Size matters: This Samsung gaming monitor is bigger than most TVs

Samsung makes some of the biggest gaming monitors on the market today with its largest being a whopping 49 inches. But 49 inches will seem quaint compared to its new 55-inch Odyssey Ark.

First revealed earlier this year at CES, the Odyssey Ark uses a quantum mini-LED panel with a 1000R curve. That display offers a 4K resolution and HDR10+ along with a 165Hz refresh rate and one millisecond response time. This means gamers will get a crystal clear picture without needing to worry about lag getting in the way of their gaming experience.

In addition to providing a high refresh rate, the Odyssey Ark will support AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for variable refresh rate (VRR). By eliminating screen tears, VRR is crucial for maintaining a smooth, artifact-free picture when gaming.

Another impressive feature included with the monitor is a six-speaker setup. Where audio is usually a second thought on most other monitors, that’s not the case with the Odyssey Ark. With speakers on each corner of the monitor — plus two woofers — Samsung designed the Odyssey Ark to surround the user in a dome of sound. It also will come with Dolby Atmos audio to further improve the sound quality.

Samsung Odyssey Ark: More features

For those of you who plan on using the monitor for things outside of gaming, Samsung has you covered. Through its Multi-View mode, the user can resize content and move it around the screen freely. It also allows you to have up to three separate apps open at the same time.

The display and audio aren’t the only notable features, however. One of the Odyssey Ark’s most unique abilities is it allows you to rotate the screen into a portrait orientation. Aptly called “Cockpit Mode,” in this position, the screen curves over your head as if you’re in a cockpit.

Last, but not least, the monitor also comes with Samsung Gaming Hub, a platform that provides quick and easy access to game streaming apps — such as NVIDIA GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming — as well as consoles.

Available for preorder today, the Odyssey Ark is set to release in mid-September starting at $3,500.

While the Odyssey Ark sounds very impressive, $3,500 is a rather large investment for anybody. Does anybody really need a monitor that may be bigger and twice as expensive as the TV in their living room? If you’re just looking for size and picture quality, a TV might be the better choice. If you’re on the fence, we’ve previously discussed TVs vs monitors and which is the right choice for you.