Samsung Odyssey gaming monitors just got schooled by an elite new OLED rival

Samsung isn't the only firm offering attractive, high-performance curved gaming monitors: LG's doing it too, and its latest UltraGear curved OLED display is a cracker.

LG's new screen has clearly been designed with the Samsung Odyssey G9 in mind, but it's different in significant ways. For starters, it's an OLED – so it should outperform Samsung's Mini LED offering when it comes to delivering crisp contrast and deep black levels. LG says its new displays are the world's first 240Hz OLED gaming monitors.

The biggest LG is slightly smaller than the mighty Samsung – 45 inches to the Samsung's 49 –  and it's rounder too, with a curvature of 800R rather than 1000R. That means more of the monitor will be in your peripheral vision, boosting immersion when you're playing. And while the Samsung matches the LG with its 240Hz refresh rate, the LG promises a response time of just .03ms compared to the Samsung's 1ms.

The spec and the $1,699 sticker price are overkill for gamers like me. But if you're the kind of person who'd happily drop over a grand and a half to get the best gaming monitor possible, response times really matter.

When can you buy LG's curved OLED gaming monitors?

There are two versions of the new UltraGear monitors: the 45-inch curved one and a slightly less massive 27-inch one with a flat panel rather than a curved display. The 27-inch QHD model will be $999.99, and the 45-inch WQHD one has a price tag of $1,699.

Unfortunately, though, you won't be able to get your hands on either this side of Christmas. LG's pre-order offer page says that pre-orders will begin on 12 December but that deliveries won't start until 28 December. So far pre-orders are only available for US consumers.

Not in the US, or not interested in something quite so massive as the 45-inch LG? We've just posted our in-depth Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 review. Spoiler: it's really good.