The Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T is a budget-friendly 1440p gaming monitor. It sits below the Samsung Odyssey G7 C32G75T in Samsung's 2020 lineup, and it's since been replaced by the Samsung Odyssey G5/G55A S27AG55. It has the basic gaming features most gaming monitors have, like a 144Hz refresh rate, native FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) support, and G-SYNC compatibility. It's available in various sizes, as there are 27 and 32-inch models with a 16:9 aspect ratio and an ultrawide 34-inch model. All of them feature a curved screen with an aggressive 1000R curve.
Our Verdict
The Samsung Odyssey G5 is okay overall. It's decent for gaming as it has VRR support to reduce screen tearing and low input lag for a responsive feel, but it has a bad response time that results in black smearing. It's decent for media consumption because it has a high contrast that displays deep blacks in dark rooms, but if you're watching HDR content, it fails to display a wide range of colors and make them bright. It isn't bad for the office because it has a 27-inch screen with decent text clarity, but it has limited ergonomics, so it's hard to adjust.
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Available in different sizes.
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Decent text clarity.
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Decent for well-lit rooms.
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Limited ergonomics.
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Narrow viewing angles.
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Terrible motion handling.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 is mediocre for office use. Its screen is big enough for multitasking with two windows side-by-side, and it has decent text clarity thanks to its 1440p resolution. It has good reflection handling, but it isn't bright enough to overcome direct sunlight. Unfortunately, its ergonomics are terrible because it only allows for tilt adjustment, and the narrow viewing angles aren't ideal for sharing work with coworkers.
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Available in different sizes.
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Decent text clarity.
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Decent for well-lit rooms.
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Limited ergonomics.
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Narrow viewing angles.
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Lack of office-oriented features like a USB hub.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 is a decent gaming monitor. The 27-inch screen is big enough for an immersive experience, and the 1440p resolution results in decent image clarity. It also has VRR support to reduce screen tearing, and gaming feels responsive thanks to its low input lag. However, motion looks bad as it has a slow response time, and there's noticeable black smearing. It has a high contrast if you want to use it for dark room gaming, but it doesn't have a local dimming feature to further improve the contrast.
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FreeSync VRR and G-SYNC compatibility.
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Low input lag.
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High native contrast.
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Terrible motion handling.
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Lack of local dimming feature.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 is decent for watching videos. It displays deep blacks if you want to watch content in dark rooms, but there's noticeable backlight bleed, and it doesn't have a local dimming feature to improve the uniformity. Sadly, it's bad for sharing content on the screen with others due to its narrow viewing angles and terrible ergonomics, meaning the screen is hard to adjust, and the image looks washed out unless you're sitting directly in front of it.
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Available in different sizes.
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High native contrast.
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Limited ergonomics.
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Narrow viewing angles.
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Lack of local dimming feature.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 is okay for media creation. It has a large screen and high resolution, allowing you to work with two windows opened side-by-side. It has a good SDR color gamut with great coverage of the sRGB color space, but it has limited coverage of the Adobe RGB color space. Unfortunately, it has terrible ergonomics and narrow viewing angles, which isn't ideal for sharing your screen with others.
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Available in different sizes.
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Decent text clarity.
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Decent for well-lit rooms.
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Limited ergonomics.
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Narrow viewing angles.
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Can't display a wide range of colors.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 is disappointing for HDR. While it displays deep blacks for dark room usage, it has disappointing uniformity because there's backlight bleed, and it doesn't have a local dimming feature to improve it. Unfortunately, highlights don't pop, and colors aren't vivid because it has low HDR peak brightness and doesn't display a wide range of colors.
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High native contrast.
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Lack of local dimming feature.
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Disappointing HDR peak brightness.
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Can't display a wide range of colors.
- 6.7 Mixed Usage
- 6.1 Office
- 7.3 Gaming
- 7.2 Media Consumption
- 6.8 Media Creation
- 5.9 HDR
- Updated Aug 10, 2023: Added that the Samsung Odyssey G5/G51C S27CG51 is a similar monitor with a faster Response Time at its max refresh rate.
- Updated Dec 16, 2022: Changed the name to the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T to be more consistent with other Samsung monitors.
- Updated Nov 23, 2022: Updated text for accuracy and clarity to align with results of Test Bench 1.2. Also fixed test results in the SDR Color Gamut and PS5 Compatibility boxes.
- Updated May 02, 2022: We tested the monitor with the PS5's new variable refresh rate feature and confirmed that it's not compatible, since the PS5 only supports HDMI Forum VRR.
- Updated Apr 08, 2022: Updated to Test Bench 1.2, resulting in changes to the results and scores with the Response Time and Input Lag. Added tests for Console Compatibility and macOS compatibility and made minor changes to other tests, which you can see in our Changelog.
- Updated Oct 26, 2021: Updated review for accuracy and clarity.
- Updated Nov 12, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Nov 05, 2020: Early access published.
- Updated Oct 23, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Oct 21, 2020: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Oct 01, 2020: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 27-inch Samsung Odyssey G5, and the results are also valid for the 32-inch model. There's also an ultrawide 34-inch variant available, but it performs differently because it has a higher refresh rate and different resolution, and you can see the differences between them below. This monitor is part of Samsung's 2020 Odyssey lineup, and it has since been replaced by the Samsung Odyssey G5/G55A S27AG55.
| Size | North America | Europe | Aspect Ratio | Resolution | Max. Refresh Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27" | LC27G55TQWNXZA | LC27G55TQWUXEN | 16:9 | 2560 x 1440 | 144Hz |
| 32" | LC32G55TQWNXZA | LC32G55TQWUXEN | 16:9 | 2560 x 1440 | 144Hz |
| 34" | LC34G55TWWNXZA | LC34G55TWWUXEN | 21:9 | 3440 x 1440 | 165Hz |
Our unit of the G5 Odyssey was manufactured in July 2020; you can see the label here.
Compared To Other Monitors
The Samsung G5 is a decent budget gaming monitor. However, it doesn't perform as well as other similar monitors in its price range, like the ViewSonic VX2758-2KP-MHD. The ViewSonic has a faster response time, much wider viewing angles, and gets a lot brighter.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best 1440p 144Hz monitors, the best curved gaming monitors, and the best gaming monitors.
The Samsung Odyssey G7 C32G75T is significantly better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T. The G7 has a better contrast ratio, higher refresh rate, and much faster response time. It also has a better SDR and HDR color gamut, and it gets a lot brighter. On the other hand, the G5 has built-in speakers and is much cheaper.
Gaming-wise, the ASUS TUF VG27AQ performs better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T because it has a slightly higher refresh rate and faster response time to deliver a clearer image with less smearing behind fast-moving objects. The ASUS has better ergonomics, and its IPS panel provides wider viewing angles. However, the Samsung is better suited for dark rooms because it uses a VA panel that produces much deeper blacks.
The AOC CQ27G2 is much better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T. The AOC has significantly better ergonomics, faster response time, and lower input lag, especially when playing at 60Hz. However, the Samsung provides better visibility in well-lit rooms due to its higher peak brightness and better reflection handling.
The Samsung Odyssey G7 S28AG70 is much better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T because it's a higher-end monitor. The S28AG70 has a 4k resolution that delivers sharp text, while the C27G55T has a 1440p resolution. The S28AG70 has an IPS panel with wider viewing angles, and the C27G55T has a VA panel with better contrast. They each have a 144Hz refresh rate, but the S28AG70 has much better motion handling thanks to the quicker response time, especially at 60Hz, and it also gets brighter. The S28AG70 has a local dimming feature, which the C27G55T doesn't have, but it doesn't add much because it's terrible.
The LG 27GN800-B is much better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T overall. The LG has a much quicker response time, which results in a clearer image with less blur trail behind fast-moving objects. The LG has an IPS panel with wider viewing angles, making it better for sharing content or playing co-op games, but it isn't as ideal for dark rooms as the Samsung because it has a low contrast ratio that makes blacks appear gray.
The Samsung Odyssey G5/G51C S27CG51 is a newer model than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T, with a few differences. The S27CG51 has a flat screen compared to the curved screen on the C27G55T and has a slightly higher 165Hz refresh rate. While they both have blurry motion, the S27CG51 does have a faster overall response time. Lastly, the S27CG51 has a different stand with more ergonomic adjustments, making it easier to place in an ideal position than the C27G55T.
The ViewSonic VX2758-2KP-MHD is much better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T. The ViewSonic has a much faster response time, higher peak brightness, and its IPS panel provides much wider viewing angles. However, the Samsung is better suited for dark rooms due to its good contrast ratio, and it's available in two sizes, 27 and 32 inches.
The Gigabyte G27Q is better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T because it has a better response time that results in a clearer image with a shorter blur trail behind fast-moving objects. It also has wider viewing angles that make it easier to share content and gets significantly brighter to combat glare. The Gigabyte can display a wide color gamut for HDR, but the Samsung has a much better contrast ratio to produce deeper blacks.
The Dell S2721HGF and the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T are both 27-inch, 144Hz VA panel monitors, but the Samsung has a 1440p resolution while the Dell is 1080p. The Dell has a better response time, especially in dark scenes. It has better ergonomics because it allows for height adjustment, and the viewing angles are better, quite good for a VA panel. The Dell gets brighter to combat glare; however, you might still have some visibility issues in very well-lit, sunny environments. The Samsung has HDR support, but it doesn't add much since it can't display a wide color gamut.
The Samsung Odyssey G3 S24AG30 replaces the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T in the Samsung Odyssey lineup. They each have a VA panel with a 144Hz refresh rate, but the G5 has a higher 1440p resolution. The G5 also has much better motion handling due to its quick response time, and it supports HDR, but it doesn't add much because it can't display a wide color gamut. The G5 also gets brighter and has better reflection handling. On the other hand, the S24AG30 has much better contrast, but this can vary between units.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T and the Samsung Odyssey G3 F27G35T are part of the same monitor lineup, but they have different features and performance. The G5 is a curved monitor with a 1440p resolution, while the G3 is flat and has a 1080p resolution. The G5 is better for gaming mainly because it has a much quicker response time that results in smoother motion. It also supports HDR, which the G3 doesn't, but it doesn't add much because it has low HDR peak brightness and can't display a wide color gamut. On the other hand, the G3 has much better ergonomics because it offers height and swivel adjustments.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T and the Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 1.0) are both 1440p gaming monitors but with different types of panels. The Samsung has a VA panel that's better suited for dark rooms, while the Gigabyte uses an IPS panel with wider viewing angles. As for gaming performance, the Gigabyte performs much better. It has a higher refresh rate of 170Hz and a much faster response time. The Gigabyte supports a wide color gamut for HDR, gets brighter, and offers more features like a USB-C input.
The Samsung Odyssey G5/G55A S27AG55 is a bit better than the model it replaces, the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T. The S27AG55 has a nearly completely flicker-free backlight, so it's easier on the eyes and has better text clarity. The S27AG55 also has a much better SDR color gamut, with better coverage of the sRGB color space.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 S27AG50 is a newer monitor than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T, but they're different monitors. The S27AG50 has an IPS panel with wider viewing angles and a flat screen, while the C27G55T has a VA panel with better contrast, and the screen is curved. The S27AG50 has much better motion handling because it has a quicker response time, and there's no black smearing like on the C27G55T. It also has a slightly higher max refresh rate. On the other hand, the C27G55T's BFI feature works at a much wider range, and it has built-in speakers, which the S27AG50 doesn't.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 C34G55T is a larger variant of the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T with a 34-inch screen and 21:9 aspect ratio. The 27-inch version is also available in a 32-inch size, and they each have a 16:9 aspect ratio. Each variant has mainly the same features and design, but the 34-inch variant has a DisplayPort 1.4 input, allowing it to produce a higher 165Hz refresh rate. We encountered a lot of bugs with VRR and input lag on the 34-inch model that we didn't see on the 27-inch model, but your experience may vary.
The MSI Optix G27CQ4 and the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T are both good gaming monitors. They each have a VA panel with a 1440p resolution, and they offer similar features, but the MSI has a 165Hz refresh rate compared to the Samsung's 144Hz. The MSI is also flicker-free at all brightness levels, while the Samsung flickers at lower brightness levels. The Samsung supports HDR, which the MSI doesn't, but it doesn't add much because it can't display a wide color gamut.
The ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV is much better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T; however, they aren't intended for the same use. The ASUS is a budget monitor for content creators with superb ergonomics and wide viewing angles. It also has a faster response time, but gaming feels smoother and more responsive on the Samsung due to its higher refresh rate.
The Dell S2721DGF is much better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T overall. The Dell has better gaming performance due to its higher refresh rate, faster response time, and lower input lag. It also has wider viewing angles, higher peak brightness, and significantly better ergonomics. However, the Samsung's VA panel has a better contrast ratio, and it has a Black Frame Insertion feature to improve motion clarity.
The LG 27GL850-B/27GL83A-B is much better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T for most uses. The LG has a much quicker response time to deliver smoother motion in fast-moving scenes. The LG uses an IPS panel that provides wider viewing angles, while the Samsung uses a VA panel that produces deeper blacks for a better dark room viewing experience.
The Gigabyte G27QC is better than the Samsung Odyssey G5 C27G55T. The Gigabyte has a higher contrast ratio, quicker response time, and a slightly higher refresh rate. It also has better ergonomics and gets brighter. However, the Samsung has a Black Frame Insertion feature to improve motion clarity.
Test Results
The Samsung Odyssey G5 has a gamer-oriented design with an all-black body and a V-shaped stand. It has a ring in the back, but unlike other Samsung monitors, there isn't any RGB lighting. The curved screen is aggressive, and it's meant to bring the edges more within your field of vision.
This monitor's build quality is decent. It's entirely plastic, and it feels relatively sturdy overall. However, the screen seems too heavy for the stand as it tilts downwards at times, including when you VESA-mount it because the VESA screws aren't aligned with the center of the screen, causing it to tilt down. The stand feels cheap, and although it's easy to install, it's hard to remove.
Sadly, this monitor has terrible ergonomics. It only allows for a narrow tilt adjustment, so it's hard to place it in an ideal viewing position. If you want something with much better ergonomics, look into the Samsung Odyssey G3 F27G35T.
The back is made out of textured plastic. All the inputs are bottom-facing, and they're hard to reach with the screen mounted. There's a passthrough on the stand for cable management.
The stand's feet are wide-set, but they're relatively thin, leaving you a good amount of usable desk space. Unfortunately, it's a very basic stand made out of cheap plastic, and it wobbles quite a bit.
There's a single joystick located just below the Samsung branding at the center of the bottom bezel. It allows you to turn the monitor On/Off and navigate the monitor's on-screen menu.
This monitor has a good contrast ratio, so blacks look black next to bright highlights, but it doesn't have a local dimming feature to further improve it.
The Samsung G5 doesn't have a local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the monitor so you can compare the backlight performance with a monitor that has local dimming.
The Samsung G5 has decent SDR peak brightness. Except for the dimmer 2% window caused by frame dimming, brightness is very consistent across different scenes. However, it isn't bright enough to overcome intense glare, so it's better suited for a dark to moderately-lit room.
These results are from after calibration in the 'Custom' Picture Mode, with Brightness set to max.
This monitor has disappointing HDR peak brightness. It isn't bright enough to make highlights stand out in HDR content, and just like in SDR, the 2% window is dimmer, meaning small highlights don't stand out. Unfortunately, the EOTF doesn't follow the target PQ curve very well either, as most scenes are too dark until there's a sharp roll-off at the peak brightness, causing a loss of fine details.
These results are from the 'Custom' Picture Mode, with Brightness set to max.
The horizontal viewing angle is sub-par. The image looks inaccurate when viewed from the side, which isn't ideal for co-op gaming or sharing content. However, the curved screen helps bring the edges more within your field of vision, so the edges look the same as the rest of the screen.
Unfortunately, this monitor has a poor vertical viewing angle. This causes the screen to look washed out if you have the monitor mounted above or below eye level.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 27 has excellent gray uniformity. It's a little darker on the right edge of the screen, but thankfully, it isn't that noticeable, and there's almost no visible dirty screen effect.
Unfortunately, the black uniformity is bad. There's a lot of backlight bleed along the top and bottom edges of the screen, making the entire screen look gray.
This monitor has fantastic accuracy in SDR before calibration. Although it doesn't have an sRGB mode to clamp the colors to the sRGB color space, only a few colors are slightly oversaturated, which you might notice when browsing web content that uses the color space. The white balance is also great. Unfortunately, the color temperature is on the warm side, resulting in a red tint, and gamma doesn't follow the target curve well, meaning most scenes are too bright.
This monitor has exceptional accuracy after calibration to the 6500K white point. The white balance is nearly perfect, and gamma follows the sRGB target curve nearly perfectly. Most colors are accurate, and the color temperature is extremely close to the target.
The Samsung Odyssey G5 27 has a good SDR color gamut. It has great coverage of the sRGB color space used in most content but limited coverage of the Adobe RGB color space, which isn't ideal for professional content creators who require this color space.
This monitor has good SDR color volume. It can display dark colors relatively well, but it has trouble producing bright colors.
Although the monitor supports HDR, it can't display a wide color gamut. It has mediocre coverage of the commonly-used DCI-P3 color space and poor coverage of the wider Rec. 2020.
The HDR color volume is bad, mainly due to its limited color gamut and low brightness. It has difficulty displaying bright colors as well as very dark and saturated colors.
The reflection handling is very good. Its matte anti-reflective coating does a good job of diffusing bright reflections; however, visibility can still be an issue in well-lit environments due to the monitor's low brightness.
The text clarity is decent. Windows ClearType (top photo) helps with diagonal lines, like on the R and N, but it can make vertical lines look slightly thinner. The text clarity is likely worse on the 32-inch model due to its lower pixel density.
This monitor has superb gradient handling. There's a tiny amount of banding in the darker shades of gray, red, and green, but it isn't noticeable in most content.
Due to bandwidth limitations, the max refresh rate is limited when you send a 10-bit signal, so you need to send an 8-bit signal to get full use of this monitor, but that results in more banding. If you want something with a higher 165Hz refresh rate, check out the MSI Optix G27CQ4.
The Samsung G5 Odyssey supports FreeSync natively to reduce screen tearing. Although not officially certified by NVIDIA, it also works with their G-SYNC Compatible feature, but only over DisplayPort.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Standard | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Faster | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Fastest | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Freesync On | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at its max refresh rate is bad. Most transitions are slow, resulting in black smearing with fast-moving objects. When you enable the VRR feature, you can't use any of the Response Time settings. If you don't use FreeSync, 'Faster' has a quicker response time without introducing overshoot. If you want something similar with better motion handling, you can also check out the Samsung Odyssey G5/G51C S27CG51.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Standard | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Faster | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Fastest | Chart | Table | Photo |
| FreeSync On | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at 120Hz is once again bad. Enabling FreeSync results in noticeable smearing with fast-moving objects, but if you disable it, the 'Faster' Response Time setting results in better motion.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Standard | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Faster | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Fastest | Chart | Table | Photo |
| FreeSync On | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at 60Hz is terrible, and the smearing is even worse than with the higher refresh rates. If you want better motion handling, you'll have to disable the VRR and use the 'Faster' Response Time setting, which has faster overall transitions, but there's still motion blur.
The monitor has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly called black frame insertion, to improve motion clarity. Because it only flickers at 144Hz, there's noticeable image duplication with lower frame rate signals. When enabled, the screen becomes noticeably darker, and it remains active as long as you don't adjust the screen's brightness. It sometimes causes the screen to dim so much that we can barely navigate the on-screen menu, and we could only get the brightness to return to normal after unplugging the monitor.
| Refresh Rate | Motion Blur Photo |
| 120 Hz | Photo |
| 60Hz | Photo |
The backlight is flicker-free when the backlight is set above 0; however, there's a 144Hz flicker when the backlight is at 0, which matches the monitor's refresh rate. If flicker bothers you, the Dell S2722DGM is a similar monitor that's completely flicker-free. The replacement for this model, the Samsung Odyssey G5/G55A S27AG55, doesn't have this issue with flicker.
The monitor has very low input lag for a responsive feel. However, like other Samsung monitors, the input increases when you disable the VRR, and there's a mismatch between the refresh rate in the on-screen display and the input source's frame rate. Essentially, you just need to make sure to set the monitor's refresh rate to the same frame rate as your source if you aren't using VRR.
| Frame Rate | OSD - 144Hz | OSD - 120Hz | OSD - 60Hz |
| 144 fps | 4.5 ms | - | - |
| 120 fps | 16.1 ms | 5.2 ms | - |
| 60 fps | 24.6 ms | 25.3 ms | 9.2 ms |
The 32-inch variant is better for multitasking if you prefer the larger screen but has lower pixel density. The 34-inch variant has a 21:9 aspect ratio and a 3440x1440 resolution for similar pixel density as this monitor.
The monitor works well with the PS5, but due to bandwidth limitations, it can't take full advantage of it for 4k @ 120Hz gaming. It downscales a 4k image, which results in a sharper image than a native 1440p signal too.
This monitor works well with the Xbox Series X for signals up to 4k @ 60Hz. It downscales a 4k image, but there are limitations as you have to disable VRR and the color temperature is different than when sending a 1440p signal.
For the most part, this monitor works well with MacBooks. There are no issues waking up from sleep, it responds quickly, and windows are restored to their original position. VRR doesn't work properly on the desktop, though, and in-game, it only works well if your computer can maintain a high frame rate. At low frame rates, it flickers considerably and doesn't look very good.
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Comments
Samsung Odyssey G55T C27G55T: Main Discussion
Let us know why you want us to review the product here, or encourage others to vote for this product.
- 21010
I have received my 55" u8k after reading your reviews over and over. I came to the conclusion this was the right TV for me. And I abs9lutely love the picture. BUT YOUR TESTING HAS SOME SERIOUS HOLES.
You test for color, brightness, game lag, etc, but you DONT USE the TV !!!!!! I have found I can not switch from one station to the next until the TV has refreshed the schedule. If “No program” is displayed you sit with a blank screen until it’s refreshed…..maybe several minutes! Sometimes for no reason is switches to “Caption on” mode, and the caption freezes and displays the same thing for ever. Only solution is TOTAL FACTORY RESET and then reprogram everything from scratch…..wasted 20 minutes! Sometimes when in GUIDE mode and pressing up or down, only ½ the screen is shown under the GUIDE screen…..again only TOTAL FACTORY RESET will resolve the issue. Use the set like a real user!!!!!!!That is not my experience.. yes the OTA schedule doesn’t update immediately.. but you can switch channels without it
- 43230
Looking forward to the review!!
- 54340
Hi Rtings.. any ETA on when the 75u8n will go through your torture tests? Please expedite. Lots of readers eagerly awaiting some objective ADS panel results!
- 32120
Hey all! Thanks to the feedback from a lot of you in this thread, we’ve been discussing this internally, and can confirm that we’ll also be buying the 75" U8N. We still have a list of TVs we want to buy first, so we probably won’t purchase the 75" U8N for another month or so, but we will definitely be buying it. In the mean time, if you have any other comments, questions, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Thank you!! Your review on the ADS panel being used by Hisense is eagerly awaited. With the current pricing and steady increase in TV sizes, I think 75’‘ will soon be the new norm.
- 2104-3
Just to confirm, we’re not concerned about the financial side of things, and more so just worried about helping the largest number of people. Our data suggests the 65" models (for any TV) are most popular for users, so that’s why we buy that size. However, since we have a limited amount of time/resources, we try to test a wider range of models rather than multiple sizes of the same TV. Sorry about that!
Thanks for the response.. but I would like to highlight that your readers here that would love to have Rtings properly measure the 75’ ADS panel are asking you to review a completely different panel technology.
If both 65’‘ and 75’‘ had the same VA panel, then yeah it doesn’t make sense. But the 75’‘ is a totally different TV.
Please reconsider.
- 0-1-21-2
C'mon Rtings.. review the 75’‘ ADS panel already. I bet if you started a Kickstarter fund, you’ll get 2000 users contributing a $1 each to help you buy that TV model to also review.
- 21010
I am looking at this set, soley for watching movies and TV. I noticed it because of the good ratings and it supports HDR HDR10 and Dobly Vision… which sounds very cool. Also the local dimming and briteness. Imax is a bonus. What I do not like is it says 2G memory and it is a google TV. No google device can run well on 2G. I also see that there is mention of it being a bit buggy. Once I am done spending a grand that I do not have, if it is buggy… that will not bode well. Esp If I am not hope to fix it when my girlfriend is watching. There also seems to be some motion issues? I actually liked the picture on the LG next to it, with its short comings. I watch Netflix, hulu, Disney and apple. Not a lot of cable anymore. I like smooth motion… many sets hurt my eyes with what looks like vibration with motion. Am I going to be happy with this set or should I just go to BB/BJS and get a lower set?
2g memory? You mean 2gb memory? Where do you see that listed??
Motion is perfectly fine. It’s got a144hz panel and your video content are at 60fps, 30fps,or even 24fps. It’s got plenty of knobs to smooth motion to the level you want
- 21010
Hi! Gosh it’s weird, I for sure thought I had answered you before. Anyway, the LG B3 OLED is definitely superior for gaming. OLEDs are the ultimate gaming TVs, in part because of their near instant response time, which is important for gamers. The U8K has a good response time overall, but there’s a lot of people complaining about blurring and smearing when playing fast paced games on it. Ultimately with OLEDs now being on the Nintendo Switch and even the Steam Deck, gamers are getting more and more used to seeing almost no blurring in games, and going back to LEDs can be jarring. The Hisense U7K has a faster response time than the U8K, so it’s actually a safer option for gamers, and is the value option here. As for HDR Brightness, it’s true that the U8K will look better in a bright room, but if you’re playing games in a dark room it’s hard to beat the image quality that an OLED provides due to their perfect blacks. Ultimately, OLED is the best display technology for gamers.
Thanks for the long detailed response. I thought RTings believed in objective measurements to define value rather than subjective opinions from avsforum. Do your tests show smearing/ghosting?
What about OLED burn-ins and degradation? Your own tests repeatedly confirm issues. These OLEDs also have brightness limiters. If I’m going to game in a dark room, then I’d rather invest in a 4k projector instead of a B3 and get 4 times the screen size for more immersion. DLP projectors have extremely fast response times.
- 32120
C'mon RTings.. you said HDR brightness mattered, but then you voted a dim LG B3 into the list. For the price of the dim LG B3, we can get a 75’‘ u8k. Isn’t that better value?
- 21010
Ive had this tv (55u8k) for a week now and it looks beautiful…until the picture starts to move fast. Watching sport is especially irritating. Ive tried changing the motion settings and I cant find what works. The problem is when anything on the screen moves fast from side to side. Watching hockey really sucks. I dont know the correct terminology for what is happening but whatever is moving fast it looks like ghosting, or smearing. Sometimes the area surrounding the object that is moving fast gets pixelated or artifacting. I havent really noticed this problem in game mode but more testing needs to be dont. unfortunately i only have a xbox one x and ps4 pro so 120hz gaming isnt happening. not sure if this make a difference. I am considering returning this tv and getting an oled but they were out of my price range. Does anyone have an possible solutions?
Are you using the built in apps? If yes, try testing the same content with a dedicated streaming device (Firestick, Apple TV etc)
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Hi there, HDMI Dynamic Range: AKA Black Level or HDMI Video Range. For the Full vs. Limited, this has to do with how/where the TV is set to accept a full (RGB 0-255) or limited (YCbCr 16-235) signal. Everything will be affected, this has to be set correctly. Most TVs have an auto setting, and it should be left to auto. A note on HDMI Black Levels. This setting determines the amount of detail in blacks and shadows, with ‘Full’ offering a bit more detail. It doesn’t matter as much, as long as your TV and source are set to the same thing. Contrast: Changes the white level of the display. The contrast setting adjusts the amount of detail present in bright images. If contrast is set too high, whites could be ‘clipped,’ which means there is detail being lost in bright portions of an image. Too low, and the bright portions of the image won’t look bright enough. This setting should be pretty close to correct by default, but sometimes needs a bit of tweaking. It’s very rare for a new TV to clip the whites, so it’s fine to set the value to the max if there is no loss in detail at that high setting. In some cases, It can cause clipping of the white level, causing blown out scenes or dim (greyish) highlights. It can alter the appearance of: peak brightness, contrast, gradient, colors, overall image quality. So do keep that in mind. In general: You can play with the settings, since people have their own preferences for how things look. Our suggested settings are evaluated with calibration software and tools, and we pick what we feel is the most accurate picture mode, that will present the best in most situations for most users. Hope this helps
Thank you for the detailed reply. Is Contrast something that RTings can formally check? I understand that the look of the picture is subjective, but I would like an objective recommendation for accurate PQ.
My eyes can’t make out if increasing contrast from the default of 50 to the max of 100 is doing anything. To complicate that, there’s the effect of tone mapping. Maybe with tone mapping enabled, contrast values are ignored?
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Hi Kyle, Really need an expert opinion on the role Contrast settings have to HDR10 , HLG, and Dolby Vision. What does increasing from the defaults do?
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Hi Kyle@Rtings, Bumping the question on contrast again.. for the U8K, does Contrast at 100 affect HDR and color clipping / accuracy? Or I need to leave it at the defaults of 50?
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I’m noticing a very slight half second black out in the middle of watching TV. It’s not a cut to black, but a subtle fade to black. The screen looks like it blinks. This doesn’t happen a lot, just every once in a while, and it’s random. It’s not a huge detriment to my enjoyment, but it’s odd enough to be concerned and seek answers. What could this be??
Maybe Black Frame Insertion is on (ie setting under Clarity called Motion Clearness)
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I just recently bought the 75" of this TV. Have loved watching movies and shows, but for live sports it has been a surprisingly unclear picture and hasn’t handled the motion particularly well. Is this likely caused by the TV or something I need to change in settings or how I am streaming it? Right now I am streaming directly through the apps on the TV.
Apps on the TV aren’t very optimal.. it’s been dressed above. Please use an external player.
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Does Contrast matter to Dolby Vision or HDR10/10+? On my unit, I seem to be able to crank Contrast on Dolby Custom picture settings all the way up to 100, and nothing is clipping. Image looks brighter and nicer. Also the Gamma is always fixed to 2.2 when playing Netflix Dolby V.. is that expected?
Bump for RTings.. your expert thoughts are eagerly awaited.
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I watch TV during the afternoon, and on mild days, I would like to be able to see the screen with my curtains and windows open. So will the Theater Day mode and/or the Film Maker mode increase SDR brightness while maintaining a higher native contrast and better pre-color accuracy than the TCL QM8?
Filmmaker mode is for controlled night time viewing on any TV! As the name suggests, use Theater Day to have the set increase brightness to combat ambient lighting. Using Theater Day in a dark room is too bright for many people. This TV is awesome for SDR. Infact if SDR is what you watch, this TV is overkill. Buy a cheaper set with lower nits.
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My only reservation about this TV is that SDR brightness is lower than HDR brightness, unlike the TCL QM8 which has similar SDR and HDR brightness. The shame of this is this is currently the only 85" TV which excels at high pre-calibration color accuracy, high color gamut, and high contrast with or without local dimming. While I want SDR and HDR to be distinguishable, I like consistent levels between 480i DVDs, 1080p Blu-rays, and 4K UHD HDR Blu-rays. I understand the SDR brightness measurements were taken in the Theater Night mode. Would the Film Maker mode and/or the Theater Day mode provide higher SDR brightness, while still providing higher pre-calibration, higher color gamut, and higher contrast with or without local dimming, all still higher than the TCL QM8?
This TV is already too bright in SDR for content encoded typically at 100 nits. You are worrying about the wrong stuff.
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No, you definitely shouldn’t copy the SDR settings over to HDR/DV. Other than the white balance calibration on our specific unit, we don’t adjust the settings in those modes. For DV especially, we don’t recommend changing anything as those are the settings that have been validated by Dolby.
Does Contrast matter to Dolby Vision? On my unit, I seem to be able to crank Contrast on Dolby Custom picture settings all the way up to 100, and nothing is clipping. Image looks brighter and nicer.
Also the Gamma is always fixed to 2.2 when playing Netflix Dolby V.. is that expected?
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No, you definitely shouldn’t copy the SDR settings over to HDR/DV. Other than the white balance calibration on our specific unit, we don’t adjust the settings in those modes. For DV especially, we don’t recommend changing anything as those are the settings that have been validated by Dolby.
It would be awesome if RTings can also publish some YouTube test pattern vids that lets us consumers clearly and easily validate how their set is calibrated for SDR and HDR.
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Hi there, Our suggested HDR settings are: {HDR Theater Local Dimming: High Brightness 100 Gamma ST2084 Dynamic Tone Mapping: Off Color Temperature: Warm 1} We take PQ EOTF readings with a professional calibration program, and we assess the accuracy of the picture mode with different settings applied. When we had Tone Mapping enabled, it had a tendency to over brighten scenes. If you want a reference, it is not perfect, but it gives you a good idea, you can take a look at something similar to our HDR real scene photos. We are evaluating HDR video scenes, and we take a still from them. We don’t generally assess patterns for the EOTF behaviour because we want to see how it treats HDR real content (since this will translate into what most people will see when they use their TV). I hope this helps, and thanks for the questions!
Thx .
What about HDMI Dynamic Range? What is the difference between Full and Limited?
And does the default contrast of 50 have a role? Or for HDR it can be bumped all the way to 100? Or that can cause color clipping?
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I just got the 75u8k 2 days ago. Something is seriously wrong this new one. I tried to watch the NFL game on Amazon last night and it was skipping frames and was juttery. It didnt matter if motion clarity was on or off. A few times a player would be running and it would skip to him 15 yards further down the field. I had to turn the game off. Another more worrying issue was when I opened the menu during the game to adjust the picture, it started skipping a bunch of frames and run in slow motion like you were trying to play Starfield on a 20 year old computer. Its like it cant handle 2 things at once. Even changing the volume makes the picture skip. This morning I put my hard drive with my movies in the USB port. The movies would play correctly as long as there was no motion. If there was motion it would flicker across the screen. I might get an Apple TV 4K and if that doesnt work im returning it.
It’s been discussed on the internets that the Amazon video app , native to the Google TV OS, is probably badly implemented. Use an external player like a cheap Fire Stick. And try out other sources for playback.. like a game console etc.. to test the panels chops. USB drive playback is an unusual choice.. maybe the read speeds on your USB suck. The TV is unique that he has a USB3.. other comparable models from Samsung and LG don’t.
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Hi! We said that the ADS Pro U8K would have worse contrast and black uniformity, we didn’t say that it would have bad contrast. ADS panels have objectively worse contrast than VA panels, this isn’t anything new. But we’ll keep in mind the criticism in the future, to avoid any potential misunderstandings! We really appreciate the input.
I understand.. and appreciate RTings to honestly reveal its source of results. But considering how objective RTings is in all it’s testing, using a word like “worse” is very subjective. The casual buyer will interpret “worse” as “bad”, as no data has been given to quantify the degree of “worseness” in order to make an informed decision. I hope you can formally review the 75’‘ to provide an objective assessment.
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Hi there! We don’t differentiate between ADS and ADS Pro, as manufacturers don’t often tend to advertise the specific panel used in their TVs. What we do know from people who have reviewed the ADS Hisense U8K is that the TV’s contrast performance and viewing angle is similar to the Samsung QN90C, which likely uses ADS Pro, so that’s a good starting point to look at the differences between the VA and ADS U8K.
Thanks again for replying. I checked out your QN90C review at https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/qn90c-qn90cd-qled
The review says “excellent contrast and blacks”, and “excellent black uniformity”. That doesn’t correlate to the assumptions listed for the 75’‘ U8K which RTings assumes uses the same panel. Maybe RTings should remove the assumptions from the review?
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Worse contrast and black uniformity means that the TV will have blacks that look a bit more grey on the ADS Pro model. You want the TV’s brightest whites to be as far as possible from its blackest blacks, and with lower contrast ratios that difference is diminished, so bright highlights pop less against a dark background as a result.
Thanks for replying. But how do you know the blacks are observably worse? Or that black uniformity is worse? You haven’t measured this particular panel which claims to be some newer ADSPro tech. Are there other TV panels with ADSPro where you are drawing these inferences from? If yes, which one?
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Hi RTings, Can you please review the 75’‘ U8K and the 75’‘ QM8? Both TVs apparently have some significantly different features at this size. U8K has the ADSPro panel that you quoted in your review. It’s confusing reading your review whether the benefits are good or bad.. you mention “it has worse contrast and black uniformity, different reflection handling due to its glossy screen coating,” How much worse contrast? How is black uniformity worse? Also can you please check your Hisense sources to confirm the dimming zones? Is it true there’s only 1056 dimming zones in the 75 vs 1008 in 65’?. Shouldn’t a larger panel size (30% larger) lead to 30% more dimming zones? Is it true the QM8 at 75’‘ actually has 1920 zones? That’s almost double and should be a game changer. Please review these sets and clarify these burning questions being asked by many users.