Samsung Odyssey G9 OLED - black screens, connection losses, and more

[ElfVierzehn]

Hello,

I have the G9 OLED for two days and have really lousy problems:

- when I start a game in fullscreen mode with the native resolution of 5120x1440, the monitor sometimes shuts down. There's no way to restore the image until I'm somehow able to either blindly quit the game or restart the PC - sometimes only the reset button helps.

- When starting certain apps or fullscreen applications, I hear a sound like a device is connecting and disconnecting. I also hear this randomly - it stopped, when I disconnected the USB cable from the monitor and ramains happening when I start full screen applications and exit them.

- I randomly have black screens every now and then without doing anything specific. And quite extreme: If I watch a video via any media player, enter fullscreen and move the mouse, the screen goes black for 3 seconds and then returns. If I move the mouse again, the screen goes black again. This goes on and on.

- I am using an RTX 4090 with this monitor. When I set it to 240 Hz, the GPU memory clock rate is not downclocked when the PC is idle. That means the GPU memory clock (not GPU clock) is always running at max clock, which is not ideal for power consumption and temperatures.

I use a Display Port 1.4 cable with 32.4 Gbit/s, but also have an HDMI 2.1 cable with 48 gbit/s. This happens with both cables. As soon as I lower the monitor Hz to 120, the memory MHz goes back to the correct idle value, as it should. Is this a normal behavior?

- when I turn off VRR on the monitor, it is no longer possible to set the native resolution.

The monitor is running on the latest firmware version 1023.

These are honestly such massive problems that I am almost determined to return this monitor to Samsung as soon as possible.

Any input from more experienced Samsung users who have been able to remedy these issues?

Thanks so much!

[DJ_EddieL]

So Samsung dispatched a technician, who couldn't do anything and agreed it was a driver/firmware issue. They closed the ticket and I had to call Samsung back to reopen it. Managed to get to tier 2 and they escalated. Now they've called back and want to send a technician out to replace the panel on the 4 week old monitor. Absolutely ridiculous. I'm almost 100% certain it won't fix the issue as the Samsun on screen menu still appears when I press the button, so there isn't any issue with the screen itself. About to send this ***** back and get a full refund. Let me know if anyone is interested in getting in on the class action lawsuit. 

[DJ_EddieL]

Update: I canceled the technician because I don't want them to crack open the NEW monitor and potentially cause other issues. I purchased a new HDMI 2.1 cable that supports DQHD @ 240 Hz to see if that actually worked. So far, so good. No more black screens when exiting my games. I'm getting 240 Hz with Game Mode enabled. Only difference is VRR isn't supported over HDMI, but no biggie. Going to push back again on Samsung to fix the issue. 

On another note, I tried to leave a review on the Samsung page for the monitor and it was blocked by the moderator.  Here was the text:

Would be a great monitor if it worked as advertise
Purchased a month ago, and it does not work as advertised. When running games with "Game Mode" (G-Sync) enabled, the game runs at 240 Hz. However, when clicking off the game or exiting the screen goes completely black. The only way to recover is to use the menu to disable game mode or disconnect and reconnect the Display Port cable. There is a long thread in the Samsung forum of this issue for over a year. It's clear there is a firmware or driver issue, but Samsung will not investigate. Buyer beware.

Guess they didn't like the last comment. 

[Benihipe]

I tell you it wont last but hey ...

[DJ_EddieL]

Yet another update. Samsung techs (different techs) arrived at my home for a second time. This time they came to replace the screen and shell, despite me telling them it wasn't the screen. The techs looked at it and agreed. They told me they had another call with a similar issue and they replaced the board to resolve it. They are supposed to come back Friday. 

I also got a response back to my email to the "office of the president". Spoke with someone on the phone and they said they were going to investigate further. Followed up with them after the tech visit and they emailed me back saying:

"After reviewing with our product support team, we are waiting for the new software version, which promises to fix the issue the unit is experiencing. "

So, it's either a hardware issue (board), firmware (software) issue, or both. More to come. 

[PeeDee304]

I also contacted the office of the CEO and was able to get a full refund after my journey with this monitor. For those sticking with this monitor good luck. 

[Aeiou1]

the solution is - your games run not in 240 hz !! they run only in >120< Hz  ONLY !!    but windows run in 240hz !  set on windowes 120 hz  and it works    - but yes is a wrong advertise - a bad.   in many countrys in EU forbitten. 

[Profilers]

That is not a solution.

If you have to set your 240hz panel to 120hz in order to avoid black screen after trying all basic troubleshooting.

Then I'm sorry to inform you that you have a faulty unit.

Games will push as many Hz as your cpu and gpu.

[DJ_EddieL]

It's not a faulty unit. There is an issue in the firmware. Samsung is supposedly working on a fix. They sent me a pre-release version of the firmware with the fix, but the monitor would not detect the update. Waiting on a new package from Samsung now. 

[PeeDee304]

As profilers mentioned that is not a valid solution, I was running the monitor the same way (waiting for a fix) when the monitor started black screens on the 120Hz mode. The unit is faulty at this point, you paid for a 240Hz device and you are unable to run it at spec without issue, thats a defective unit.

[Profilers]

The majority of users who have experience this issue and have reported to have it fixed by having the technician replacing the mobo and/or panel, replacing the unit as a whole.

Sometimes it would take two attempts on the repairs.

Some will have their issue resolve by firmware updates.

The chances that you have a lemon are higher than you might think