Samsung reveals off 500Hz OLED gaming monitor

OLED gaming displays are unbelievable (I’m typing this up on one proper now), however they aren’t good. Other than the upper costs, they nonetheless have decrease brightness than older, much less colourful panels, and so they’re nowhere close to as quick as gaming LCDs. Samsung is closing that hole with its newest OLED monitor… however you’ll need to pay for it. After which pay some extra. It’s costly is what I’m saying.

The brand new Odyssey G60F is a 27-inch, 1440p show, which is arguably the usual for PC gaming in the intervening time. However Samsung claims that that is the “world’s first 500Hz OLED gaming monitor,” a declare I’m not going to dispute. Certainly, 360Hz was the very best OLED worth I’d seen earlier than immediately. 500Hz places Samsung neck-and-neck with a few of the quickest typical LCDs on the market, that are simply now hitting 600Hz.

However you possibly can most likely predict the opposite shoe that’s going to drop right here. Samsung’s press launch hyperlinks to the Singapore model of its on-line retailer, the place the G60F is up for pre-order at $1,488 Singapore {dollars}. On the present trade fee, that will make the brand new monitor $1,140 in USD, with out accounting for any wild fluctuations in import taxes and tariffs.

For the sake of comparability, Samsung’s present 27-inch, QHD OLED gaming monitor, which may go as much as 360Hz, goes for $700 on Amazon proper now. And yow will discover panels of the identical dimension and determination with “simply” 240Hz for $400 or so with just a little deal looking. So sure, you’re paying much more for that further pace.

I’m positive loads of aggressive players are prepared to pony up that type of money — my editor Brad, for one, who was much more enthusiastic about this in our PCWorld Slack than I used to be. However contemplate you can additionally get a 49-inch OLED, with precisely double the decision and a nonetheless very respectable 240Hz refresh fee, for significantly lower than that $1,140 potential value.

Samsung’s press launch says the monitor will launch in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia at first, “adopted by a phased rollout to extra international markets later this 12 months.” Samsung is a significant OEM provider of OLED show panels, so it’s doable that this 500Hz pace demon will present up from different manufacturers, but it surely’ll most likely take fairly some time.