Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 with 4K @ 240Hz and Quantum Mini LED Backlight

Originally published 2 January 2022, last updated 14 July 2022

Samsung showcased their impressive new Odyssey Neo G8 gaming monitor at CES back in January 2022 and we have a lot more firm information about this screen now it is available (in some regions). We thought we would update this news piece with latest information, availability and pricing for those interested. The Odyssey Neo G8 (full product name LS32BG850NUXXU or 32BG850 for short) is 32″ in size and combines a 3840 x 2160 “4K” resolution with a whopping 240Hz refresh rate! That’s the first time we’ve seen 4K at this refresh rate from any monitor. As if that wasn’t enough, the screen also features a ‘Quantum Mini LED’ backlight for improved HDR performance and local dimming and a peak brightness of 2000 nits reportedly.

It’s basically an update to their previous very popular 32″ Odyssey G7 display, and the smaller 16:9 aspect ratio version of their existing 49″ ultrawide Odyssey Neo G9 display.

Update 30 Aug 2022 – our full review of the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 is now available here

Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 Specs

The screen is 32″ in size and features a 3840 x 2160 resolution VA technology panel. Like the older G7 model this has a steep 1000R curvature as well. The resolution has been increased from 1440p to 4K now, but amazingly the screen still retains the same 240Hz refresh rate. This extremely demanding 4K @ 240Hz is thankfully supported by adaptive-sync for VRR from both NVIDIA and AMD systems. AMD FreeSync Premium Pro certification is listed.

There is also a 1ms G2G quoted response time, which although we would of course take with a pinch of salt, we are hopeful will be somewhat decent given the improvements Samsung had made with response times and black smearing on the older G7 models. Let’s hope for the same here.

In other specs there is a 1 million:1 contrast ratio quoted (because of the Mini LED backlight – see below), 350 nits brightness, 178/178 viewing angles, 1.0b colour depth and a wide colour gamut covering 95% DCI-P3.

Quantum Mini LED Backlight and ‘Quantum HDR 2000’

The other main update along with the resolution is the use of an impressive 1,196-zone Mini LED backlight, offering significantly improved local dimming over the old 8 edge-lit zones of the previous G7 model. In the same way as the 49″ sized Odyssey Neo G9 last year, this new screen uses ‘Quantum Mini LED’, which has been slimmed down to 1/40 the size of existing LEDs used as a light source. This should offer very good local dimming from an LCD panel, with high contrast ratios, deep black and high peak brightness.

The screen also apparently supports Samsung’s proprietary image quality control technology ‘Quantum Matrix’ and a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits. The Odyssey Neo G9 also had this same spec, but actual performance was quite variable and depended on which mode you were using. We’d recommend checking out the Hardware Unboxed review of the Odyssey Neo G9 for more information, which may give an indication of what to expect from the HDR on this new Odyssey Neo G8 display.

Samsung talk in their press release about how it offers so called “Quantum HDR 2000”. Last year there was some trouble with the branding of “HDR 2000” on the Odyssey Neo G9, something that we covered in our article at the time here: VESA Addresses Use of Illegitimate DisplayHDR 2000 Logo for Two Upcoming Monitors. It looks like Samsung are again marketing this new screen in a similar way, although they aren’t specifically talking about VESA’s DisplayHDR certification levels, but the naming convention is likely to confuse your average consumer. The bottom line is that the screen has a high peak brightness of 2000 nits+, but without conforming to any of the VESA certification levels it leaves room for a lot of confusion we think. Perhaps some certification will be added later, although currently the top tier (brightness wise) is HDR 1400 from VESA, and Samsung will clearly want to market their 2000 nits figure here.

Other Features

The stand has tilt, height and swivel adjustments. For video connections there are 1x DisplayPort 1.4 (with DSC) and 2x HDMI 2.1 (features not listed so we are now sure about console support). There are also 2x USB 3 ports and a headphone jack provided.

Power on for instant play. With Auto Source Switch+, your monitor detects when connected devices are turned on and instantly switches to the new source signal. This helps you get to your game action faster without flipping through multiple input sources.

Better save for a new graphics card – 4K @ 240Hz!

The most impressive feature of the new Odyssey Neo G8 is the combination of a 4K resolution and a whopping 240Hz refresh rate! We’ve only really in the last few months started to see 32″ 4K 144Hz models appear on the market, and while the release of this new Samsung display could well take a while to get to market, this does mark a significant jump up from those other displays in terms of refresh rate.

The increased 240Hz refresh rate is available in the market today on screens with a resolution of 1080p and 1440p quite readily, bringing about improvements in motion clarity, frame rates and overall gaming experience compared with 144Hz models. Samsung also already offer this 240Hz on their Odyssey Neo G9 display that was launched last year, a screen with a 49″ ultrawide format, 5120 x 1440 resolution and a Mini LED backlight.

While there are benefits in the increased refresh rate, it’s going to be a huge challenge for your system and graphics card to power 4K @ 240Hz, and so you’re going to need to invest in a top notch system to power this beast. This might be a job for NVIDIA and AMD’s next generation of graphics cards perhaps when they are released. To reach 4K @ 240Hz there are going to need to be some compression techniques used, and this will almost certainly be achieved using Display Stream Compression (DSC). It’s not yet clear what colour depth and chroma levels can be expected over DisplayPort, and over the HDMI connections. More info when we get it.

1000R curvature – is it ok on a smaller 16:9 screen?

The steep 1000R curvature might not be to everyone’s liking, although of course it comes down to personal taste. We saw this same curved format used on the earlier Odyssey G7 32″ model, reviewed back in September 2020. We personally don’t like a curve on these smaller, 16:9 aspect ratio screens, and as we discussed in our ‘5 Things We Would Like to See Change in the Monitor Market‘ article, we would rather see this kind of curve reserved for ultrawide format display. It would be nice if Samsung could offer a flat format version too!

Release Date and Pricing (updated 16/8/22)

The Odyssey Neo G8 is available already in some regions including in the USA from Amazon (affiliate link). Currently listed at a price of $1,499.99 (check link for latest pricing). No sign of it in other regions yet. It is also now available from UK retailer Overclockers at a current price of £1,298.99.

Update 30 Aug 2022 – our full review of the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 is now available here

---

Source: Samsung

---

We may earn a commission if you purchase from our affiliate links in this news piece – TFTCentral is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.ca and other Amazon stores worldwide. We also participate in a similar scheme for Overclockers.co.uk, Newegg, Bestbuy and some manufacturers.

Stay up to date

Please give us a quick subscribe on our growing YouTube channel to help support us, and to stay up to date on new content there!

Browser Alerts	Follow us on X (Twitter)	Subscribe	Support Us

Popular Trending News