With modern Linux distributions beginning to see good support for HDR displays, if you have been looking to upgrade to a high dynamic range OLED monitor, one of the newest options that recently launched by Samsung is the Odyssey OLED G8 G81SF. I’ve been testing out the Samsung G81SF the past few weeks and it’s been working out well paired with the likes of Ubuntu 25.04 and Fedora 42 to deliver a beautiful desktop experience and a great experience for Linux gamers with supporting a 240Hz refresh rate and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro.
The Samsung Odyssey G8 G81SF is a brilliant 4K QD-OLED glare-free monitor with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 support, 240Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms response time, and a peak brightness of 1000 nits. This Odyssey G8 display features a “Pulsating Heat Pipe” for cooling that is said to diffuse heat 5x faster than a graphite sheet to help reduce core temperatures and possible burn-ins.
For display connectivity, DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1 are supported. Unfortunately, yes, it’s only DisplayPort 2.1… Meanwhile with the likes of the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM HDR monitor is DisplayPort 2.1a support. The ASUS PG27UCDM has the advantage too of USB-C support for display and power delivery, if you plan on connecting your laptop to the 4K OLED display.
Unfortunately the G81SF loses out on less connectivity to the ASUS PG27UCDM. The G81SF does have a USB 3.2 Gen 1 hub built-in with two USB-A ports for use as desired but for being a brand new 2025 monitor release it’s disappointing the lack of no USB-C or DisplayPort 2.1. The power supply for the G81SF is also external to the monitor unlike the PG27UCDM for those preferring a cleaner / more organized desk.
The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 G81SF was working fine when testing with Linux distributions including Ubuntu 25.04 and Fedora Workstation 42. HDR support could be easily enabled and indeed was working out with supported applications. The FreeSync support was also working out fine under Linux.
