Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC27G75T) review

Curved monitors are definitely not something new. They even made their way to the laptop world. Indeed, the device (the Predator 21X) was very niche and stupidly expensive, but still, they managed to do it. As technology progresses, the prices go down, hence, you can buy a 27-inch 1440p 240Hz curved monitor for about $500.

It is called the Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC27G75T) and boasts a 1000R curvature. The rule of thumb says that the lower the number before the “R” – the curvier your display will be. Ultimately, it means that a 1000R curve forms a 1000mm (1 meter) circle around itself. Thus, a 1800R curve would form a larger circle, which results in a “flatter” screen.

Interestingly, this gaming monitor is built on QLED technology. What this means, is that you get a conventional LED backlight, but the LCD layer is utilizing the Quantum Dot technology, which should be able to produce a more precise color matchup. Another interesting feature about it is the support of HDR600, G-SYNC, and FreeSync Premium Pro. We’ll talk more about the qualities of the panel later on. First, let’s take the device out of its packaging.

You can check the current price of the Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC27G75T) here: Buy from Flipkart.com

Contents


Unboxing and setup

Inside the packaging, you will find the regular paperwork. Besides it, you will some parts for the stand, as well as instructions on how to assemble the entire thing. This is not all, however, as you get a separate charger, a DisplayPort cable, and a USB Type-A to USB Type-B port.


Design and construction

The visuals are really something irrelevant when it comes to fast-paced gaming displays. Nevertheless, we have some expectations, at least in terms of build quality.

It is also always interesting to see a curved monitor, and the way manufacturers executed it. Here, the finish on the actual display is really smooth, which means Samsung has done a really good job.


Although there are no speakers found on this device, you will see a lot of slots and gaps. And there is only one reason for that – aggression.

Furthermore, the hinge allows you to orient the display in whatever position you feel most comfortable working with.


The stand itself is pretty solid, which means your monitor shouldn’t fall off the counter unless a Fukushima-style earthquake doesn’t rock your region.

Ports

So, the I/O consists of one USB Type-B port, two USB Type-A 3.0 ports, an HDMI 2.0 connector, two DisplayPort 1.4s, and an audio jack.


Display quality

Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC27G75T) is equipped with a QLED panel. Its diagonal is 27″ (69 cm), has a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, and a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz through the DisplayPort output. The screen ratio is 16:9, and we are looking at a pixel density of – 109 ppi, and a pitch of 0.23 х 0.23 mm. The screen turns into Retina when viewed at distance equal to or greater than 80cm (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels).

It has comfortable viewing angles. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.

We measured a maximum brightness of 362 nits in the middle of the screen (“Custom color” – RGB 50, 50, 50 after Reset). The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and maximum brightness is 6700K.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective.

Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the monitor for color-sensitive work. The contrast ratio is very good – 2610:1.
All tests are made with the monitor connected to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream display.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC27G75T)’s color gamut coverage in the default mode in the first graphic and in “sRGB” mode in the second.

This display covers 100% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976 and 96% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

The second image emulates the sRGB color space, used on the Web.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB encoding curve. We’ve used the “Color temperature User Mode – RGB R50, G51, B49” preset, and compared it to the “sRGB Mode” preset.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of the Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC27G75T) with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right). The comparison is made with the “Standard” preset.

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

The response time of the pixels shouldn’t be slower than the refresh cycle of the screen (16.67 ms for 60Hz, 6.94 ms for 144Hz, and so on). Ultimately, this results in ghosting, caused by the pixel’s inability to change in that amount of time, thus continuing in the next frame. In order to battle that issue, manufacturers use Overdrive. Essentially, this is a technique for RTC (Response Time Compensation). What does it do? Well, it supplies higher voltage to the crystals (in LCD monitors), which makes them switch their position faster. However, excessive levels of Overdrive can result in Overshooting, which transforms into inverse ghosting, coronas, and artifacts, obviously affecting the image quality in a negative way. This is why many manufacturers provide several levels of Overdrive, so you can choose which suits you best.

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa and maximum brightness.

Then, there is the same test but with “Resp. time: Faster-MBR” mode enabled. This makes the backlight turn on and off rapidly, which obviously lowers the reaction times, but is definitely not healthy

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude and maximum brightness.




And lastly – the same graphics with “FPS mode” enabled.





PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC27G75T)’s backlight is not PWM-adjusted at any brightness level. This makes it comfortable for your eyes in this aspect even during long working periods. However, if you enable the “Resp. time: Faster-MBR” function, this changes. Although it has a positive visual effect, it basically turns on and off the backlight, which is not great for the more sensitive users.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Gloss level measurement

Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the measurements show a value of 61.6 GU).


Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for the Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC27G75T).

In this case, the profiles are ready for work after a factory reset, except for the Gaming and Web design profile, where you need to set the display to the “sRGB mode”. Interestingly, depending on the ambient light and the game you’re playing it is highly possible that the Office Work profile might be more appealing than the Gaming and Web design one.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Verdict

Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC27G75T) is able to display a pretty crisp image, courtesy of its high resolution, quick pixel response time, and comfortable backlight when PWM usage is concerned. Interestingly, the “Fastest-MBR” offers only a small improvement in visual perception but has a significant negative effect on the more sensitive users out there.

Nevertheless, the monitor covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut, as well as 96% of the DCI-P3 one. This makes the image look really attractive. Its 240Hz refresh rate and curved surface make the panel extremely comfortable for gaming. In addition, it is pretty solid for content creation too, especially with our profiles enabled.

Surely, the stand plays a big role in the overall experience. You have a lot of options to move the display around, but we are not really sure you should do that, since the curved monitor actually eliminates the need to further change your viewing aspect.

Now, you may have found it out already, but the contrast ratio is very high. This is due to the QLED technology. The regular IPS LCD panel will never be the same again. Not only that, but it supports HDR600, G-SYNC, and FreeSync Premium Pro.

Ultimately, this monitor is a great addition to your gaming setup. In our view, the only thing you need to do if you buy it is not to touch the MBR options – you don’t really need it with this display.

You can check the current price of the Samsung Odyssey G7 (LC27G75T) here: Buy from Flipkart.com

Pros

  • 1000R curved monitor
  • QLED panel with 240Hz refresh rate
  • HDR600, G-SYNC, FreeSync Premium Pro support
  • Adjustable height, tilt, swivel, and pivot
  • Complete sRGB and 96% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage


Cons

  • MBR forces it to use PWM

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