Samsung S49CG950/Odyssey G95C Review: 5120×1440 240Hz 1ms FreeSync HDR Curved Gaming Monitor

The Samsung S49CG950 (Odyssey G9) offers an incredibly immersive viewing experience thanks to its huge 49″ 5120×1440 curved screen that’s based on a VA panel with a high contrast ratio, high peak brightness, and wide color gamut.

What’s more, it delivers a responsive gaming performance due to its quick 1ms GtG response time speed and 240Hz refresh rate.

Image Quality

The Samsung Odyssey G9 is based on a 48.8″ VA panel with a 5120×1440 Dual Quad HD resolution, which results in roughly 109 pixels per inch. Basically, you get two 27″ 1440p monitors side by side, without the bezels in between.

Such high pixel density provides you with sharp text and details as well as plenty of screen space without any scaling necessary!

The extra horizontal screen space of the 32:9 super-ultrawide aspect ratio is also very useful for productivity work, video editing, and gaming, but not all games support this format natively.

Luckily, in most newer games, the 32:9 format is supported. In some games, you may need to tweak the FOV (Field of View) setting to your liking.

In unsupported games, you can just play with the regular 16:9 or 21:9 format and have black bars at the sides of the picture – or you can choose to stretch out or cut/zoom in the image to fill the screen.

Moving on, the Samsung S49CG950 monitor features a QDEF (quantum dot enhanced film) layer, which is responsible for its wide color gamut and strong peak brightness.

It’s factory-calibrated and covers 92% of the DCI-P3 color space (~130% sRGB volume) with 10-bit color depth support for 1.07 billion colors.

Further, the peak brightness of 450-nits can jump up to 1,000-nits when watching HDR content, which in combination with the excellent static contrast ratio of 2,500:1, results in striking highlights and vivid details in shadows.

The monitor also supports local dimming, but since there are only ten dimming zones spread across its gigantic 49″ sized screen, it’s not particularly effective.

Of course, if the Samsung G9 had a full-array local dimming solution, it would also be notably more expensive.

Regardless, HDR content gets a notable boost in picture quality thanks to the monitor’s good static contrast ratio, high brightness, and wide color gamut.

Performance

Unlike most monitors with VA panels, the Samsung G9 has a rapid pixel response time speed without the infamous VA smearing.

There are three response time overdrive modes: Standard, Faster, and Fastest.

We recommend sticking with the Faster mode as Fastest can introduce some pixel overshoot i.e., inverse ghosting.

At 240Hz, input lag amounts to only ~3ms, which results in imperceptible delay between your actions and the result on the screen.

VRR is supported up to 240Hz for tear-free gameplay. However, as it’s the case with all VA monitors, there’s some brightness flickering when FreeSync or G-SYNC Compatible is enabled.

It only occurs in certain scenarios, such as in in-game menus, loading screens and games with fluctuating frame rates. So, we simply recommend disabling VRR in affected games as screen tearing is not that noticeable at 240Hz.

Samsung offers a VRR Control option that prevents brightness flickering, but it increases input latency and introduces micro-stuttering, so we don’t recommend it. If you’re really sensitive to tearing, you should avoid VA panels or try using V-Sync.

Features

To access and navigate the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu of the Samsung G9, you can use the joystick placed beneath the bottom bezel of the screen. The menu is user-friendly and offers plenty of useful features.

For gaming, there are standard game-enhancing utilities such as Virtual Aim Point (custom crosshairs) and Black Equalizer (improves visibility in darker games).

You’ll also find various pre-calibrated picture modes, including FPS, RTS, RPG, AOC, sRGB, and High Bright (for maximum brightness).

The Picture in Picture (PiP) and Picture by Picture (PbP) modes are supported as well.

However, you can’t use FreeSync/G-SYNC or HDR in the PbP mode, and you’ll be limited to 120Hz.

Other features include standard picture adjustment tools such as brightness/contrast, sharpness, color temperature, gamma (three modes), etc. The backlight is flicker-free, and there’s a low-blue light filter (Reader Mode).

Note that you cannot enable local dimming for SDR content. You can either disable it completely or set it to ‘Auto’ which will enable local dimming whenever HDR content is detected.

Considering that there are only 10 dimming zones, this isn’t a big issue really.

We also recommend leaving the Dynamic Brightness option at ‘Off.’ These features automatically adjust the screen brightness according to the content on the screen, which can cause brightness fluctuations.

Design & Connectivity

The Samsung S49CG950 has a sturdy stand with decent ergonomics, including up to 120mm height adjustment, -5°/15° tilt, +/- 15° swivel, and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.

At the back of the monitor, there’s the Infinity Core RGB lighting, which you can customize with five different effects (rainbow, pulse, static, etc.) and 52 different colors. There’s also a headset hanger at the top of the stand.

The screen has a matte anti-glare screen coating, which eliminates reflections while the aggressive 1000R curvature matches the curvature of the human eye for a more immersive viewing and gaming experience.

Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.1 ports, a headphone jack, and a dual-USB 3.0 hub.

Price & Similar Monitors

The Samsung Odyssey S49CG950 goes for ~$1,000, though it can be found for around $800, which is good value for money if you’re interested in this form factor.

There’s also the older Samsung Odyssey G9 C49G95T model with a white design and HDMI 2.0, but it’s more expensive at $1,400, so we only recommend it if you can find it on sale for a similar price as the G95C.

Next, there’s the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, which uses the same panel as the G95C but with a 2048-zone mini LED FALD backlight for proper HDR support.

However, it’s too expensive (usually at around $2,000), whereas the even newer Samsung Odyssey G95NC model with a 57″ 7680×2160 240Hz panel and 2392-zone mini LED backlight goes for $1,600.

Finally, there’s the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 with a 49″ 5120×1440 240Hz QD-OLED panel and a more subtle 1800R screen curvature for ~$1,000.

For more mini LED and OLED options, check out our dedicated best HDR monitors buyer’s guide.

To learn more about monitors and ensure you’re getting the model most suited for your personal preference, visit our comprehensive and always up-to-date best gaming monitor buyer’s guide.

We also have a dedicated best 32:9 super-ultrawide monitors buyer’s guide.

Conclusion

The Samsung Odyssey G9 offers an incredible viewing and gaming experience thanks to its gigantic screen size with a steep 1000R curvature.

At the same time, the high peak brightness, contrast ratio, and pixel density combined with wide color gamut make for vivid highlights, deep blacks, crisp details, and vibrant colors.

Furthermore, its quick response time, 240Hz refresh rate and low input lag ensure buttery-smooth performance.

However, the mini LED and OLED panels are only slightly more expensive nowadays, so you should consider investing in them instead.

Specifications

Screen Size	48.8-inch
Screen Curvature	1000R
Resolution	5120×1440 (DQHD)
Panel Type	VA
Aspect Ratio	32:9 (Super-UltraWide)
Refresh Rate	240Hz
Response Time	1ms (GtG)
Adaptive Sync	FreeSync Premium Pro (96Hz-240Hz)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1
Other Ports	2x USB 3.0, Headphone Jack
Brightness	450 cd/m2
Brightness (HDR)	1000 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio	2500:1 (static)
Colors	1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC) 92% DCI-P3
HDR	VESA DisplayHDR 1000
Local Dimming	Edge-lit 10 zones
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)