While TVs have 8K resolution didn’t change the game for big screens, Samsung still envisions a future where 4K is seen as old hat. Now we get to review the latest Odyssey G8 gaming monitor with 6K resolution support that promises sharper details and sharper visuals in the few games that support such a high pixel count.
New Samsung Odyssey G80HS It’s a 32-inch IPS LCD monitor and pushes a resolution of 6K (6,144 x 3,456) at 165Hz. If you’re hoping for faster gaming scenarios, flipping the switch can drop the monitor’s pixel count to 3K (3,072 x 1,728) and 330Hz. Higher resolutions will require a higher pixel count, and the new G8 can achieve a maximum of 224 PPI (pixels per inch). Visual clarity is less about resolution and more about increasing the pixels on the screen, where 6K resolution might make more sense for a 32-inch monitor.
Check out the Odyssey G8 (G80HS) at Amazon
Check out the Odyssey G8 (G80HS) at Samsung.com
Samsung’s Odyssey monitors are primarily aimed at gaming, so you might wonder what the point of a $1,600 non-OLED monitor like the G80HS is. Samsung promises a relatively wide viewing angle for LCDs of 178 degrees without sacrificing visual quality. It also boasts a 1ms pixel-to-pixel response time, meaning the monitor can change images relatively quickly. But it’s actually seeing content at an even higher pixel density.
By comparison, 6K has about 2.5 times the number of pixels compared to 4K, often referred to as UHD. The problem with 8K TVs was the lesser technology and the lack of content that could support this scale of resolution. Some titles, e.g Cyberpunk 2077 and Nightmare of TsushimaIt should be able to reach 6K resolution. Samsung’s latest monitors still support their own HDR10+ standard, but they don’t support Dolby Vision for high dynamic range content.
The Odyssey G80HS promises to achieve 350 nits of typical brightness and 400 nits of peak brightness. It doesn’t look that bright for an IPS monitor that commands such a high price.
If you’re looking for something more standard, the $1,300 Odyssey G80SH (don’t mess around now) is a 32-inch 4K OLED option that promises 300 nits typical and 1,000 nits with HDR.
Samsung is pushing another G80HF (okay, seriously…) a 27-inch monitor with 5K resolution and an IPS display, though it only costs $950.
Whether you can hit playable frame rates at this high resolution and still max out graphics settings or ray tracing will depend on your computer’s capabilities. There are reasons why 5K or even 6K monitors exist. Loved by creative industries that need ultra-high-end, pixel-perfect displays Apple Studio Display XDR it can use those higher resolutions mainly when editing video or 3D objects that require higher resolutions.
Compared to 4K, 6K is relatively untested in gaming circles. At the very least, you’ll likely avoid a situation like what just happened PlayStation 5 It promised to be 8K capable. Sony finally deleted all records 8K from the console packaging when it became clear that few games supported the resolution. Things may be different with 5K and 6K, though we can’t promise you’ll be able to tell the difference between UHD and the new hotness of high-definition monitors.
