Samsung OLED gaming monitor: here’s where to buy the Odyssey G9

Samsung’s OLED monstrosity has been released into the world and you can buy one today. Samsung’s Odyssey OLED Gaming Monitor, a 49″ OLED monitor with curved edges, is available for $2,199.99 through retailers including Best Buy, Amazon, as well as Samsung. This monitor debuted in January 2019 at CES.

The Odyssey OLED G9 isn’t the first OLED gaming monitor, but Samsung claims it is the world’s first 49-inch model. That size and its ultrawide aspect ratio help to set it apart in ways you’ll either love or want to avoid. Most monitors have a traditional 16:9 aspect ratio panel, but this one’s essentially a double-wide with its 32:9 aspect ratio (5,120 x 1,440 resolution); it’s like having two QHD monitors merged side to side.

If you’re wondering why this resolution is so desirable, there are more and more PC games available that support it natively. This can be done either from the start or through patches. Windows also works fine. Being able to place two screens of the same size (or smaller) side by side might appeal to you.

The other side is that some of the most popular (Elden Ring, for example) don’t include ultrawide support. You’ll have to instead view the 16:9 aspect ratio version of it with huge vertical bars flanking the image. If you’re a console gamer, this is all you’ll see, as the PS5 and Xbox Series X do not support aspect ratios wider than 16:9. Although these might not seem like a big deal to you, you should know about them when you buy a monitor that costs thousands of dollars. This is what you should do: much.

Odyssey OLED G9 has a refresh rate of up to 240Hz and multiple video connections, such as HDMI 2.1 and Micro HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, among others. It can entertain you even without a console or a PC connected, as Samsung’s Gaming Hub has built-in game streaming services, like Xbox app and Nvidia GeForce Now. All you’ll need then is a controller.