Samsung's new Odyssey Ark is an enormous 55" 165Hz gaming monitor with "cockpit mode"

Samsung’s latest addition to the Odyssey gaming monitor line is pretty bonkers – the Odyssey Arc (G97NB) has a curved 55” panel with 165Hz refresh rate. And wait until you see “cockpit mode”.

The Arc is a 55” 4K monitor with 1000R curvature (meaning the same curvature as a circle with a radius of 1m/3.3ft). The resolution is 3,840 x 2,160px for a standard 16:9 aspect ratio.

The panel uses Quantum Mini LEDs for local dimming (1,056 zones) combined with 14-bit processing. This gives it 16,384 black levels and a static contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. It supports “Quantum HDR 2000”, meaning a peak brightness of 2,000nits (with some Samsung marketing thrown in). The display has a matte finish for reduced glare and reflections.

The display has a refresh rate of 165Hz (with FreeSync Premium Pro support) and 1ms gray-to-gray response time. If you’re playing older titles, the Neural Quantum Processor Ultra can upscale them to 4K resolution.

The stand you get in the box lets you adjust the height and tilt, plus there are three wall mount options (200x200, 300x300 and 400x400). As for cockpit mode, it lets you rotate the screen 90° in a way that keeps the bottom part of the screen mostly vertical while the rest of the screen hangs overhead.

The Odyssey Ark in Cockpit Mode

The Odyssey Arc has an impressive sound system built in – there are four speakers (one in each corner) plus 2 woofers at the bottom for a total output of 60W (and a frequency response that goes as low as 45Hz).

The monitor has several advanced features that can be controlled with the included Ark Dial remote control. The Ark is as large as four 22.5” monitors and you can use it as such for a borderless multi-monitor setup (yes, there are four HDMI inputs). Or if you flip it in Cockpit mode, you can have a vertical stack of three virtual monitors.

Additionally, with Flex Move Screen you can adjust the image size between 55” and 27” and change the aspect ratio from 16:9 through 21:9 to 32:9. The Ark Dial is solar powered like the remote controls of recent Samsung TVs.

The monitor has several helpful gaming features. The Game Bar lets you quickly check that everything is in order – that you’re getting the frame rate you think you are, that HDR and VRR are enabled and so on. Samsung Gaming Hub comes pre-loaded, it will recommend games from multiple streaming services, including Xbox, GeForce Now an Stadia.

The monitor runs Tizen for all its advanced features. This also gives it Amazon Alexa and Samsung SmartThings support.

Pre-orders for the Samsung Odyssey Ark gaming monitor start later today. We're about to tell you the price, but you may want to sit down first - $3,500.

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