It seems like every few years, gadget makers try to come up with something that will make us care about seeing things in 3D again. Without going all the way back to the 1800s, the first Avatar movie brought millions to theaters to watch blue cat people dance around in stereoscopic vision. Then came the flop that was 3D TVs in the early 2010s before things heated up again with the arrival of VR headsets like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Soon, Samsung will release a new take on the tech with its glasses-free Odyssey 3D Gaming Monitor (model G90XF) and after trying it out, I feel like if 3D has been this good all along, people wouldn’t roll their eyes every time the idea gets brought up.
If this monitor looks somewhat familiar, that’s because Samsung actually demoed very early pre-production models at CES in both 2024 and 2025. In fact, I tried the first version in Las Vegas almost a year and a half ago, playing Lies of P back when it was a slightly larger 37-inch display. Regardless, the Odyssey 3D is finally going on sale later this month on April 28 for $2,000 and while I don’t think it’s an essential piece of tech, it’s definitely a fun way to experience both games and videos in a new dimension.
The G90XF features a 27-inch 4K LCD panel with a 165Hz refresh rate, which isn’t all that impressive considering its price. And in some respects, it gets even worse when the 3D effect is active. In addition to having two eye and face tracking sensors hidden beneath its bezels, the Odyssey 3D also uses a lenticular filter to create two slightly different versions of the same scene (one for each eye), which gets interpreted by your brain as a 3D image.
This lowers the perceived resolution of the screen, which results in a very faint screen door effect like you might get on a VR headset. For me, this meant I saw a little chromatic fringing around certain objects while individual pixels became more noticeable. Unfortunately, because the monitor is designed to be viewed with two eyes, the effect doesn’t come across in photos or videos as cameras typically only record with a single lens/sensor at a time. (Womp womp.)
That said, even with all of those limitations, I was still impressed by the Odyssey 3D. In games, the monitor can handle two different levels of integration. There is one for titles specifically co-developed with input from Samsung (denoted with a yellow badge) that take full advantage of the tech and another more general setting for games with basic 3D support.
The first game I played — Khazan: The First Berserker — is a fully certified title and it demonstrated a surprising level of immersion. Even without pushing the sliders for 3D effects like focal distance and depth factor all the way up, trees and foliage around the edge of the screen looked like they were popping out the display right at me, while little gameplay elements like floating orbs of blood just hovered in the space between my face and the monitor. There were also details like snowflakes that looked like they were flying past my head, which was a nice touch.
Importantly, the tech never felt oppressive and thanks to the built-in head tracking, I had the freedom to move around in my seat (just a little bit) without ruining the effect. So instead of being a distraction, it simply added a bit of atmosphere to the game. And it still looked quite sharp and ran as smooth as you’d expect. Sadly, I couldn’t play Octopath Traveler, which is another one of Samsung’s supported titles, as I think the combination of the 3D effect with the game’s retro HD-2D art style would be a great showcase of the tech.
As for other titles, the monitor can convert standard 2D graphics into 3D on the fly. Though, as you might imagine, the effect isn’t nearly as pronounced, particularly in more modern titles with fancier graphics. However, when I played Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, characters and vehicles still popped out in a very pleasing way that made a more than 20-year-old game feel brand new. Once again, it wasn’t a groundbreaking change, but added an extra level of fun and immersion to an already very nostalgic game.
But the Odyssey 3D’s abilities don’t stop at gaming because the monitor can also convert non-DRM-protected videos (like clips from YouTube) into 3D on the fly. Similar to games, more recent trailers like Avengers: Endgame had an obvious depth effect that made certain scenes shine, though I still wouldn’t call it a revolutionary experience. However, for other genres like anime, the display did an even better job of separating stuff in the background from characters up front. On top of all that, the monitor can also convert side-by-side stereoscopic footage into standard 3D videos as well, which is a nice, though rather niche, inclusion. I just wish I didn’t have to click on the notification to activate the 3D effect every time I pulled up a new video.
Of course, the big question is if the Odyssey 3D’s added dimensionality is worth an extra $1,000 or more compared to a more traditional monitor with similar specs. And to that I’d probably say no. But I don’t think that means this display is a failure, because I found that being able to turn this effect on and off at will without needing extra equipment like glasses made the whole experience rather enjoyable, instead of completely off-putting like so many devices in the past. And if Samsung can make this tech a bit more affordable, it would feel more like a nice bonus that has definite value when viewing certain games or movies. When you consider all the false starts and flops 3D gadgets have had throughout the years, that feels like a small but important win in my book.
Finally, while there are currently 12 games that are fully certified to work with the Odyssey 3D, Samsung says it hopes to bring that number closer to 50 by the end of the year. Currently support titles are listed below.
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KHAZAN: The First Berserker
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Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
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Lies of P
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Psychonauts 2
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Little Nightmares II
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Palworld
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F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch
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SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
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Like a Dragon: Ishin
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Only UP
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Darksiders Genesis
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Octopath Traveler
The Samsung Odyssey 3D Gaming Monitor will be available for $2,000 starting on April 28, with pre-orders eligible for a $200 credit from select retailers like Samsung.com.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/samsung-odyssey-3d-monitor-hands-on-this-should-be-the-new-baseline-for-glasses-free-3d-190015689.html?src=rss
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