Interacting with anything that's not connected to a mouse and keyboard tends to be pretty slow and clunk and, at the time of writing, you're limited to Samsung TV+, YouTube, and the display's built-in web browser as secondary inputs. Unfortunately, one of the Odyssey Ark's bigger advantages over a more conventional multi-monitor setup comes with an even bigger caveat. It's something you can only do with a screen this large. The ability to use the massive canvas here to show off multiple inputs in a split-screen configuration is one of the Ark's coolest tricks. It didn't help that the software side of the orientation shift wouldn't always play nicely with Windows. Nevertheless, the trade-off being made here between the futuristic form factor that the Ark is pitched as and the handiwork involved can sometimes kill the buzz. A Samsung spokesperson indicated to me that the main reason for this has to do with the weight of the panel, which makes sense. Unlike the Sero, changing between vertical and horizontal orientations is an entirely manual process. Of course, the natural flip-side of the DIY narrative around the versatility of the Ark is that it doesn't offer the same kind of fluid context-switching found in something like Samsung's Sero TV. It also doesn't hurt that the wheel on this tactile controller was just as much fun to spin as the rotating bezels on some of the Samsung's older Galaxy smartwatches.ĭoesn't rotate automatically. It's just as easy to imagine it as a complement for the TV-style remote that the Ark ships with as it is an outright substitute. The aforementioned Ark Dial extends this quality further and in cool ways. The process of making the hardware here suit your situation is extremely intutive and very much a case of what you make of it. Aside from the obvious ability to tilt the screen between vertical and horizontal orientations, it's also very easy to slide the height of the Ark up or down as needed. One of the most compelling things about the Ark is the sheer amount of options that you’ve got when it comes to how you want to use it. In situations where you don't want to use all 55-inches of Odyssey Ark all at once, this inclusion substitutes what would otherwise be wasted pixels with unique and dynamic patterns designed to complement the colors displayed on the screen. The Ark's Game Bar is also used to configure the LED lighting on the back of the monitor and manage a feature that Samsung call the Active Ambient. In a pinch, the interface allows you to quickly adjust display settings without pulling you away from your content in the way that Samsung's more all-encompassing smart TV interface tends towards. While there's plenty to say about the various pros and cons that this software brings to the table, the freshly-evolved version of the Game Bar found with the Odyssey Ark feels significantly more useful than previous efforts. As with the Smart Monitor M8 that launched earlier this year, the Odyssey Ark runs on the latest version of Samsung's Smart TV UI operating system. Gaming features you might actually want to use. The Dolby Atmo setup here sounds awesome and it adds a lot to the gaming experience offered by the Ark, particularly if you don't always want to be using headphones. While the 4K resolution, Quantum Mini LED backlighting and 165Hz refresh rate here keep the picture quality offered here sharp, it's the built-in quad-speakers that really help the Odyssey Ark cut through the crowd of other expensive monitors out there. When it comes to gaming monitors, the emphasis tends to be on how they look rather than how they sound. Rather than ever have to reach around to the backside of the Ark, any and all cable management involved with the monitor is relocated to wherever you decide to house the One Connect Box. This specific accessory has been a godsend for me when it comes to cabling in my living room, and it's just as useful in this new context. The Samsung Odyssey Ark is currently the only gaming monitor out there that incorporates Samsung's One Connect Box. Stylish-looking indie games like Going Under and Tunic benefited from this intangible aura just as much as big-budget titles like Deathloop and Microsoft Flight Simulator did. It's similar to the kind of bump in immersion you get from seeing a movie at the cinema versus your living room.Įven if it sometimes feels like the Ark is almost smothering you, everything you put on the screen reads as a little bit bigger and more engrossing. As obvious as it sounds on paper, the fact that the Samsung Odyssey Ark is as big and curved as it is makes the experience of sitting in front of it feel significantly more engrossing than even an ultrawide gaming monitor like the Alienware 34 Curved QD-OLED.
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