Hands-On With Samsung's M9 OLED Smart Monitor

[star-affinity]

116 PPI is really lowwww

The M9 is only 139 PPI

Dell UltraSharp 32 6K (U3224KB) is 218 PPI

In 27" display size I'd go with either big spendy or AOC cheapy

Apple 27" Studio display is 217 PPI

AOC U27P2 27” 4K IPS is also 163 PPI

Agree with you that higher pixel density would be nice. 5K at 27” is really a sweet spot when it comes to that I think and I understand why Apple went with that for the Studio Display and 5K iMac.

But having used a display with 120 Hz (and higher) refresh rate I really don’t like being back at a display with 60 Hz. Just moving the arrow pointer around and interacting with the computer becomes a whole new experience due to the smoothness and shorter input lag of having double the refresh rate (and of course how the display itself is built also matters when it comes to this).

Also, while 4K at 32” (16:9) isn’t very good pixel density wise it is better than what we’re used to from 1080p and 1440p displays between 24” and 27” and I also feel I can use the 4K at 32” without scaling without thing being too small – this gives a lot of screen estate for the GUI.

 

[artifex]

I agree about needs.

Curious how this works even -- the monitor doesn't have Wifi or Ethernet as far as I can tell. Then for the SmartApps to stream from Netflix, etc does it tunnel an IP connection through USB-C/etc essentially making your computer a router for the monitor?

If so I wonder if that means the monitor can send telemetry, etc back to Samsung even without installing software on the host computer? Then it would seem the monetization scheme used to subsidize consumer TV is coming to PC monitors.

Looking at the specs on the M90SF page, it supports Wi-Fi 5.

 

[maruyama]

A 27" 4K OLED at 120Hz would be tempting. At 32", though, the pixel density is way too low.

 

[nathansz]

while it's not as sharp as an OLED TV

if it's OLED, how is it not as sharp as OLED?

 

[Juraj22]

32" 4k ..for macOS is not a good combination. You run in scaled mode, and everything is blurry or too small. I tried that, certainly not for me.

 

[2Stepfan]

As others have mentioned, 32” 4k does not add up, and is not really in the same class as any 5k screen, especially 27” 5k, which is vastly higher resolution.

It might be a good product but it’s just not a good comparator for the studio display.

 

[vartanarsen]

would this work well with a MacBook Pro? dock? or mac mini?

 

[punchwalk]

4K + OLED + 165Hz refresh rate is nice, but that's the only good thing this panel seems to have going for it. No Thunderbolt. Mediocre PPI. Terrible peak brightness. The built-in camera and smart features might be a draw for some, but I don't care for either. To me, it's overpriced.

 

[Keymaster]

It's funny to read that a 32" 4K monitor is not good enough...way back when a 32" monitor was a 50+lb tube that looked the same quality as the dinky 15" ones. I currently have a 27" Studio and a 30" Apple Cinema Display (which is 20 years old now), and even though I don't use the Studio at Retina resolution it's still far improved. It's really amazing how far we have come in such a short time, and in 20 years it will be amazing again, most likely.

There aren't enough inexpensive 5K monitors out there, and the options above 27" are really slim and expensive. It also seems so difficult to find monitors on display to look at in person anymore, so we can't necessarily tell what's good or not just by taking a peek. The 32" 4K ones give a good bit of space and are likely going to be adequate for all but power users...pick one from a reputable company with good brightness and the options you want and odds are you'll be satisfied, and at a cheaper cost than the 5K displays.

 

[andonemorething]

These "smart" monitors are pretty attractive to me and many others I presume, simply because it's a lot less work to stream content in the "right" way with a TV OS and apps vs. your computer's OS. Plus, clear work/chill boundary.

At the same time, most of these mainstream TV vendors have terrible track record when it comes to privacy. Many are known to collect info on what you are watching. Even if you were somehow okay with that when viewing in TV mode, what's to say they aren't doing the same when you're using these as monitors?

Would be nice if Apple makes one, since tvOS is clearly superior to anything else on the market right now.

 

[StevesBobs]

Like clockwork, Samsung uses a name like M9 to confuse uneducated consumers who might have heard M4 is good.

Same how they named their Galaxy devices to always have a higher number than the latest iPhone release number.

And how they used QLED to confuse people who've seen OLEDs, and might even think QLED is a newer version of that.

If you don't believe me, just keep an eye on them and you'll notice the pattern.

 

[entropys]

Monitor gen 9?

 

[Padriac]

I don’t understand why a smart monitor needs to exist. The computer is the smart bit, and can easily handle streaming without any third party interference

A dumb high quality monitor is all that’s needed,imo

Booting up an entire PC just to open a web browser just to watch Netflix is undeniable overkill… it is convenient, more efficient, and cheaper to just let the Display/TV handle the basic viewing use cases

 

[Zapski]

Booting up an entire PC just to open a web browser just to watch Netflix is undeniable overkill… it is convenient, more efficient, and cheaper to just let the Display/TV handle the basic viewing use cases

Who turns off their computer? Mine’s on for hundreds of days at time, rebooting only for software updates. When I’m not using it, it’s doing distributed computing for citizen science tasks, like folding proteins to help cure cancer. And if it wasn’t doing that, it’d just be asleep, like my laptops. Even when it is crunching numbers, the display is asleep

I haven’t shut off a computer when leaving it since the ‘90’s

 

[bzgnyc2]

Looking at the specs on the M90SF page, it supports Wi-Fi 5.

Thanks, I must have landed at a different page earlier as its spec page had a completely different layout than the one I get now.

Then I do also see it runs Tizen. Which means that it doesn't use your computer as a router but it will send telemetry back to Samsung when you connect it to your Wifi. From people I've spoken to in the industry this includes fingerprints of what you have on-screen even if it comes through the video inputs.

I think time to go back to VGA...

 

[StellarVixen]

4K at 32 inch? Maybe, if macOS font rendering wasn’t so horrible on anything that isn’t retina resolution, and this monitor is nowhere near that.

 

[V.K.]

Imminent Release... Competition begins... Pressure on Apple... Prices go down...

ProArt Display 6K PA32QCVï½Monitorsï½ASUS Global

The goal of the ASUS ProArt display series is to offer the most advanced technologies to power the imaginations of creators everywhere. With features such as mini-LED backlights, OLED displays, and ASUS Smart HDR technology, ProArt monitors are the solution for creating masterpieces.

www.asus.com

Spec:
expected to be priced around $1199 USD

View attachment 2527026

this certainly looks very attractive but where did you get the price? I can't seem to find it on the ASUS page you linked

 

[acader]

Does this connect wirelessly and delivery 4K? I have an M6 version and Apple Airplay is just pathetic on it. I have to connect it via the USB C to deliver decent results.

As for the M9, is the camera truly 4K. In your video it looks like the monitor has self calibrated the RGB profile?? I don't think it looks sharp enough.

 

[SFjohn]

If a monitor doesn’t support Dolby Vision, I’m never going to buy one. (Looking at you Samsung 🤮)

 

[svish]

Looks like a very good monitor. Think the initial price should reduce quite soon. Might be better to wait for a bit.

 

[Basic75]

This is a "smart" display with built-in AI, so you can stream content from apps like Netflix right from the monitor, plus you can stream games with no PC. The smart component is what really sets it apart from the Studio Display on a software level

At the same time, most of these mainstream TV vendors have terrible track record when it comes to privacy. Many are known to collect info on what you are watching. Even if you were somehow okay with that when viewing in TV mode, what's to say they aren't doing the same when you're using these as monitors?

Yes, we all know that "smart" TVs are cheaper than non-smart TVs because the manufacturer is collecting and using/selling customer data.

Any word on whether these displays are better? I fully expect them to be just as bad. And I really hope "dumb" displays don't go extinct any time soon!

 

[andonemorething]

Who turns off their computer?

Rest of the world where skyrocketing energy prices are still a thing and still have areas susceptible to frequent blackouts.

 

[Zapski]

Rest of the world where skyrocketing energy prices are still a thing and still have areas susceptible to frequent blackouts.

Sleep and/or Standby is a thing, and UPS battery backups are a thing. I want to be kind here, but these problems were solved decades ago

In fact, I would argue that Macs are designed to not be turned off. The energy saver settings have been built in since the last century, and while I do agree that turning off computers made sense in the Mac OS 9 and earlier days, now it really doesn’t

Set the computer to sleep after a few minutes idle, and you can even make a hot corner where if the mouse goes there the display goes to sleep the second you send it there (mine’s the lower left). Easy-Peasy!

Also under the Apple Menu, Sleep comes before Shut Down, so even if one doesn’t want to change their settings, it’s in exactly the same place, just a few pixels up and it doesn’t even have a confirmation dialog box so it is one less click

 

[Padriac]

Sleep and/or Standby is a thing, and UPS battery backups are a thing. I want to be kind here, but these problems were solved decades ago

In fact, I would argue that Macs are designed to not be turned off. The energy saver settings have been built in since the last century, and while I do agree that turning off computers made sense in the Mac OS 9 and earlier days, now it really doesn’t

Set the computer to sleep after a few minutes idle, and you can even make a hot corner where if the mouse goes there the display goes to sleep the second you send it there (mine’s the lower left). Easy-Peasy!

Also under the Apple Menu, Sleep comes before Shut Down, so even if one doesn’t want to change their settings, it’s in exactly the same place, just a few pixels up and it doesn’t even have a confirmation dialog box so it is one less click

Why would I leave on a computer I use for like an hour every couple of weeks? You’re oddly aggressive about this and expect everybody to use computers exactly like you do.

Aside from that:

- It’s not like Samsung makes a separate OLED TV at this screen size. The smaller displays tend to be “monitors” and the bigger ones tend to be “TVs” nowadays. So somebody looking for a nice TV or TV/monitor combo for a smaller space would appreciate this. Better to make one model to cover both uses rather than strip TV features from one model and sell it separately as a “monitor” for no real benefit to anybody.

- watching a movie at a desk is lame, so you’re probably sitting on a couch or at least a chair some distance away from the desk. Desktop UI’s suck at a distance, meanwhile TV-focused OS will be much more pleasant and can use a simple remote to browse without needing to get up to fiddle at the desk or squint from afar with a keyboard and mouse on your lap

 

[andonemorething]

Sleep and/or Standby is a thing, and UPS battery backups are a thing. I want to be kind here, but these problems were solved decades ago

I have all those things and I'm still telling you it's not a solved problem all the time.

Energy prices are not cheap and they vary (greatly) across the day/night over here. Most folks live in existing older buildings with outdated/cheap wiring that can fry their electronics during thunderstorms/terrible fluctuations and still have to pay sky-high rents. That's one reason we still have bloody switches next to outlets even in new constructions over here.

And of course, others and I would happily buy if bigger, Tesla-like backup solutions and other power tech were available for cheap and in bulk over here but even older tech is expensive to acquire. Even my barely adequate home backup + solar plant is a bit over the top to most folks in my neighborhood and city. It's worse in many other parts of the country and other developing nations around the world.

In fact, I would argue that Macs are designed to not be turned off.

Luckily for the rest of us, the engineers who worked on it were smarter than making such a terrible assumption.