Odyssey Neo G8 - 4K 240 Hz 32" Quantum Mini LED

Looks like the Neo G7 is actually what was intended to go on sale for $1099 but Amazon applied it to both Neo G7 and Neo G8 on accident.
 
My Amazon order from launch that got lost and was refunded is for some reason scheduled for delivery tomorrow. Lets hope it actually arrives lol.

EDIT: It actually showed up with both the outer Amazon packaging open and the Samsung box partially open. The instruction booklet has vanished and power brick bag was maybe 2 stops away from also going (wedged against open flap of box) but the monitor itself works fine.
 
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Some initial impressions after testing it a bit I think its a pretty decent monitor. Its for sure numerous firmware updates away from prime time as I've already encountered bugs like FALD completely turning off when enabling/disabling HDR requiring a power cycle along with some other oddities. HDR performance although slightly better than a Neo G9 is still pretty underwhelming IMO. I think there is something wrong firmware wise because enabling HDR looks worse to me than SDR and washes stuff out. Otherwise I honestly can't say definitively if this thing even gets brighter than my C2 in real content but I need to test it a bit more.

The other 2 issues are that for me its challenging finding the right seating distance. I am not an AR coating snob in the least but this is one of the first times a matte coating has bothered me. It looks super thick and hazy on white backgrounds which is made worse by my seating distance dilemma. I like to be closer to the screen for the curve to feel right to me but in doing so I get exposed to the hazy AR and scanlines become much more visible. Sitting farther away neither really bother me TBH. I think if you're at a decent distance its not a big deal.

No FALD grid at all but grey uniformity is mediocre. Visible splotches near the center like all of these super curved Samsung monitors. Vignetting at the corners.

Overshoot is miles better controlled than the Neo G9. Its low enough that I consider it a non issue when testing the same scenarios that bothered me with the G9.

EDIT: Yeah enabling HDR lifts blacks and makes stuff look washed out and terrible. Not sure whats going on but here we go again like the Neo G9 because this is similar to what that looked like at launch just not as bad.
 
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SoCali said:
EDIT: Yeah enabling HDR lifts blacks and makes stuff look washed out and terrible. Not sure whats going on but here we go again like the Neo G9 because this is similar to what that looked like at launch just not as bad.
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I also mentioned this and what I did to help was to enable contrast enhancer in the monitor menu.
 
StryderxX said:
I also mentioned this and what I did to help was to enable contrast enhancer in the monitor menu.
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Yeah I gave this a try but it crushes blacks and is just a bandaid. We need something in between like HDR actually working correctly. I'm going to keep experimenting to confirm if something is wrong.

EDIT: Yeah something is wrong with HDR on this monitor. Forza Horizen 5 looks like booty with the orange intro Vettes color being super washed out along with the entire image. Switching to SDR and cranking brightness makes FH5 look better. Like the Neo G9 at launch this seems to vary based on game/media but as is if you crank SDR's brightness with FALD on high it looks similar or at times better.

Guess which one has HDR enabled? Maybe some day Samsung can launch a working product.

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Like the Neo G9, setting local dimming to Auto caps the minimum brightness of the FALD zones in SDR so that the entire backlight is always active for the sake of desktop usability. Local dimming still functions in SDR but really at a bare minimum and only when something on screen demands more brightness than that elevated minimum level so you'll never get zones completely turn off. Low is the same as auto in SDR except it allows for greater dynamic range. Manually setting the FALD to High is the only way to get inky blacks and have zones turn off but in return you get lots of blooming on desktop since it becomes very aggressive favoring contrast over everything. Same behavior of FALD in HDR except Auto defaults to High with HDR enabled (high is required for legitimate HDR).

I dunno if its a firmware omission or they really got rid of the HDR picture modes but there is no longer HDR Standard and HDR Dynamic in the OSD with HDR active. The picture modes just mirror the SDR ones. Setting contrast enhancer on gets you to like 80% of what this monitor should look like in HDR and really shows what its potential is but its crushing black detail too much with that enabled so its a no go for me.

The curve is bizarre. Since its so aggressive in the center and gentle at the side the monitor looks like its bowing outward at the edges if you stare at it long enough.

I'm giving up on this thing until a firmware update comes out since its pointless to keep testing with HDR broken as it is. Its the same deal as the Neo G9 and why reviewers may have missed the issue because its only present in some games or scenarios. I can download a HDR test video from 4Kmedia.org and play one using MadVR and it looks amazing but then a different video looks like ass the same as Forza Horizen 5.

Anyway, probably not a good idea to buy this until a firmware update or two which based on Samsungs track record will take 1-1.5 months but hopefully sooner.

EDIT: Also in the above "HDR" screenshot of the monitor you can vaguely make out the scanlines. They seem to be much more present with HDR activated.
 
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SoCali said:
Like the Neo G9, setting local dimming to Auto caps the minimum brightness of the FALD zones in SDR so that the entire backlight is always active for the sake of desktop usability. Local dimming still functions in SDR but really at a bare minimum and only when something on screen demands more brightness than that elevated minimum level so you'll never get zones completely turn off. Low is the same as auto in SDR except it allows for greater dynamic range. Manually setting the FALD to High is the only way to get inky blacks and have zones turn off but in return you get lots of blooming on desktop since it becomes very aggressive favoring contrast over everything. Same behavior of FALD in HDR except Auto defaults to High with HDR enabled (high is required for legitimate HDR).

I dunno if its a firmware omission or they really got rid of the HDR picture modes but there is no longer HDR Standard and HDR Dynamic in the OSD with HDR active. The picture modes just mirror the SDR ones. Setting contrast enhancer on gets you to like 80% of what this monitor should look like in HDR and really shows what its potential is but its crushing black detail too much with that enabled so its a no go for me.

The curve is bizarre. Since its so aggressive in the center and gentle at the side the monitor looks like its bowing outward at the edges if you stare at it long enough.

I'm giving up on this thing until a firmware update comes out since its pointless to keep testing with HDR broken as it is. Its the same deal as the Neo G9 and why reviewers may have missed the issue because its only present in some games or scenarios. I can download a HDR test video from 4Kmedia.org and play one using MadVR and it looks amazing but then a different video looks like ass the same as Forza Horizen 5.

Anyway, probably not a good idea to buy this until a firmware update or two which based on Samsungs track record will take 1-1.5 months but hopefully sooner.

EDIT: Also in the above "HDR" screenshot of the monitor you can vaguely make out the scanlines. They seem to be much more present with HDR activated.
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Those scanlines are quite apparent on the grass screenshot you provided. I’m not seeing that on the Neo G7 after quite a bit of testing. But I’m still not sure about this monitor. I agree that most games I’ve tried look better in SDR. I do like the size and no risk of burn in, text looks nice, but not sure I can count on Samsung to improve the HDR. I’ve hovered over the buy button on the C242 since it’s release but one of the reasons I moved away from the FV43U was how uncomfortable it was to use when doing non-gaming things. I have some Best Buy GC laying around so I may take the plunge and compare the two. Could always get the geek squad protection and not care about burn in.
 
There is also this for OLED warranty:

https://upsie.com/tv-warranty/lg?price_ceiling=1499

TBH if you are someone who didn't come from an OLED this monitor would really impress. The scanlines and coating are a shame but if you sit far enough away for them not to intrude its acceptable (picture above of scanlines in game looks 5x worse than in person). In general I feel like it provides better PQ than a PG32UQX at almost 1/3 the price ($1099) and is the closest a LCD monitor gets to OLED currently. Its FALD so yes there is blooming and water is wet but its really subdued in actual content. Not to mention that it may measure significantly worse than OLED in pixel response but the perceivable motion clarity and overdrive tuning overall is pretty amazing.

In its current state this thing is dimmer than my C2 in HDR without a doubt. I threw some games up on both to compare highlights and the C2 wins by a mile. Whether that is attributed to just the HDR being messed up on the G8 I dunno but I really don't think it will improve beyond them fixing the washed out/murky/veil with HDR enabled just as they did with the Neo G9. It will still look dim and unimpressive. I'm also starting to question the SDR presentation because something just looks off in games.

Have you considered using the 42 C2 like this:



He also just upgraded to the 42 and has a video on that.
 
Have you ever used PG32UQX? Similar to C2, ASUS has PG42UQ on the corner. PG48UQ is already out. The price is similar to C2. But the monitors with OLED panel are all mid-tier in terms of HDR. Brightness is not enough.
 
kramnelis said:
Have you ever used PG32UQX? Similar to C2, ASUS has PG42UQ on the corner. PG48UQ is already out. The price is similar to C2. But the monitors with OLED panel are all mid-tier in terms of HDR. Brightness is not enough.
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If you use it in a dark room then it's mostly acceptable, it's only if you are trying to use an OLED in a bright room then it's definitely not bright enough. But yeah if it could do higher brightness then that would be better as sometimes I feel like my LG CX just lacks any HDR impact when compared to my X27, even in a dark room.

1657137292926.png
 
Yeah I had a PG32UQX at launch for a month before selling it to a friend. I don't have faith in any monitor manufacturer doing OLED justice yet after Gigabyte massacred the FO48U + Asus is using a matte coating on their OLED which may be a deal breaker. Maybe after they get a few models under their belt. Also I think its going to be a few hundred more expensive than C2.

If you're in the market for a 4K/32" monitor why on earth would anyone buy this globally lit trash over a Neo G7:

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16824012042

Maybe if you despise the curve but all of these other monitors should be sub $500.
 
Saying a 500nits full-field TV has better picture quality than a 1400Nits full-filed monitor is very questionable.
 
SoCali said:
Full field brightness is the absolute most useless metric to judge a display. I'd argue it's as useless as a 1-3% window and such a rare occurrence that it's irrelevant.
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If a monitor is capable of 1400nits, it is already packed by other features such as FALD.
 
This is one of the bugs I experienced yesterday and was finally able to capture it. When disabling HDR, half the screen will remain in SDR and the other half in HDR but whats funny is the right half that remains in HDR looks amazing and basically how the monitor should look if HDR was working correctly. There are all sorts of other bugs like the monitor getting stuck @ 240hz or FALD completely going haywire switching the OSD from 240hz to 120hz. I have no idea how this thing hit the market like this. Samsungs incompetence knows no bounds.

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Also I feel like this panel/hardware are on the brink of their capability. I'm not sure if its visible in this video but with HDR enabled there is visible crawling horizontal waves that go from top to bottom across solid colors. If you have the Windows store Vesa displayHDR app you can see it for yourself.

 
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I'm still getting flickering. Initially thought it was mostly during loading screens but noticing it in-game too. It's subtle but it's distracting. Does the same thing over DP or HDMI. One plus is that HDMI can run full RGB 12 bpc.

LG C2 is on the way, eager to compare the two.
 
waywardcitizen said:
I'm still getting flickering. Initially thought it was mostly during loading screens but noticing it in-game too. It's subtle but it's distracting. Does the same thing over DP or HDMI. One plus is that HDMI can run full RGB 12 bpc.

LG C2 is on the way, eager to compare the two.
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I'm not seeing any VRR flicker in games. Loading screens yes but I've yet to see consistent flicker during gameplay outside of big frametime spikes like in UE4 when assets load in from one area to another. That same scenario causes similar flicker on my C2.

I was going to test HDMI to see if HDR works properly there but looks like you've already verified it. What firmware version does your monitor have? Mine is 1002.1.
 
SoCali said:
Full field brightness is the absolute most useless metric to judge a display. I'd argue it's as useless as a 1-3% window and such a rare occurrence that it's irrelevant.
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SoCali said:
Yeah I gave this a try but it crushes blacks and is just a bandaid. We need something in between like HDR actually working correctly. I'm going to keep experimenting to confirm if something is wrong.

EDIT: Yeah something is wrong with HDR on this monitor. Forza Horizen 5 looks like booty with the orange intro Vettes color being super washed out along with the entire image. Switching to SDR and cranking brightness makes FH5 look better. Like the Neo G9 at launch this seems to vary based on game/media but as is if you crank SDR's brightness with FALD on high it looks similar or at times better.

Guess which one has HDR enabled? Maybe some day Samsung can launch a working product.

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The game you show is Kena - Bridge of Spirits. It doesn't even support HDR or Windows HDR. At least give some legit HDR.
 
kramnelis said:
The game you show is Kena - Bridge of Spirits. It doesn't even support HDR or Windows HDR. At least give some legit HDR.
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I know it doesn't support HDR but enabling HDR does that to the picture in general across games/media and is much easier to demonstrate in SDR with my phone in that game. In comparison, doing the exact same thing with my C2 (toggle HDR on and off with KB) makes 0 difference in how Kena looks.

I know you're trying to reach for the stars here but that effect of going from contrasty and normal to wash out city is the result in 90% of HDR games with another user confirming the same experience. Doom Eternal and maybe Horizen seem to be the only 2 I've tried where it looks ok. FF7 Remake, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Forza Horizen 5, Cyberpunk, etc all look like garbage as does the desktop. Gamma is lifted like crazy when enabling HDR and I really don't think the EOTF is tracking correctly.
 
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Actual HDR
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SDR
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The game is made with UE4. The HDR hasn't been professionally graded yet. You can only enable it through config file.
But if you unlocks it the highlight can be up to 10,000nits. So I doubt an OLED looks better in situation like these. OLED is not going to catch up with HDR. However, FALD miniLED/MicroLED can do better.
 

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You just proved my point while not understanding a word I said. Thanks
 
SoCali said:
You just proved my point while not understanding a word I said. Thanks
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Samsung does has more bugs. It is deceptive on its HDR with ABL miniLED. But it still has better HDR than much more aggressive ABL OLED.
And you are saying OLED looks better than the high-end FALD. It seems you already forget how PG32UQX looks like.
 
Yes PG32UQX looks
kramnelis said:
Samsung does has more bugs. It is deceptive on its HDR with ABL miniLED. But it still has better HDR than much more aggressive ABL OLED.
And you are saying OLED looks better than the high-end FALD. It seems you already forget how PG32UQX looks like.
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Yes I had to erase the PG32UQX from my memory because this is what it looked like:

470388_20210615_230546.jpg
 
For anyone interested I took some HDR brightness measurements in game and this monitor does indeed achieve 880nits on a roughly 10% size highlight vs 655nits on my C2 in a best case scenario but the problem is its FALD algorithm has OLED like ABL so the more bright stuff on screen the more it gimped peak brightness. I think Vega demonstrated this behavior with a video earlier in the thread. Most of the time it is indeed brighter than the C2 but there are strange times where lots of highlights on screen at once causes the C2 to average like 50-70nits more per highlight.

Once they fix HDR I think it will offer pretty decent HDR performance. TBH its not worlds apart from the C2 even in super challenging dark parts of games. Yeah FALD zone transitions flicker as highlights pan across the screen since its FALD is prioritizing speed and yes there is some "haziness" around highlights from the bloom polluting surrounding areas lowering effective contrast but without a OLED right next to it to benchmark its really impressive. Even though it crushes blacks, I suggest people just enable contrast enhancer once HDR is active in OS because otherwise it just looks terrible.

Here are 3 pictures I took that look as close as I can get to the eye using a MadVR HDR video file. The G8 (no contrast enhancer here) does look a bit better than the pictures to the eye, the camera is just blowing out it a bit since its brighter than the C2:

G8:

20220706_231406.jpg


C2:

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G8 if Vega took the picture:

20220706_231718.jpg
 
SoCali said:
For anyone interested I took some HDR brightness measurements in game and this monitor does indeed achieve 880nits on a roughly 10% size highlight vs 655nits on my C2 in a best case scenario but the problem is its FALD algorithm has OLED like ABL so the more bright stuff on screen the more it gimped peak brightness. I think Vega demonstrated this behavior with a video earlier in the thread. Most of the time it is indeed brighter than the C2 but there are strange times where lots of highlights on screen at once causes the C2 to average like 50-70nits more per highlight.

Once they fix HDR I think it will offer pretty decent HDR performance. TBH its not worlds apart from the C2 even in super challenging dark parts of games. Yeah FALD zone transitions flicker as highlights pan across the screen since its FALD is prioritizing speed and yes there is some "haziness" around highlights from the bloom polluting surrounding areas lowering effective contrast but without a OLED right next to it to benchmark its really impressive. Even though it crushes blacks, I suggest people just enable contrast enhancer once HDR is active in OS because otherwise it just looks terrible.

Here are 3 pictures I took that look as close as I can get to the eye using a MadVR HDR video file. The G8 (no contrast enhancer here) does look a bit better than the pictures to the eye, the camera is just blowing out it a bit since its brighter than the C2:

G8:

View attachment 489783

C2:

View attachment 489784

G8 if Vega took the picture:

View attachment 489785
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G8 10% is 2000nits, 1%-25% windows are well above 1000nits. How did you get the 800nits? What kind of test equipment do you use?
 
Ah the good old because marketing slides say 2000 nits than it really does 2000 nits. I know what a 1700nit highlight looks like after owning the PG32UQX. The G8 gets no where near that. Games with HDR sliders that you have to raise/lower until just as the center is no longer visible coincide with around 900ish nits. Above 50% window size the monitor is super dim even compared to a 4 year old X27.

Screenshot 2022-07-07 133601.png


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SoCali said:
Ah the good old because marketing slides say 2000 nits than it really does 2000 nits. I know what a 1700nit highlight looks like after owning the PG32UQX. The G8 gets no where near that. Games with HDR sliders that you have to raise/lower until just as the center is no longer visible coincide with around 900ish nits. Above 50% window size the monitor is super dim even compared to a 4 year old X27.

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The HDR test content isn't graded over 1000nits. G8 is dim at 50% at round 600nits, not brighter than X27, but an OLED like C2 is much dimmer at the same window size around 300nits.
 
SoCali said:
I'm not seeing any VRR flicker in games. Loading screens yes but I've yet to see consistent flicker during gameplay outside of big frametime spikes like in UE4 when assets load in from one area to another. That same scenario causes similar flicker on my C2.

I was going to test HDMI to see if HDR works properly there but looks like you've already verified it. What firmware version does your monitor have? Mine is 1002.1.
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My firmware is the same as yours, 1002.1. Got the C2 in today surprisingly. Going to try it out this evening.
 
QD OLEDs are just better in terms of HDR, just played HFW on a friend's CX and while the higher res makes a difference compared to the 1080p on my AW34 thanks to Sony's idiocy, some colors just pop way more on the QD OLED likely due to the much higher P3 color volume. Take it fwiw, to each their own.
 
QD-OLED might be better than other OLED. But it is not even close to 1000nits full-field FALD in HDR. The HDR on my AW3423DW is dim. ABL happens all the time. The whole screen drops dramatically after every flash, beam, explosion. A true HDR 1000 OLED hasn't come out. QD hasn't pushed the OLED brightness very far. It still belongs to HDR 400 with only 2% window of 1000nits.
 
kramnelis said:
QD-OLED might be better than other OLED. But it is not even close to 1000nits full-field FALD in HDR. The HDR on my AW3423DW is dim. ABL happens all the time. The whole screen drops dramatically after every flash, beam, explosion. A true HDR 1000 OLED hasn't come out. QD hasn't pushed the OLED brightness very far. It still belongs to HDR 400 with only 2% window of 1000nits.
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As some who values their 👁️ a bit, 1000 nits full fields don't interest me much 🤣 Just because everything is HDR now doesn't mean the ideal brightness recommendations go away.
 
Man, this monitor seems great, I have a Dell 3220DGF which is 1800R, I think that's the most I could handle. Why do they make the curve so aggressive on these monitors? Is there any plans for a flat version?
 
undertaker2k8 said:
As some who values their 👁️ a bit, 1000 nits full fields don't interest me much 🤣 Just because everything is HDR now doesn't mean the ideal brightness recommendations go away.
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It is always the excuse of 1000bits can burn eyes. 1000nits is fine as long as the light source doesn't flicker. But AW3423DW is an OLED. It has worse flickers bonded with refresh rate which harms eyes in long term.
 
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