberpunk 2077, the Neo G9’s saturated colours and reflections nonetheless seemed improbable. And despite the fact that I did a tiny little bit of pixel peeping, I had a extremely arduous time recognizing fringing or chroma subsampling, which can generally seem on excessive refresh charge shows.

Now right here comes the unhealthy information: With this a lot tech crammed inside, the Neo G9 instructions an equally jaw-dropping price ticket of $2,500—a full Grover Cleveland greater than final 12 months’s G9. So as a substitute of idly questioning if this factor will match in your desk (Samsung even makes an non-obligatory VESA mount for wall installations), it appears the G9 Neo could merely be fodder for big-time Twitch streamers who wish to flex on their followers. But in case you’ve received the funds and the house, the Neo G9 has simply taken the crown as probably the most over-the-top gaming show cash should purchase.

The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 will likely be out there for pre-order beginning July 29, with orders anticipated to start delivery out someday in August.