Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 Monitor Review

The monitor is made of black and silver plastic, though the stand is metal. The bezel has a silver rim around it. You may find this tasteful, though it's also possible you could find it distracting with some content.

The build quality is excellent. The plastic materials are solid, and the monitor is well-constructed. Additionally, the five-sided base is metal.

The ergonomics are superb. It has fantastic height adjustment, so it's easy to place in your preferred position for a long gaming session. It also has a good swivel range, so it's easy to share your screen with someone else. The stand features a clip for cable management.

The flat stand holds the screen well, and you can place objects on top of it. The monitor has minimal wobble when bumped and recovers quickly.

This monitor functions much like a small TV, and you can change the settings with the included remote. There's also a joystick on the back to control the monitor and turn it on and off if you don't have the remote.

• DisplayPort cable
• HDMI cable
• USB-A to USB-B cable
• Remote
• Power supply and cable
• User guides

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 has a near-infinite contrast ratio, as its QD-OLED panel can turn individual pixels on and off. This means it displays deep blacks next to bright highlights in dark rooms. That said, like any QD-OLED, ambient light causes blacks to look somewhat purple, though not as purple as some other QD-OLEDS, so it doesn't display the same deep blacks in bright rooms.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 doesn't have a backlight, so it doesn't require a local dimming feature. However, with a near-infinite contrast ratio, there isn't any blooming around bright objects, and it's the equivalent of a perfect local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the monitor so you can see how the screen performs and compare it with a monitor that has local dimming.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 has okay SDR brightness. It isn't bright enough to fight intense glare, but it maintains its brightness consistently across different content. These results are with the following settings:

• Picture Mode: Custom
• Color Space: Native
• Game Mode: On
• Color Tone: Warm1

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 has reasonable HDR brightness. It gets bright enough to make small highlights stand out against dark backgrounds, but larger highlights aren't as bright. It follows the PQ EOTF curve well until there's a gradual roll-off before a sharp cut-off at the peak brightness. These results are with the following settings:

• Game Mode: On
• Picture Mode: Custom
• Brightness: 50
• Peak Brightness: High
• Game HDR: Basic
• HDR Tone Mapping: HDR10+ Gaming - Basic

ADJUSTING GAMEHDR

If you change GameHDR to 'Advanced,' the screen doesn't look as good, as it has a lower Real Scene brightness of 283cd/m² and is too blue. However, the PQ EOTF curve is very similar to 'Basic.' You can see the brightness levels with 'Advanced' below:

Additionally, you can see the brightness levels if GameHDR is set to 'Basic' with Peak Brightness set to 'Off':

The horizontal viewing angle is outstanding. Although it technically isn't perfect, you visually won't see any inconsistencies when viewing from the sides or if you sit close to the screen.

Like with the horizontal viewing angle, the vertical angle is outstanding, and you won't notice any inconsistencies when standing up and looking down at the monitor.

This monitor has fantastic gray uniformity, and there aren't any noticeable issues. However, like any OLED, there are thin gray vertical lines in dark scenes, but you won't notice them unless you look for them.

Blacks are displayed perfectly, with a uniform black level across the entire screen.

The accuracy before calibration is good when Color Space Settings is set to 'Auto'. The monitor doesn't have an sRGB mode, but using the 'Auto' setting clamps the color gamut to the sRGB space, though it clamps too much and colors are undersaturated. Additionally, it has only decent color accuracy.

While its color temperature is fairly close to the 6500K target, the white balance is off, and grays appear slightly cyan. The gamma is also off, as most parts of scenes are too bright.

No settings are locked out when using Color Space Settings in 'Auto'.

The accuracy after calibration with Color Tone set to 'Warm1' is excellent. While the white balance, color temperature, and gamma curve have improved, the gamut area is unchanged because Color Space Settings is still set to 'Auto'. When Color Space Settings is set to 'Native,' the sRGB gamut area is 118.6% and produces a worse result.

The SDR color gamut is remarkable. It displays all colors in the common sRGB color space and a wide range of colors in the Adobe RGB color space when Color Space Settings is set to 'Native.' That said, some colors are off in Adobe RGB, and it oversaturates red.

The HDR color gamut is fantastic. It has nearly complete coverage of the DCI-P3 color space used in most HDR content. It also displays a wide range of colors in the wider Rec. 2020 color space. However, white and teal are inaccurate.

These results are with GameHDR set to 'Basic,' as 'Advanced' doesn't look as good and is too blue. You can see the DCI-P3 and Rec. 2020 coverage with 'Advanced.'

This monitor has an amazing HDR color volume. Thanks to its QD-OLED panel, it displays bright and vivid colors without any issues, and dark colors look fantastic.

These results are with GameHDR set to 'Basic,' as 'Advanced' doesn't look as good and is too blue. You can see the DCI-P3 and Rec. 2020 volume with 'Advanced.'

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 has fantastic text clarity. Thanks to its high pixel density, text looks very sharp, and enabling Windows ClearType (top photo) improves the boldness of letters. These photos are in Windows 10, and you can also see them in Windows 11 with ClearType on and with ClearType off.

Though this monitor has a triangular subpixel layout, fringing is very minimal, and some people may not notice it at all. This may be in part due to the monitor's matte coating.

The reflection handling is incredible, and the screen coating reduces glare extremely well. The matte screen also helps reduce the purple tint often seen with QD-OLED displays, which is a notable difference from many glossy QD-OLEDs.

The gradient handling is remarkable, and you won't notice any banding.

While you can reach the max refresh rate with a 4k resolution over DisplayPort and HDMI, both connections require Display Stream Compression (DSC) to do so. Most modern graphics cards support DSC on at least one of the connections. If you're looking for an OLED monitor with a much higher maximum refresh rate, check out the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDP, which has a 1080p @ 480Hz mode.

In addition to FreeSync and G-SYNC compatibility, this monitor also supports HDMI Forum VRR.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 has outstanding motion handling across its entire refresh rate range with VRR enabled. CAD remains low throughout, and there's minimal blur with fast-moving objects.

The refresh rate compliance is outstanding. With a near-instantaneous response time, it makes full-color transitions before drawing the next frame.

The CAD at the maximum refresh rate is outstanding. It displays fast-moving objects as intended, and motion is extremely sharp.

The CAD at 120Hz is outstanding. Pixels transition to their target RGB level almost instantly, so there isn't any blur trail or noticeable inverse ghosting.

The CAD at 60Hz is outstanding. Pixels transition colors almost perfectly, and any noticeable blur is persistence.

Unlike the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G85SB S34BG85, this monitor doesn't have an optional black frame insertion feature to reduce the persistence blur further.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 has noticeable VRR flicker with changing frame rates if VRR Control is off. Although it isn't as bad as some other OLEDs, it's still there and can be distracting if the frame rate changes a lot, especially in darker parts of scenes. That said, this doesn't happen if your PC can maintain consistent frame rates.

VRR CONTROL

The VRR Control feature, which is designed to reduce VRR flicker, didn't work when we first tested the monitor. However, on 07/11/24, Samsung released the 1003.3 firmware version, which fixed the feature. When it's set to 'On' there's no visible flicker, as you can see here. However, when it's turned on, the input lag increases to 24.6ms at the maximum refresh rate, which is an extra 20.9ms of lag. Additionally, there's some stuttering when it's 'On.'

The backlight isn't technically flicker-free because it has a slight dip in brightness that corresponds to the 240Hz refresh rate. However, it's not pulse-width modulation. This is just the refresh cycle of the display, and you won't notice it.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 has low input lag for a responsive feel when VRR Control is 'Off'. However, when it's turned on, the input lag at the max refresh rate is 24.6ms.

When you attach a PS5 the monitor identifies that the console is connected, changes the input label to 'PS5', and automatically enters low latency mode. However, the monitor doesn't have an analog audio output, so if you want to use external speakers, you'll need to connect them to your PS5 another way if they only have an analog input.

Unlike the PS5, the monitor doesn't detect that an Xbox Series X|S specifically is connected to the monitor, but it still automatically enters low latency mode. However, the monitor doesn't have an analog audio output, so if you want to use external speakers, you'll need to connect them to your Xbox another way if they only have an analog input. The Xbox doesn't support HDR with 1080p or 1440p signals, so that isn't an issue with the monitor.

While the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 doesn't have an analog audio output, one of the HDMI ports also serves as an ARC port for you to connect a soundbar or receiver.

If you're looking for a monitor that can deliver up to 90W of power over USB-C, check out the MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED.

Despite trying a number of different cables the maximum refresh rate possible on M1 and M2 MacBooks is 120Hz. If you're using a MacBook, windows go back to their original position after reopening the lid or waking the laptop up from sleep.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8/G80SD S32DG80 comes with Samsung's proprietary Tizen smart platform built-in, offering many features similar to a Samsung smart TV. You can access applications like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Disney+ without a computer. It also has a limited Picture-in-Picture/Picture-by-Picture feature as you can view two sources, each with a 1080p @ 120Hz signal outside of Game Mode, and you need a Samsung account for it to work with two external sources. If you're looking for an even larger display that also has smart TV functionality, check out the LG 42 C4 OLED.

The monitor has other gamer-oriented features, including:

• Core Lighting: Controls the RGB lighting at the back of the monitor.
• Game HDR: Helps to optimize image quality for HDR games.
• Game Mode: Gives the lowest input lag possible.
• HDR10+ Gaming (HDR Tone Mapping): Adjusts HDR settings to optimize for either the game's original creative intent or visual impact.
• Virtual Aim Point: Inserts a virtual crosshair that your PC won't detect.
• Panel Care: Features to reduce the risk of burn-in associated with OLEDs:
  • Pixel Refresh: Adjusts pixels to provide a clearer screen.
  • Adjust Logo Brightness: Automatically dims the brightness of fixed images when it detects one on the screen.

The length of the warranty and its specifications can change between different regions and countries, so be sure to check for the warranty information for your region.