• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Samsung's Odyssey Ark 55" curved gaming monitor

onQ123

Member
L3s1uZj.jpg
8tpecuB.jpg



The line between TVs and monitors is blurring. And Samsung wants to remove that line entirely with Odyssey ARK gaming monitor.

It’s a 55-inch OLED display that feels like a TV and a monitor at the same time. Also — yes, it’s curved screen that rotate vertically. I had the chance to try out the display at CES 2022, and it’s as wild as Samsung makes it out to be.


CONTENTS

Why ARK is more than a rebranded TV​

There has been a struggle brewing between TVs and monitors over the past few years. TVs are getting better, with displays like the LG C1 offering up variable refresh rate and Samsung’s newly announced QD-OLED TV bringing 144Hz to the living room.

On the other side, we’re seeing more monitors that look like TVs. Last year’s 55-inch Alienware OLED gaming monitor is one example, and at CES this year, we’ve seen large format OLED monitors from Asus and Acer, among others.

I’ve stuck my nose up at the 55-inch gaming monitors that have come out over the past couple of years. They’re just TVs, generally with a couple of legs on either sides and ports that look and feel like they would on a TV.

Although it’s mostly semantics, ARK is not just a TV. It comes with an adjustable stand. That gives you pivot and tilt, which you won’t find on the TVs masquerading as gaming monitors, but it also gives you height adjustment.





 
One thing they don’t tell you about these Samsung screens….they are fragile as hell

We have the odessey g7s at our work and as they don’t have a handle to move or swivel the screens to sometimes even the lightest press on the screen is enough to crack it and make it useless
 

jigglet

Banned
One thing they don’t tell you about these Samsung screens….they are fragile as hell

We have the odessey g7s at our work and as they don’t have a handle to move or swivel the screens to sometimes even the lightest press on the screen is enough to crack it and make it useless

That’s why when I read about new monitors or TV’s getting thinner I wonder - how is this even a selling point anymore? It’s the complete opposite for me. They became thin enough YEARS ago. Now they are just begging to be snapped the moment you’re not careful with them.
 
That’s why when I read about new monitors or TV’s getting thinner I wonder - how is this even a selling point anymore? It’s the complete opposite for me. They became thin enough YEARS ago. Now they are just begging to be snapped the moment you’re not careful with them.
They want you to spend more money if you accidentally break one.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Take it from someone who uses a 55" OLED as a monitor, you do NOT want to be that close to it. Buy yourself a 100cm deep desk and you're laughing.
 
One thing they don’t tell you about these Samsung screens….they are fragile as hell

We have the odessey g7s at our work and as they don’t have a handle to move or swivel the screens to sometimes even the lightest press on the screen is enough to crack it and make it useless
I can confirm that. I had a 49" G9 super ultra-wide, and these things break if you look at them in the wrong way. Also, the panel frame didn't hold together properly (yes). Build quality is all over the place.
 

Spaceman292

Banned
Take it from someone who uses a 55" OLED as a monitor, you do NOT want to be that close to it. Buy yourself a 100cm deep desk and you're laughing.
Seems like it defeats the purpose if you have to move it further away. Why not just have a smaller screen closer to you?
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Seems like it defeats the purpose if you have to move it further away. Why not just have a smaller screen closer to you?

It's about screen estate. A 27" monitor is one monitor, a 55" monitor is four of those, it's not the same thing. Nor is having 4 monitors side-by-side. It just doesn't need to be pressed up against your eyeballs to be functional.

100cm for a 55" is pretty much spot-on to be able to digest all the information on the screen at once without constant eye/neck movement. A curved set might make that a bit better, but still nah.

d9JBILv.jpg
 

S0ULZB0URNE

Member
It's about screen estate. A 27" monitor is one monitor, a 55" monitor is four of those, it's not the same thing. Nor is having 4 monitors side-by-side. It just doesn't need to be pressed up against your eyeballs to be functional.

100cm for a 55" is pretty much spot-on to be able to digest all the information on the screen at once without constant eye/neck movement. A curved set might make that a bit better, but still nah.

d9JBILv.jpg
To high.
 

Kenpachii

Member
Reason i didn't got a odyssey, build quality seems to be utter shit.

Also 55 inch is simple to big, and who wants to buy a expensive screen just to sacrifice 2/3 or 1/2 of the screen to some random information and having to deal with that split software. Hell my LG ultrawide advertised big with this shit and there software doesn't even work for shit if you got a elgato connected towards it.

The most pointless shit ever.

Also its way to big, its great if you sit 2 meters away from it i guess, but then why sit 2 meters away from your screen just get a smaller screen that sits closer towards you.

Also 4k is also way to much pixels to boot.

What they should be doing is releasing a 34 inch or the next step up ( 32 inch 16:9 size but then in ultra wide ) and call it a day. These company's trying to push 55 inch is never going to work.
 
Last edited:

Macattk15

Member
I'm sure that costs ridiculous amounts of money. Also no way I'd want to sit monitor distance away from anything that large.
 

Boneless

Member
It's about screen estate. A 27" monitor is one monitor, a 55" monitor is four of those, it's not the same thing. Nor is having 4 monitors side-by-side. It just doesn't need to be pressed up against your eyeballs to be functional.

100cm for a 55" is pretty much spot-on to be able to digest all the information on the screen at once without constant eye/neck movement. A curved set might make that a bit better, but still nah.

d9JBILv.jpg

Such a weird shape for a monitor, the top should be eye level. Ultrawide is much better.
 

Honey Bunny

Member
I got to try the G7 recently and man that curve felt horrible, actually made me claustrophobic. Won't be *as* bad on one this size though.
 
Why do they only show gaming? These things might be nice for work.

I use my Neo G9 for work (WFH/personal projects), and also gaming, since august 2021. I like it a lot.
It takes a few weeks to get use to the screen real estate and choose an effective desktop organization, but once it is done, it's great.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Yeah I'm down for this if the price is right. I work from home with a laptop and a monitor, so with this I can more than double the amount of screens. Pretty wild.
 
Last edited:

Boneless

Member
You're trying to apply traditional monitor logic to a TV, that's not gonna work. When you're 100cm from the panel you do not need the top to be at eye level.

Youre applying couch/console logic to a pc monitor. How are you planning to use mouse and keyboard when sitting 100cm away?
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Youre applying couch/console logic to a pc monitor. How are you planning to use mouse and keyboard when sitting 100cm away?

... What? I'm using both right now, what's the argument supposed to be here?
 

Concern

Member
It would actually make more sense to rotate it to vertical for anything that doesn't support ultrawide.


Don't play on pc so let me get this right. If a game doesn't support ultrawide, would it block off the sides of the screen?

Thats some bullshit if so
 

Three

Member
Don't play on pc so let me get this right. If a game doesn't support ultrawide, would it block off the sides of the screen?

Thats some bullshit if so
Yeah, if you go full screen it would just show black bars on the left and right. Same with movies. I have the Odyssey G9 Ultrawide (predecessor to this) and that's what it does.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
Youre applying couch/console logic to a pc monitor. How are you planning to use mouse and keyboard when sitting 100cm away?
I'm currently sitting between 31 inches (~79cm) and 40 inches (102cm) from a lg cx 55 depending on posture. it's fine

edit: that said, I would have bought the 42" if it wasn't more expensive than the 55"
 
Last edited:

Boneless

Member
I'm currently sitting between 31 inches (~79cm) and 40 inches (102cm) from a lg cx 55 depending on posture. it's fine

edit: that said, I would have bought the 42" if it wasn't more expensive than the 55"

Youre using a LG CX as a pc monitor? Do you use the PC for anything else other than gaming?
 

iHaunter

Member
One thing they don’t tell you about these Samsung screens….they are fragile as hell

We have the odessey g7s at our work and as they don’t have a handle to move or swivel the screens to sometimes even the lightest press on the screen is enough to crack it and make it useless
Putting your hands on the screen, regardless of what monitor, is never a good idea. Oil stains from your fingers can perm. damage that coating anyway.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
Youre using a LG CX as a pc monitor? Do you use the PC for anything else other than gaming?
mostly games. I am browsing gaf (in chrome forced dark mode) however I'm not worried about burn in because I usually keep desktop mode between 15 and 30 oled light level, black desktop w/hidden icons, minimizing start menu (with translucent tb to transparent the sliver at the bottom) as well as 2 minute black screensaver (in the few games it doesn't turn off with screensaver I have a logitech g-key to turn off the display when I walk away). if there is a risk of burn in it's much more likely from elements of the menu in games when I'm playing >50 oled light level

edit: and despite paranoia I've played thousands of hours in games now with fixed menus and it seems ok. seems likely by the time I get burn in that I would want a new tv anyway
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom