Samsung has added an AI upgrade to its new OLED gaming display

Samsung says the G80SD is its first AI gaming monitor, featuring the same processor as the recently released NQ8 AI Gen3 2024 New QLED 8K TV. This chip lies behind the display’s AI upscaling capabilities, according to Samsung, which allows content and games to be upscaled to near 4K when played through the display’s built-in smart TV apps and Gaming Hub, respectively.

The company has also updated the G80SD’s cooling system to mitigate OLED burn-in, adding a special “pulsating heat pipe” to the display, which Samsung says is five times more effective at spreading heat than the graphite sheet method it previously used. The monitor also detects and automatically reduces the brightness of still images such as taskbars or head-up displays in games.

The G8’s remaining specifications — such as a flat screen, 3840 x 2160 resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, and 16:9 aspect ratio — are otherwise identical to what came before. It was already announced before CES 2024. Samsung says the display can deliver 250 nits of peak brightness and supports FreeSync Premium Pro to help reduce screen lag and screen tearing.

Resolution upscaling has been available in TVs and streaming devices for some time, but I’m still curious to see how well it will perform built into a gaming-focused display. As OLED gaming monitors in particular continue to grow in popularity, this feature could help Samsung’s latest offering stand out against the competition – provided people actually want to use it.