Samsung, LG gear up for launch of 8K gaming monitors

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., South Korea’s two largest TV makers, are bracing for the impending arrival of a next-generation 8K gaming monitor as gamers worldwide look for bigger and clearer screens.

Samsung, Korea’s top TV manufacturer, will unveil the world’s first 8K ultra-wide monitor, called the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, at CES 2023 in January, industry sources said on Monday.

The new monitor will support 8K resolution, meaning an image or display resolution with a width of 8,000 pixels. The 8K UHD is currently the highest resolution defined by the UHDTV standard.

An 8K display is four times clearer than a 4K panel.

Samsung’s new Odyssey Neo G9 will support Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s FreeSync technology and DisplayPort 2.1, the latest digital display interface standard, according to industry officials.

With a refresh rate of 240 Hz and a 32:9 aspect ratio, Samsung’s 8K ultra-wide monitor will adopt the quantum mini LEDs used in its Neo QLED TVs as the light source to enable an exceptionally dynamic visual gaming experience.

8K GAMING MONITOR ERA

Samsung’s rivals such as LG, Taiwan’s Acer Inc. and ASUSTek Computer Inc., and US tech company Dell also plan to offer compatible monitors starting early next year as big-screen gaming gains popularity in the stay-at-home contact-free era following the COVID-19 pandemic.

AMD, which recently unveiled new graphics cards under the Radeon RX 7900 series label, said several electronics makers are set to launch 8K-level gaming monitors next year.

Realizing 8K quality with a smaller monitor has been a technological challenge for many electronics companies.

With the arrival of high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs), however, home appliance makers have been working on 8K monitors to offset the display and TV market slowdown, industry watchers said.

Analysts said, however, that the high price tag of 8K monitors and the lack of 8K-compatible games remain as stumbling blocks hindering mainstream use of the advanced monitors.

According to market research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global 8K device market, which includes TVs, monitors and projectors, is forecast to grow to $26.8 billion by 2024 from $2.9 billion in 2019.

Write to Sungsu Bae at baebae@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.