Samsung has announced a 55in Odyssey Ark smart monitor featuring 1,056 dimming zones, and a fast 165Hz refresh rate.
First showcased at CES earlier this year, the Odyssey Ark is a 55in VA UHD (3840×2160) monitor boasting Samsung’s Quantum Matrix Mini LED technology, enabling precise control of the LED backlight, which translates into 1,056 individually controllable lighting zones. This allows it to achieve a 1,000,000:1 static contrast and 600-nit brightness, peaking at 2,000 nits, providing in theory a stellar HDR experience.
This 41.5kg behemoth has a 1,000R curvature said to match human viewing angles and depth perception, making each corner seem to be equidistant from our eyes when sitting at Samsung’s 80cm recommended distance. Being a gaming monitor, it offers a 165Hz refresh rate, 1ms (GtG) response time, alongside AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. Nvidia G-Sync should also work just fine.
Those planning to use it as a one-stop shop for all their content consumption could make use of Samsung’s Neural Quantum Processor Ultra to upscale content up to 4K UHD, for a clear and sharp viewing experience. In the same spirit, to display multiple sources, this monitor allows you to hook up to four devices via HDMI, and switching between them is made effortless via an external Ark Dial.
The Odyssey Ark is quite unique, as it has a single cable carrying both data and power from the One Connect Box up to the screen, as is the case with many Samsung TVs. The Box itself can be hidden somewhere, or simply put on top of your desk for easy access to its I/O, which comprises four HDMI 2.1, two USB 2.0, optical audio, LAN, Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.2.
Samsung sticks with Tizen OS for its smart functionalities, offering access to Xbox Game Pass, Nvidia GeForce Now, Google Stadia, Utomik and Amazon Luna streaming services, alongside Amazon Alexa voice assistant and Samsung SmartThings support. Sound-wise you get what the brand calls Sound Dome Tech, a 60W 2.2.2 channel system made of four speakers and two woofers supporting Dolby Atmos and AI Sound Booster technologies.
The Ark can be adjusted in height, tilt and pivot, bringing us to ‘cockpit’ mode where you can switch the screen to portrait orientation allowing the use of up to three 27in sources at the same time – one on top of the other. You can for example display a playlist on the top, a stream in the middle, and a game at the bottom for the ultimate multitasking experience. The position, size, or even screen ratio of each source can be manually controlled via the Ark Dial.
“We’re giving today’s gamers what they want – a cinematic and immersive experience – with new innovations in gaming display technology that only Samsung can deliver,” said Harry Patz, senior vice president and general manager of Samsung’s display division.
Samsung’s Odyssey Ark will set you back $3,499, with up to $300 off for those pre-ordering now.
