Revealed at CES 2023 amid a sea of displays, Samsung has finally launched the highly-anticipated ViewFinity S9, marking the company’s first foray into 5K high-resolution territory.
Aimed squarely at the content creator and professional work space, the latest edition to the upmarket ViewFinity lineup features a matte 27in panel with 5120 x 2880 (5K) resolution, touts “clear and precise” colour accuracy with 99 per cent DCI-P3 coverage straight out-the-box, and refresh rates up to 60Hz. Colour me intrigued.
Furthermore, the monitor features a max brightness of 600 nits, making it more than acceptable for most lighting environments, and Samsung says the matte-coated display minimises light reflection and glare on the monitor, while TUV-certified Intelligent Eye Care features help reduce eye strain, making it ideal for prolonged use.
Much like the Apple Studio Display, it’s eerily similar-looking ergonomic base stand provides plenty of opportunities to tilt, swivel and pivot, offering the best viewing angles no matter your seating position. Pivot mode also allows for a 90-degree portrait view, ideal for scrolling lengthy documents. Alternatively, the display features a standard 100×100 VESA-compatible mount for extra convenience. A neat touch.
That’s not all, mind you. The S9 has a few extra tricks up its sleeves. To name but a few, the device is equipped with a 4K SlimFit camera that conveniently connects via pogo pins. The Korean giant promises crystal-clear quality for video calls across a variety of embedded apps such as Google Meet and the like. On the audio side, it is equipped with built-in speakers, and Adaptive Sound Plus technology that automatically adjusts noise levels to optimise sound quality. Neat.
What’s more, Samsung has transferred its Smart Calibration feature from Samsung Smart TVs to the S9, which means users can conveniently optimise and customise the screen for precise colour calibration settings without the need for expensive equipment.
Additionally, the SmartThings app allows users to quickly adjust white balance and gamma settings, or delve even deeper via the professional mode for complete control over colour temperature, luminance, colour space, and gamma settings.
Rounding off with connectivity, there’s a consortium of ports including HDMI, DisplayPort and USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, enabling laptop charging with up to 96W power delivery and data transfer speeds up to 40Gb/s. Interestingly, even after months since CES, Samsung has yet to reveal the display’s HDR credentials, which seems like a strange omission this late in the game.
Nevertheless, ticking almost all the right boxes, at least on paper, it would be interesting to see how it fares against Apple’s Studio Display. The ViewFinity S9 5K monitor will be available for purchase from July 26 through August, depending on region, with prices starting at $1,599. Feel free to check it out, here.
