Samsung’s 2025 OLED TVs are getting NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility

NVIDIA’s G-Sync will soon work with the latest Samsung OLED TVs for a better gaming experience on the big screen. The S95F series TVs, which the company introduced at CES, will be the first to get the update, and the rest of the 2025 OLED models will follow later this year. G-Sync compatibility is meant to help games run more smoothly on the TVs, making their refresh rates match the GPU’s frame rate. 

In the announcement, Kevin Lee, Executive VP of Samsung’s Visual Display Customer Experience Team, said it’ll bring “elite-level performance for even the most competitive players.” Samsung started shipping its flagship S95F TVs in April alongside its other new OLED models, the S90F and S85F. Each comes in a handful of sizes, going up to 83 inches. The OLED lineup also offers AMD FreeSync Premium Pro support, Auto Low Latency Mode and AI Auto Game Mode, which is designed to tweak the picture and sound to best fit whatever game you’re playing.

The announcement comes as Computex 2025 gets underway in Taiwan. The expo runs from May 20-23, and will focus heavily on AI this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/samsungs-2025-oled-tvs-are-getting-nvidia-g-sync-compatibility-120033237.html?src=rss 

LG 27 UltraGear OLED review: I finally get the 480Hz gaming hype

LG’s 27-inch 1440p UltraGear OLED monitor (model 27GX790A) is as close to gaming nirvana as fps-hungry players can get — for now, anyway. It has a 480Hz refresh rate, allowing it to actually display up to 480 fps for insanely fast-paced shooters, along with a low 0.03ms response time. And it supports DisplayPort 2.1, which offers higher bandwidth than typical DisplayPort 1.4 ports, so it doesn’t need to use Display Stream Compression (DSC) like most other gaming displays. Together with NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro technology, both of which will help to reduce screen tearing, the UltraGear 27 has pretty much everything you’d want in a high-end gaming display.

But given its high $1,000 retail price (though it’s currently on sale for $800), the UltraGear 27 clearly isn’t meant for most people. You’ll absolutely need a powerful GPU and CPU to get close to seeing 480 fps in 1440p. And, let’s be honest, very few people will even see the difference between 480Hz and more affordable 120Hz to 240Hz screens. The LG 27GX790A is for the true sickos.

I’ve tested plenty of high refresh rate screens in my time, from gaming laptops to a wide variety of monitors. I distinctly remember the excitement around 120Hz LCDs at CES 2010, and I definitely noticed the difference between those screens and standard 60Hz displays at the time. Shooters just looked smoother and felt more responsive. Then there was the leap to 240Hz screens, which was noticeable but not nearly as impressive as the arrival of OLED gaming displays with better black levels and astounding contrast.

Then came 360Hz screens, which, to be honest, didn’t feel like a huge leap over 240Hz. Our eyes can only see so much after all, especially if you’re moving beyond your peak gaming years. So I didn’t really expect to be wowed by the UltraGear 27 — I figured it would be yet another solid OLED monitor, like the 27-inch 4K Alienware we recently reviewed.

But after spending plenty of time with the UltraGear 27 on my gaming PC, powered by an NVIDIA RTX 5090 and AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D, I noticed something strange. While I couldn’t really see a major difference between its 480Hz screen and my daily driver, the 240Hz Alienware 32-inch QD-OLED, I could feel it.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

What’s good about the LG UltraGear 27?

The first time the UltraGear 27 truly clicked for me — the point where I finally understood the hype around 480Hz displays — was during a Rocket League match. I noticed that the longer I played, the more I reached a flow state where I could easily read the position of the ball, re-orient the camera and zip off to intercept. It almost felt like there was a direct connection between what my brain wanted to do, and what was actually happening on the screen. I forgot about the Xbox Elite controller in my hand, and the desk clutter in my office. The real world melted away — I was fully inside Rocket League’s absurd soccer arena. When the match ended, it took me a few minutes to reacclimatize to reality.

Rocket League’s fast motion and lack of downtime made it the ideal introduction to super-high frame rates. I was also easily able to reach 480 fps in 1440p with my system’s hardware, but you’ll still easily be able to see upwards of 300 fps with older GPUs, especially if you bump down to 1080p. To be clear, this monitor is pretty much wasted on older and budget video cards.

I noticed a similarly transcendent flow state as I got back into Overwatch 2, a game I gave up on years ago. The UltraGear 27 shined best when I was playing fast-paced characters like Tracer, Genji and Lucio, since I had a better sense of space during heated matches. But it also helped with more accurate shots when sniping with the likes of Hanzo and Widowmaker.

Beyond the seemingly metaphysical benefits of its 480Hz screen, the UltraGear 27 is also simply a great OLED monitor. Black levels are wonderfully dark, and it can also achieve slightly brighter highlights (up to 1,300 nits) than most OLEDs in small areas. Graphically rich games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 practically leap off the screen, thanks to its excellent 98.5 percent DCI-P3 color accuracy. The UltraGear 27 doesn’t use a QD-OLED screen like Alienware’s latest models, but its color performance doesn’t suffer much for it.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

If you’ve got a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X around, the UltraGear 27’s two HDMI 2.1 ports will also let them perform at their best. While there are no built-in speakers, the display does include a headphone jack with support for DTS technology for spatial audio like most gaming monitors. It’s also a 4-pole connection, so you can plug in headphones with microphones as well. For accessories, there are two USB 3.0 Type A ports, along with an upstream USB connection for your PC.

The UltraGear 27 doesn’t look particularly distinctive when it’s turned off, but it’s hard to ask for much flair when it does so much right. Its nearly borderless bezel makes the screen practically float in the air, and you can also easily adjust its height and angle to suit your needs.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

What’s bad about the UltraGear 27?

The biggest downside with the UltraGear 27 is its $1,000 retail price. While it’s nice to see it already falling to $800, it’s still absurdly high compared to most 27-inch 1440p monitors. If you want to save some cash, LG’s 27-inch 240Hz UltraGear is still a very good option. But if you’re in the market for a 480Hz display, you’ll basically have to live with paying a ton. For example, ASUS’s ROG Swift 27-inch OLED is still selling for $1,000.

Should you buy the UltraGear 27?

If you’re an esports player, or a gamer who demands the highest framerates no matter the cost, the UltraGear 27 is an excellent OLED monitor. But I think most players would be perfectly fine with a cheaper 240Hz screen. Even if you can easily afford the UltraGear 27, it’s also worth considering larger screens like the Alienware 32-inch 4K QD-OLED. You’ll still get decently high frame rates, but you’ll also get a screen that’s more immersive for ogling the graphics in Clair Obscur.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

Wrap-up

With Samsung teasing a 500Hz OLED gaming screen, there’s clearly still a demand for insanely high refresh rates. If you absolutely must have that fix, the UltraGear 27 was made for you. It has all of the benefits of OLED, and with the right title, it might help you achieve a new level of gaming transcendence.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/lg-27-ultragear-oled-review-i-finally-get-the-480hz-gaming-hype-123042162.html?src=rss 

HP is bringing Snapdragon chips to its more affordable laptops

HP is giving a much-needed power-up to its OmniBook 5 Series laptop lineup. As part of Computex 2025, HP debuted the laptops equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X and X Plus chips for better energy efficiency and performance. The 14-inch version of the new OmniBook 5 Series starts at $799, while the 16-inch variation costs at least $849.

Previously, if you wanted the benefits of a Snapdragon chip in an HP laptop, you were stuck with the more expensive OmniBook X options that retail for at least $1,000. Now, there are more affordable options from HP that still have the benefits of ARM processors. The OmniBook 5 series may not be as powerful as the OmniBook X, but it still gets access to Copilot+‘s AI features, like Recall, Click-to-Do and an improved Windows Search experience.

All that comes in a laptop with a 2K OLED display that gets 34 hours of battery life and recharges up to 50 percent in 30 minutes. If the laptop’s singular display isn’t enough, the OmniBook 5 can hook up to a single external 5K monitor or two 4K displays. For all your virtual meeting needs, HP’s newest laptops have an 1080p IR camera that’s paired with its Audio Boost 2.0 feature to offer better sound quality and AI-powered noise removal.

HP said the OmniBook 5 with Snapdragon in its 14-inch configuration will be available first on Amazon and Microsoft, starting in June. In July, the 14-inch OmniBook 5 will make its way to HP’s own site, Best Buy and Costco. The 16-inch version will also be available in July through HP directly and its retail partners.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/hp-is-bringing-snapdragon-chips-to-its-more-affordable-laptops-060019642.html?src=rss 

Joe Biden’s Health: Does the Former President Have Cancer?

Joe Biden has revealed he’s battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Find out more about his condition and treatment plan here.

Joe Biden has revealed he’s battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Find out more about his condition and treatment plan here. 

If you like puzzles, check out this trippy comic-style escape room game for Playdate

Meeting an online friend in person for the first time can be pretty awkward. If only there were a way to skip the weird small talk part and get right into the flow of real conversation — like, say, getting shrunk down to the size of a chess piece and trapped in a series of board games, forcing you to communicate so you can find your way out. That’s exactly the scenario in which characters Alex and Sarah find themselves in the Playdate game Escape the Boardgame, and it’s incredibly charming.

Escape the Boardgame is kind of like an interactive comic, and it’s the second such game by Julie and Anders Bjørnskov, following 2024’s Escape the Arcade. You use the crank and sometimes the D-pad to move the story forward panel by panel, running into puzzles along the way that will serve as temporary roadblocks until you’ve come up with the solution. While it is an escape room of sorts, this isn’t a high-tension situation; Alex and Sarah are stuck in a cozy boardgame cafe, not Jumanji. As they try to make their way out the door by traversing various game boards, they encounter a bunch of quirky but ultimately harmless characters.

Just because it’s casual doesn’t mean it’ll be a breeze to solve the puzzles, though. They’re really creative, sometimes requiring you to pay close attention to every little detail on the screen in order to crack some obscure code, and other times forcing you to zoom out and consider the whole picture to see what’s hidden in plain sight. The games within the game, like one in which you need to match pets with their correct owners, are a delight to take in. There are multiple hints for each puzzle, which you can access in the menu, so you can have varying degrees of assistance depending on how stuck you are.

Savvy puzzle solvers will probably finish Escape the Boardgame in under an hour, so this one is perfect for when you just want to play something easygoing that can be wrapped up neatly in one sitting. Instead of leaving you frustrated, it’s a brain teaser you’re likely to walk away from feeling all warm and fuzzy.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/if-you-like-puzzles-check-out-this-trippy-comic-style-escape-room-game-for-playdate-200003217.html?src=rss 

Netflix has figured out a way to make ads even worse using AI

Netflix will embrace AI-generated ads, whether we like it or not. The streaming service will roll out AI-generated ads in 2026 that will play in the middle of a show or whenever users hit pause for its ad-supported plans. During Netflix’s Upfront event for its advertisers, Amy Reinhard, the company’s president of advertising, showed off the upcoming feature for interactive midroll and pause ads that use generative AI for custom content.

We’ve come a long way since Netflix’s origin story of mailing out DVDs starting in 1997 and transitioning to an ad-free streaming service. Now more than ever, it feels like Harvey Dent’s famous quote from The Dark Knight about living long enough to become the villain rings true for Netflix. The streaming service’s longevity in the industry could be attributed to making compromises, like including ads, that take away from its initial glory. In a poetic turn of events, The Dark Knight trilogy was added to Netflix’s library on April 1.

This won’t be the first time Netflix dabbled with AI. Last month, Netflix offered regional users a new search feature that uses OpenAI to find something to watch. Looking beyond AI-generated ads in 2026, it’s not likely that the company will slow down on finding new ways to generate revenue.

“So if you take away anything from today, I hope it’s this: the foundation of our ads business is in place,” Reinhard said during the Netflix event. “And going forward, the pace of progress is going to be even faster.”

The golden age of binge-watching an entire season of a Netflix show without ads could be a long-forgotten memory. Next year, don’t be surprised if Netflix tempts you with a Baconator while you watch people succumb to the deadly consequences of Squid Games. If this eventual change has you rethinking your Netflix subscription, you can always cancel it or begrudgingly upgrade it to the Standard or Premium plans to avoid ads. Don’t forget, Netflix has been steadily increasing subscription costs for its ad-free plans, which could push more users towards the standard plan with ads as the most accessible option.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-has-figured-out-a-way-to-make-ads-even-worse-using-ai-180623064.html?src=rss 

‘Eddington’ Movie: Release Date, How to Watch & More Details

Ari Aster’s latest film is a darkly satirical Western set during the COVID-19 pandemic, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and Emma Stone. Find out more here.

Ari Aster’s latest film is a darkly satirical Western set during the COVID-19 pandemic, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and Emma Stone. Find out more here. 

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