Samsung's Vast 55-Inch Odyssey ARK Gaming Display Gets A Price And Release Date
Gaming monitors and high-end TVs are gradually becoming more similar to one another. Features like HDR (high dynamic range), VRR (variable refresh rate), and ultra-low latency are more commonly found wherever you might choose to play video games, whether that's on Samsung's super-ultrawide Odyssey Neo G9 monitor or on LG's classic C1 OLED TV.
Samsung now has yet another addition to its Odyssey gaming monitor series, and it's finally offered details on the long-awaited Odyssey ARK gaming monitor, which was first shown in January at CES 2022. If you haven't heard much about the Odyssey Ark, it's a beast of a monitor with an eye-watering set of features. For starters, it's a whopping 55 inches of 4K resolution with a 165 hz refresh rate, and that's on-par with the size of a standard living room television set — on paper (via Digital Trends). Its 1000R curvature allows for an immersive view at all angles, but it also makes those 55 inches a bit more manageable on a regular desk.
Samsung
Those 55 inches certainly aren't wasted, and with the Odyssey Ark's built-in Cockpit Mode, you can actually swivel the Ark into a vertical position that gives you wiggle room for three 16:9 windows stacked on top of each other. Jacob Roach of Digital Trends called it "remarkable to see in person," and we're inclined to believe him. That much space could give you plenty of room to have one 16:9 window dedicated to a game, another window for a Zoom or Discord video chat, and another window to monitor a Twitch stream — all at once.
It's as expensive as an 77-inch OLED screen, but it might be even better
Samsung has officially opened reservations for the Odyssey ARK on its website, and it's offering some savings if you choose to reserve yours right away. Whether you choose to reserve your ARK ahead of time or purchase it from a retailer after the reviews roll in, you won't have to wait too long as it'll become available to purchase directly from Samsung's website (and major retailers across the United States) as early as September.
The base MSRP for the ARK is $3,499.99, which is pretty close to on-par with certain 77-inch televisions like the 77-inch LG C1 OLED. However, there is a bit of a caveat here in that the combined size and feature set of the Odyssey Ark could make it a two-in-one TV and gaming monitor. It's already highly adjustable given the Cockpit Mode we mentioned earlier, but it sounds like you can also configure between 55-inch and 27-inch screen modes, or even switch between 16:9, 21:9, and 32:9 screen ratios. Not only that, but it mixes together Samsung's full suite of gaming TV features like AI upscaling and Samsung Gaming Hub with some important gaming monitor features like AMD FreeSync. And not to mention, this is a Mini LED screen, which should look at least as good as any OLED — if not a little brighter, since it's based on QLED tech.
Reserving and pre-ordering the Odyssey Ark from Samsung's website will net a $300 savings off of the $3,499.99 MSRP, making it a bit more affordable before it officially releases in September. The 55-inch rotating Samsung Odyssey Ark Screen's pre-order, starting August 19, 2022, will include a $100 discount and a $200 Samsung.com gift certificate.