Samsung Odyssey G5/G51C S27CG51 Monitor Review

The Samsung Odyssey G51C has a gamer-oriented aesthetic with etched lines on the back. There's a blue ring where the stand attaches to the back, but it doesn't feature RGB lighting like on other monitors.

The build quality is decent. While there isn't anything that stands out as being poorly made, the plastic materials don't feel premium, and the bottom bezel isn't perfectly flush with the entire screen either. The screen wobbles on the stand, and it can be hard to remove the stand from the screen, but that's only an issue if you need to mount it anyways.

This monitor has fantastic ergonomics, as you can adjust it in many ways. Since you can only rotate it into portrait mode in one direction, the bottom-facing inputs will always be facing to the left when rotated, as you can see here. The back of the stand also features a clip for cable management.

There's a single joystick underneath the center of the monitor to control the on-screen display.

• DisplayPort cable
• HDMI cable
• Power supply
• Power cord
• User guides

The Samsung Odyssey G51C has a good native contrast ratio to display fairly deep blacks next to bright highlights in dark rooms. However, it lacks a local dimming feature to further improve it.

The Samsung G51C doesn't have a local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the monitor so you can compare the backlight performance with a monitor that has local dimming. If you want a 1440p monitor that does have local dimming, look into the Acer Nitro XV275U P3biipx.

The SDR brightness is alright. Its brightness is consistent across different content, which is fantastic, and while it doesn't get extremely bright, it's still fine if you have a few lights around. However, it struggles in bright environments, like if you place it opposite a bright window. These results are from after calibration in the 'Custom' Picture Mode with the Brightness at its max. If you're looking for a monitor that gets brighter, check out the Samsung Odyssey G5/G50D S27DG50.

The HDR brightness is disappointing. Without a local dimming feature, small highlights don't pop against the rest of the image, as they're dull and muted. It doesn't follow the target PQ EOTF either, as it severely darkens images. These results are in the HDR Standard mode with the Brightness at its max.

This monitor has a narrow horizontal viewing angle. Images look washed out and darker from the sides, so it isn't ideal for sharing your screen with others.

The vertical viewing angle is disappointing. The image looks washed out at wide angles, so you won't see a consistent image if you stand up and look down at the monitor.

The gray uniformity is excellent. While some of the edges are a bit darker, the screen is uniform throughout, and there aren't any noticeable issues.

The black uniformity is excellent. While it doesn't have a local dimming feature to further improve the black levels, there isn't much noticeable blooming around bright objects.

The accuracy before calibration is alright. Although Samsung advertises that it has a dedicated sRGB mode, it isn't available in the list of Picture Modes, as you can see here and here. While colors are still locked to the sRGB color space, most colors are still inaccurate with a cold temperature, meaning they have a blue tint. The white balance is also awful, and gamma follows a 2.2 target instead of sRGB, so dark scenes are too dark, while bright scenes are slightly overbrightened.

This monitor has remarkable accuracy after calibration. A full two-point calibration fixes most issues, especially with the white balance and gamma, but some colors are still slightly inaccurate.

The SDR color gamut is excellent. It has near-full coverage of the common sRGB color space, but it's a bit inaccurate as reds and greens are oversaturated while blues are undersaturated. It also has limited coverage of the Adobe RGB color space, which is disappointing for professional photo editors and publishers.

The HDR color gamut is disappointing. It doesn't display the wide range of colors needed for HDR content in either the DCI-P3 or Rec. 2020 color spaces, and it struggles with tone mapping, so most colors are inaccurate.

The Samsung Odyssey G51C has a disappointing HDR color volume. It struggles to display colors as bright as pure white, and it also struggles with dark colors.

The text clarity is good. Enabling Windows ClearType (top photo) helps improve the clarity with diagonal lines, but straight lines aren't as bold. These photos are in Windows 10, and you can also see it in Windows 11 with ClearType on and with ClearType off.

The reflection handling is good. It's fine if you have a few lights around, but the glare can be distracting if you place it opposite a bright window.

The gradient handling is fantastic. While there's some banding with darker colors, it's hard to see with most content.

This monitor has mediocre motion handling across its VRR range. Motion looks blurry, and there's noticeable ghosting, especially as the refresh rate drops. Using VRR locks the overdrive settings, but it uses the last used setting, and motion handling is the same with VRR enabled or disabled.

The refresh rate compliance is okay. Its response time isn't fast enough to make full color transitions before the monitor draws the next frame at its max refresh rate, but it's better at lower refresh rates, like at 60Hz.

The CAD at the max refresh rate of 165Hz is mediocre. There's noticeable blur and smearing with fast-moving objects, even with the 'Extreme' overdrive setting.

The CAD at 120Hz is mediocre. Like at the max refresh rate, there's blur and smearing with the 'Extreme' overdrive setting, which has the fastest response time.

The CAD at 60Hz is disappointing. There's a bunch of blur, smearing, and even inverse ghosting on the 'Faster' overdrive, and the 'Extreme' overdrive has more inverse ghosting. The results are with the refresh rate in the monitor's OSD set to 165Hz, and setting it to 60Hz in the OSD results in worse inverse ghosting.

This monitor has an optional backlight strobing feature, otherwise known as black frame insertion. It only works with Refresh Rate in the OSD set to 165Hz, 144Hz, or 120Hz, and you can't enable VRR at the same time. While it reduces motion blur, there's image duplication, and it dims the screen. These results are with the refresh rate in the OSD set to 165Hz.

This monitor has noticeable VRR flicker with changing frame rates. It looks worse in person than the score and video indicate, as you can see it in dark scenes. That said, this isn't so much of an issue if your computer can maintain stable frame rates or if you disable VRR altogether.

The backlight doesn't use pulse-width modulation and remains flicker-free at all brightness levels, which helps if you're sensitive to flicker.

The Samsung G51C has low input lag for a responsive feel, and it doesn't increase at lower refresh rates either, which is great.

This monitor works well with the PS5, but without HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, it can't take full advantage of everything the console offers. You need to disable FreeSync Premium on the monitor for 4k to work with the PS5, but the monitor's VRR support doesn't work with the PS5 anyway.

The Samsung Odyssey G51C works well with the Xbox Series X|S but can't take full advantage due to its lack of HDMI 2.1 bandwidth. You need to disable VRR on the monitor for 4k to work, and because the Xbox only supports HDR with 4k signals, you can't enable VRR and HDR at the same time.

Although Samsung advertises that it supports DisplayPort 1.4, it's limited to DisplayPort 1.2 bandwidth. Even the on-screen display confirms that it supports DisplayPort 1.2, as you can see here.

You can only use the USB port with a USB drive for firmware updates.

This monitor works well with macOS, and there aren't any obvious issues. VRR works well, and while you can enable HDR, it looks washed out and has a cold color temperature. If you're using a MacBook, windows return to their original place when reopening the lid or after waking the laptop up from sleep.

This entry-level monitor has limited features, and unlike some higher-end Samsung monitors, it doesn't support the Tizen smart platform either. However, it does have a few extra features that you can find in the OSD:

• Black Equalizer: Adjusts gamma so that it's easier to see opponents in dark areas of games.
• Eye Saver Mode: Removes blue light to help with eye strain.
• Refresh Rate: Lets you change the refresh rate directly from the OSD.
• Virtual Aim Point: Displays a virtual crosshair that your game's anti-cheat tool won't detect, giving you a competitive advantage.