SAMSUNG 49” Odyssey CRG Series Dual QHD (5120x1440) Curved Gaming Monitor, 120Hz, QLED, HDR, Height Adjustable Stand, Radeon FreeSync, LC49RG90SSNXZA

First off, this is my first ultrawide or HDR screen, but I researched several others. It replaced 15 year old Dell and Samsung 24" monitors and I'll probably keep this one just as long. It is the size of two 27" 16:9 screens welded together, and you can easily work with 3 app windows side by side.This screen is amazing for gaming, nearly as immersive as my Oculus without the weight and heat. I play Halo Infinite multiplayer on High/Ultra (RTX 3070) with resolution scaling turned down to 55% to get 120 fps at full 5K resolution, but with something like Cyberpunk 2077 you'll need to choose between resolution and raytracing. In most cases raytracing will only make small visual improvements with current gen games so I don't see that as a big problem yet, but be aware it's an issue with a screen this big and you may need a beefier GPU. The HDR in games adds a great contrast range that actually makes a huge difference in immersion.The wide aspect lets you see much more of the playing field which makes it easier to watch your flanks. This alone has boosted my performance in shooters. Also, one really nice feature for gaming: there is a built in aiming reticle that can be turned on or off. This is sweet for hip firing or playing in hardcore when the game reticle is hidden... :)For watching HDR movies, you'll need a viewer that can handle 10 bit output. I recommend VLC media player, with the contrast turned up to about 60% (Ctrl+E, Video Effects tab, and Save the setting.) This gives a nice vibrant picture with bright, detailed highlights. I usually zoom so the window touches the top and bottom of screen. This gives a nice big frame without losing any of the picture.The only cons I've found with this monitor after 5 months: The blacks are not quite as inky as with an OLED screen, since the dynamic backlight zones are too big to be useful, and I've turned that feature off since it's actually distracting watching the bands turn on and off. There is now a mini-LED version of this screen that will probably solve this, but it's also more than twice as expensive. The standard version still has plenty of contrast with 1000 nits of brightness and definitely has that HDR feel.The other con is that after about a month, a single dead pixel appeared near the center. The pixels on this screen are small enough I never actually see it unless I have a white background, and even then I have to search for it. As long as none of the other pixels die, I'm ok with this.

I want to start by saying this monitor is amazing, hands down worth the money. It can almost replace your TV!(we will get to why it can not though in the cons section) Just make sure you have the desk space for it as it sits about 45 inches long and a good 9 inches away from the wall.Pros-Large, Very large, honestly it is game changing, I upgraded from a 35inch ultrawide and didnt think it would be a huge difference... I was wrong, and now I cant go back.-2 27 inch monitors with out the bar makes it great for multitasking, and better because you can have 3 full size windows screen up since there is no bar.-5120x1440p is honestly a must at this size, any smaller resolution and it wouldnt look so great. Another good thing about this resolution is that it looks amazing but its still not as many pixels to push as 4k making gaming on epic at max resolution possible-120hz You can probably OC it to a little bit more if you drop the color to 8bit or lower, and maybe even to 1080p(probably get 144hz) but honestly 120hz is a sweet spot for most gamers.-HDR10 yes 1000 nits of HDR beauty, only problem, is there aren't a lot of games that support it and not a lot of shows that do either. Still at the time of this review is the only 49inch with HDR10-Customize-able menus, you can change colors, black light,refresh rate,etc all at a push of a button.-Crosshair , yes a crosshair built into the monitor makes it so much easier to aim for games without it, and even helps for games with bad crosshairs.-Stand allows an above average range of motion(no swivel, but pivet and vertical movement)-Gsync/Fresync compatible (I tested it, it does work with this monitor)Picture in picture, allows you to see both HDMI/DVI ports at one time by splitting the screen or putting one in an overlay.-Qled while not as good as OLED, QLED does improve the blacks, RGB and still gives your a pretty snappy response rate.Cons-No Speakers (not that it matters too much at this price point, as if you can afford $1000 worth of monitor you can afford some solid speakers/headphones)-HDR on windows 10 kind of sucks at the moment, leaves a hazy look when you aren't on HDR content. And if you are in a game on fullscreen and try to adjust the volume, windows will tab out the game to show you the volume then tab back in causing you to miss a good 10 seconds.-If you use to a dual monitor setup for work, and you screen share a lot, this may not be the monitor for you. As there isn't a way to share just one side of the screen, you'll have to share the full screen-It is really large, had to buy a bigger desk to actually fit it comfortablely.(not really a con but still)-No movies or tv shows will take up the whole screen due to the aspect ratio of 32:9 Which is why it can't really replace a tv as you'll be watching most content on a 27inch portion of the screen and a few on 21:9. Now on chrome you can install an extension called ultradewide which will stretch out the content on most streaming sites but thats as good as you'll get.-A lot of games (like overwatch) wont support 32:9 aspect ratio, however most games that support 21:9 do support 32:9 and you'll just have to change Field of View. Rare exception is Overwatch which supports only up to 21:9-The stand breaks relatively easily, well at least the little connectors at the bottom.. not a big problem but still., as the monitor is pretty heavy. could be due to improper installation.-The box it comes in is revealing, I would make sure it gets delivered at a time that you're home as you can't hide it, it's too large, makes it an easy target for thieves since they know exactly what's in the box.-No way(as far as I know) to split the screen and have 2 full screens applications open, now this can be a limitation of windows or software, but I wish there was a way to do that because this monitor is the perfect size for it.UPDATED REVIEWIt’s been a few months now and the monitor is still holding up pretty well.Pros-windows has fixed the hdr issues where if you adjust volume while in full screen it would flash a black screen,-I believe if you plug in 2 HDMI/DVI into the monitor from the same computer you can treat it as dual screenCons-gets hot, you’ll notice if if you’re in a small room especially with your computer on.-This version is not worth it seeming the price is almost the same as the Odyssey but the odyssey specs are better.-if you a big into movies and videos this monitor is not for you, honestly I would say go get a 21:9 ultra wide or one of LGs new TVs with 4K 120hz, you can get a 48in for about the same price(it is tower however there are more months available)- it does support vesa and does include a vesa mounting bracket however there are few vesa mounts that are able to support this behemoth. I’m using one that is underrated for this monitor size so far so good...- Qled is good when the whole screen is taking up by content, on 32:9 aspect ratio but anything below that will have the black bars on the side(literally all streaming content and quite a few AAA games) since Qled is still LED it has a back light that noticeable fades away from the center. So you have the big bright grey area when it should be all black. The price of 32:9Overall still good however save your money for the odyssey/ a gaming tv unless you can find a used one. Samsung doesn’t offer much support or parts replacement for these anymore so good luck if anything ever happens to it or gets lost.