All that aside, these Samsung VA panels are pretty incredible.
At this point, Samsung is making 'VA-family' panels, but they're really a few
major generations removed from their VAs of old (and their >20ms pixel response times and horrific gamma shift). Those were hardly better than TN panels in most metrics outside of contrast, and worse in many.
And really, today's actual VAs, i.e. not Samsung, are still pretty bad. They don't
have to be, but between the panel manufacturers and the monitor producers (if even different), what comes out always seems to be some varying shade of arse.
What Samsung is producing isn't that. Not even close! So I'll say why I didn't pick up the CRG9 or Odyssey G9 (newer): I wanted more vertical pixels, I knew I could actually
physically-speaking use all of the width at once for games, and that I'd be using additional monitors regardless of what I picked up because I'm a multi-monitor whore. And while I truly do believe that Samsung has produced a 'VA-family' panel with great color, I still shudder inside at the thought of having to calibrate one if it ain't about right out of the box. Oh, and the audio reflection of that wide, strong curve: I was worried about that adding noise to my mic!
So, counterpoints to my own points above (sorry for the momentary thread hijack):
- 1440p ain't bad for vertical space; in my case, it was what I was coming from, so I'd wanted a bit 'more'- I was actually coming from two 16:9 32" VA panels, one 1440p, and one 4k with 150% scaling which is exactly equivalent to 1440p and as sharp as native to my rather critical eyes
- Main point is here, I'd literally be going down in physical screen space while keeping the same desktop space
- Counterpoint to that is that I'd probably have gotten another 49" 32:9 monitor and just stacked it on top, so long as the curve matched what I got for the main one and color would be able to be matched
- The curve is really strong, and that may put someone off experiencing it first-hand even if they thought they'd like it
- Color really should not be a problem, and my XPS 15 has a VA panel that calibrated perfectly on first attempt, so even I know that my troubles with VA panels aren't universal, and again, Samsung isn't making 'plain old VAs' anymore
- If you're using a headset mic, audio reflections probably aren't going to be a problem; I'm using dynamic vocal mics (the handheld style) with a boom arm I can swing in and out, and well, those pick up everything and there's really just not a solution for it, hence not wanting a giant parabolic reflector in front
As I look now, Odyssey G9's are going for US$1.4k on Amazon while CRG9's are going for US$1.2k. Realistically I'd go for either of those if you could stretch it. I was personally really drawn to the 240Hz of the Odyssey G9, and for desktop use too even; but I'd also need a new GPU just to be able to run it at that speed, and well, those are currently unobtanium too.
