You know that feeling when tech actually surprises you? It doesn’t happen often these days. Monitors have been getting incrementally better—sharper, faster, brighter, bigger—but rarely do they do something that makes you stop and just stare. That’s exactly what happened when I tried the Samsung Odyssey G90XF for the first time.
This is a 3D gaming monitor which lets you watch 3D content without glasses. There’s something strangely magical about seeing flat content come alive—whether it’s a 2D YouTube video suddenly gaining depth or a game world feeling like it’s wrapping around you. While the Odyssey G90XF nails the “wow” factor, I’m still left wondering whether this kind of 3D magic has a real place in the everyday —or if it’s destined to stay a party trick for the few moments we feel like being amazed. I spent some time with the G90XF, here’s my first impression.
The Tech Behind Samsung Odyssey 3D G90XF’s Display
Well, the first question that comes to mind is how does 3D work on a monitor? The Samsung Odyssey 3D uses a lenticular filter integrated directly into the display panel, a common inclusion in the world of glasses-free 3D tech. It basically makes different images for each eye, tricking your mind into thinking there’s a depth effect, so that automatically creates the illusion of 3D.
But, that alone does not work on a monitor — you would require software to convert this in real-time. And, that’s where Reality Hub software comes into play. This, paired with cameras on the front for eye tracking, does the processing in the background and creates a 3D effect within seconds.
The Odyssey 3D comes with a 4K IPS panel that can go all the way up to 165Hz. It’s a 27-inch screen that also supports Nvidia G-Sync and 1ms gray-to-gray response time. Now, one of the prerequisites for the 3D tech to work on this monitor is having an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU or higher.
The Functionality
The Reality Hub automatically detects when a video or game is being played on the monitor. Samsung tells me the 3D effect can also work on offline video playback apps. So, when you play YouTube videos on full screen, a small pop-up on the bottom-right corner will ask you the type of video: side-by-side comparison or full video. Upon choosing, it took the Odyssey 3D barely seven seconds to convert the 2D video into 3D. Watching myself in 3D without glasses was not on my list this year, but it’s surely amusing.
This is not limited to video content, you can also play games in 3D—which is primarily the use case. That said, for it to function properly, it requires direct support from the developer. As of writing this, the Reality Hub supports game such as Lies of P, Palworld, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, Dragonball Z: kakarot, F.I.S.T, Grand Theft Auto: Definitive Edition, Stray, and The First Berserker: Khazan.
Sadly, with the limited time I had, I could only go through The First Berserker: Khazan’s cinematics. For a perfect result, you’ll have to maintain a distance of 55-95cm. The visual quality is generally solid, but it can get a bit inconsistent, especially when something in the foreground competes for attention, which can lead to some dizziness or visual discomfort. Samsung says the cameras can track only one pair of eyes at a single time, but I tried sitting at a different angle with another person as a placeholder. While it does work, it made me dizzy after about 10 seconds.
For the ports, you get two HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4, two USB-A 3.1, and finally, one USB-B 3.1. The Samsung Odyssey 3D retails for Rs 1,27,299 in India. So, is it worth the asking price. From the little time that I spent with the monitor, it definitely awed me. It’s still crazy to think how much technology has moved forward over the years. That said, it has a limited scope, especially when you consider the scarce choices of games at the moment. It’s a solid pick if you occasionally want to dive into a 3D movie, but I’m not convinced it’s something most people can use regularly.
