Review on 🖥️ SAMSUNG Odyssey G7 Monitor 32 Inch: Ultra-HD 2560X1440P, 120Hz, High Dynamic Range, Curved, LC32G75TQSNXZA by Andrew Williams

The specs on this screen can't be beat, except for the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 4K 240Hz, which really isn't worth it unless you have a PC that can run something ridiculous and you still have $1,500 to spare. What will impress most about the G7 is the color reproduction and contrast, which are inherently far ahead of conventional TN or IPS screens thanks to the VA panel and Samsung QLED technology. Since Samsung gives you a pretty solid neutral configuration to start with, it looks great without touching the picture settings, but if you look at a few test patterns and tweak it, it's even better. Of course, another big part that you'll notice more about some games is the high refresh rate and response time. Use VRR/g-sync for best results and enjoy seemingly non-existent ghosting and input lag. It's my favorite thing about the G7 and I think it justifies the rather high price tag (which isn't bad on sale). There's usually a trade-off between good-looking colors and those high gaming specs, but the G7 seems like a no-compromise solution for most users who don't do color-sensitive professional work or don't play high-speed FPS games. professional quality (in which case I would have thought that such a large screen would not be practical anyway). There are a few issues with this G7 that I've encountered. The most obvious in some situations are inversion artifacts, most commonly caused by test patterns and certain combinations of browser and website dark modes. This wasn't a problem for me as the artifacts didn't show up with "real" content other than websites, and you can be sure I narrowed my eyes at every moving object in games for the first few weeks. The pattern is sensitive to the black EQ setting, so it's worth experimenting with if you're not too concerned about the inversion but want to keep it to a minimum. The next problem is that the default configuration with VRR/g-sync leads to scan line-like artifacts and flickering during gameplay. This can be fixed by enabling the "VRR Control" which is hidden at the bottom of the second page of System Settings. You need the latest firmware for this. So, be sure to visit the Samsung website and make sure you have the latest version. VRR control should be enabled by default to avoid this issue, but it isn't. Turn off Dynamic Contrast in the menu, a feature that only seems to degrade the image. PS5 support is fine, it takes 4K input and downscales which is great news until PS5 gets 2K support. However, the monitor's HDMI port is version 2.0, so you're limited to 4K@60Hz (with or without HDR) due to the bandwidth of HDMI 2.0. In theory, 2K at 120Hz should be possible without HDR, but I haven't been able to try and confirm the PS5 beta firmware. HDR: This is pretty new to me so I don't know what to expect. The first thing I did in HDR was Ghost of Tsushima and it didn't impress me. I think the game was made to look amazing with or without HDR, so going from a good non-HDR VA panel to one with HDR didn't blow me away. With movies, the effect was more obvious. I've seen Night House, a horror film recently released in HDR, and the first four Star Trek films to be remastered in HDR. It was really nice for Night Home, and the contrast between light and dark scenes made it feel more like watching it in a movie theater. The Star Trek films welcomed the added flair of space battles. There was a scene in Wrath of Khan that seemed to confuse the local dimming algorithm, resulting in noticeably brighter/darker rectangles crawling across the screen behind the Enterprise. This can be a limitation of HDR on a side-lit screen. All in all nice to have, but at least not a game changer in this implementation. A few words on off-screen bits. I installed it on a monitor arm which works great, the required VESA mount is included. I am happy to report that the power indicator (which can be turned off when the screen is on) is not very bright. I'm sick of my living room glowing blue at night, so I appreciate that Samsung isn't making the problem worse. Headphone users will appreciate the headphone jack for both HDMI and DP audio, which I use a lot since my motherboard has a noisy headphone jack. A remote control to adjust the volume would have been nice, but unfortunately it is not available. Whether or not you have software volume control may depend on your GPU and OS: my 3080 PC has it, my Mac doesn't, and I couldn't get DisplayBuddy to work. Consoles do not have software volume control on the HDMI output. The included stand has a headphone holder on the back, which seems like an odd choice for such a large monitor. Some of Samsung's earlier gaming monitors had a headphone holder that popped out on the side, which would have been better, but I think it's more difficult to implement on a curved screen. What surprised me was the switching between inputs. My setup looks like this: DisplayPort1 is connected to a gaming PC, DisplayPort2 is connected to a Mac, and HDMI is connected to a device to switch between PS5 and Nintendo Switch. The only scenario that works well is switching between one of the DP and HDMI inputs when both inputs are enabled. In any other scenario, the inputs will take more than 20 seconds to change and the monitor may become unresponsive until you unplug and reconnect the desired DisplayPort input. No other monitor I've used has been this annoying. Overall: To me it looks like it will be the perfect primary display for a couple of years or even more when higher resolutions take time to take off. Do your research and educate yourself on issues before making a purchasing decision based on features alone.