Samsung brings new Odyssey monitors to Singapore, including the glasses-free Odyssey 3D

Samsung has announced that three new monitors in its gaming-focused Odyssey line are heading to our sunny island. While it might not be the largest lineup ever put out in an announcement, there's quite an eclectic mix of features among them. These new monitors are the 27-inch and 32-inch Odyssey OLED G8, the newly updated 49-inch Odyssey G9, and the 27-inch Odyssey 3D.

To be clear, these monitors have already been unveiled in prior months; The G8 and G9 was first revealed in January ahead of this year's CES, while the Odyssey 3D has seen a long journey from a concept at CES 2024 before demoed at Gamescom. The arrival of these monitors to Singapore has been a long time coming, and while they're feature-packed, they're not exactly wallet-friendly.

The star among these new monitors is the Odyssey 3D (G90XF). After their initial popularity in the early 2010s, 3D monitors have become a bit of a rare animal these days, let alone glasses-free 3D (only the ThinkVision 27 3D and Acer Predator SpatialLabs come to mind). This is the niche that the Odyssey 3D wants to fill, featuring a combination of eye-tracking tech and a proprietary lenticular lens layer to create a 3D effect.

Outside of the 3D features, the monitor also sports an IPS 165Hz panel with a 1ms Gray-to-Gray (GtG) response time, and has a 4K resolution at 16:9. Samsung is also partnering with gaming developers Nexon, Neowiz and Hoyoverse, allowing them to maximise the Odyssey 3D's capabilities in their games: The First Berserker: Khazan, Lie of P's Overture DLC, and Genshin Impact, respectively. The full list of 3D supported games is in Samsung's Reality Hub app.

Speaking of which, you'll need the app to get the most out of the Odyssey 3D. Native 3D content is available in the app, but you'll also need it for what is probably the Odyssey's most divisive feature, its AI-powered 2D-to-3D video conversion. 

While it sounds technically impressive on paper, and Samsung says it works with "nearly all content", there are a number of caveats. Notably, Samsung recommends a minimum NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card to get the best out of the experience. Additionally, the video conversion only works with NVIDIA GPUs, and is not supported for DRM content or for the monitor's HDR mode. These restrictions, plus the fact that not all videos are suited for 3D conversion, makes it somewhat gimmicky, but who knows, it might find its home amongst a niche audience.

The new Odyssey G9 and G8 might not be at the cutting-edge of 3D technology, but they're still extremely capable – on paper at least. The new Odyssey G9 (G91F) is an update to the G9 series of huge curved monitors, and features a 49-inch 144Hz VA panel, with a 5,120 x 1,440 resolution at an aspect ratio of 32:9, along with a 1ms GtG response time. 

The new G9 also has VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification, as well as Samsung's proprietary HDR10+ Gaming standard.

The Odyssey OLED G8 (G81SF), while the most 'standard' looking out of the three monitors, is also the only one to sport an OLED display. Coming in at 27- and 32-inch sizes, the OLED G8 has a 4K OLED panel at 16:9, and while the brightness of 260cd/m2 doesn't quite match up to the other two monitors (which support a typical brightness of 350cd/m2), it does also have a 240Hz refresh rate and a 0.03ms GtG response time. 

The OLED G8 also supports some special cooling technology in Samsung's OLED Safeguard+, which utilises a Pulsating Heat Pipe that Samsung says will dissipate heat five times more efficiently than traditional graphite sheets, protecting the display from burn-in without having to lower your brightness.

Pricing and availability

The new Odyssey monitors will be up for pre-order on Samsung's website from 7 April to 20 April, and potential customers can indicate their interest here. Those who fill out the form can stand a chance to receive some exclusive gifts too; The First Berserker: Khazan full game and a 1TB Samsung PSSD Shield will be bundled with a Odyssey 3D purchase, while those purchasing the G9 or G8 can get a 1TB Samsung PSSD Shield and a gaming mat. 

As for the monitors themselves, this is how much they'll cost during and after the pre-order:

These aren't cheap monitors by any means, though the pre-order discounts do make an (albeit small) dent in the prices. Given that the pre-order period hasn't started yet, you'll have some time to mull over whether these thousand-dollar prices are worth it. 

After the pre-order period, the monitors will be available on Samsung's Online Store, Samsung's official stores on Lazada and Shopee, as well as major IT retailers starting 21 April.

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