Tested & Reviewed

Samsung C32HG70 (CHG70) 144 Hz / FreeSync 2 / HDR
144 Hz gaming on a 600 nits VA display free from screen tearing

The more steadily increasing trend this year for monitors definitely is for them to take the HDR route. AMD already released their HDR compatible standards over a year ago, meanwhile, proper panels have been scarce to get. Often monitors have been tagged as 'HDR compatible' offering silly low amounts of nits in the 350 cd/m2 range. Meanwhile, Nvidia is going aggressive with Ultra HD HDR GSYNC certified displays reaching peak levels of 1000 nits, however, with prices easily doubled for that amount of nits, very few people can actually buy these as the upcoming batches are based on 27" panel formats (Ultra HD) which are a bit silly on that resolution DPI scaling wise. Is Ultra HD is the best choice at the moment? We do not believe so, at 24 inches up to 32 inches we feel panels at 2560x1440 or 3440x1440 are far better suited for the job, at a far lower price. With that in mind, we review an HDR gaming monitor in relation to FreeSync 2, the certified FreeSync 2 C32HG70 (aka CHG70). This 32-inch Samsung Quantum Dot 2560x1440 gaming monitor can do 144Hz combined with FreeSync and FreeSync 2. That eliminates stutter and tearing while gaming in HDR. The Samsung C32HG70 is fitted with a VA panel offering proper image quality, connectivity, and features... lots of features that appeal to any PC gamer.

So then, Wide Quad HD or Ultra HD?

The crisp details that 4K resolutions offer are not even debatable, at 24 up-to 30 inches, you can, however, question the validity of that choice given the screen size and pixel density you're looking at. See, the amount of pixels (almost 8.3 million pixels) comes with certain disadvantages as not all software can scale very well, and on all displays smaller than 32 inches, and even at 32 inches, 125% scaling is often mandatory with Ultra HD. When scaling works well, heck, that is not an issue, however, there are still a lot of applications that run into problems being displayed too small. There is another disadvantage with Ultra HD, and that's games. 4K screens have over 8 million pixels that need to be refreshed at least 50~60 times per second, some will argue and prefer that number to be over 120 FPS/Hz. Yes, to date very few graphics cards can deal with that and, as such, it requires deep investments to be made. With a choice of Ultra HD gaming, a large amount of graphics computing power is mandatory. The bottom line here is that Ultra HD gaming is an expensive hobby. Up-to that 32 inch range, the more logical and affordable solution is to go with something like a Quad HD panel at 2560x1440 or 3440x1440. At 32 inches would you really miss or see the pixels visually compared to an Ultra HD screen? Some will, sure ( I can), most of you... we doubt it. And remember, I do state this, based on gaming. With gaming in mind, the first FreeSync 2 certified (HDR) compatible screens are available, at the time of writing mostly Samsung screens really, but a very nice one to keep an eye on is the one we test today, the Samsung C32HG70 (32 inch), which is really big! Or alternatively a smaller 27 inch model, C27HG70. Both have a Quantum Dot based VA panel, are HDR compatible with peak ratios up-to a proper 600 nits and both do that at 2560x1440 with fast response times and, yeah, at 144 Hz. With prices in the 599 Eur and 549 USD range right now, these are attractive panels to purchase. They tick the right boxes and are FreeSync and FreeSync 2 certified. If you opt for that FreeSync route, obviously your one mandatory requirement is that you need a Radeon based graphics card, starting with Radeon RX 4xx and upwards to get your HDR groove going on. That $549 does get you a 1440p, HDR, LFC, 144hz, FreeSync enabled display with an advertised 1ms response time (which really is closer to 5ms when properly configured). Lovely for gaming, especially if you don't mind not having 4K.

Samsung C32HG70

The monitor we'll review today is the 32-inch version, and man is it big! The Samsung C32HG70 has been fitted with a 32-inch curved panel (1800R bend), it measures 28.5 x 16.3 inches, with a maximum height of 25 inches. The design truly is lovely to look at from a visual perspective, mostly due to its large size and the way you are immersed into that curve. At 32-inches, it will fill your desk and, if you sit close to it, will offer you a more immersive gaming experience. At the position where the stand touches the monitor Samsung merged a blue accent light which actually looks very nice, and is not overly bright. Before I show you some specs, each CHG70 is factory calibrated on color and gamma precision, there is a report included in the box with matching serial number, that already looks promising.  

• Screen size: 31.5-inch
• Aspect ratio: 16:9
• Resolution: 2,560 x 1,440 
• Brightness: 350 cd/m2 / 600 cd/m2 HDR peaks
• Response time: 1ms 
• Viewing angle: 178/178
• Curvature: 1800R 
• Contrast ratio: 3,000:1 
• Color support: sRGB 125% 
• Weight: 31 lbs/14kg

You will notice that 350 cd/m2 brightness, that's candela (also nits) and 1 nit is the brightness of one candle. For regular SDR gaming, you will get a default brightness rated at 350 nits. A good, really good screen reaches 350~400 nits. As our tests will show, the screen can deal with that, easily. Opening up HDR produces even more colors and brightness, in peak segments of a game this screen can reach 600 nits, which is a pretty good value for HDR gaming. While that might not be a retina searing 1000 nits, 600 nits will get the job done alright as it is very bright. The panel we discussed already, it's 144 Hz and VA based, that means good response times, rated at 1 ms by Samsung (1ms MPRT is Motion Picture Response Time), however, VA realistically sit at ~5ms. Mind you, this is a Quantum Dot panel extending the color space, also important, it's local dimming, which is a much more accurate solution when going HDR. However, the Samsung CHG70 panels unfortunately only support 8 local dimming zones. The screens offer a dynamic refresh rate alongside HDR gaming (72-144 Hz). This monitor has 2 HDMI 2.0 ports in addition to a single DisplayPort 1.4, you can connect an Xbox One X or PS4 Pro, Blu-ray player, or all three, and switch between. Unfortunately, it does not come with any speakers but does have a headphones connector. We'll talk about it a bit more soon. The panel is visually impressive I can already state, the Quantum Dots do their work alright, very nice reds and blues that look deep, dynamic and rich. The HDR implementation is very nice. Playing HDR games like Far Cry 5, FF15 and Formula 1 2017 exhibited surprising effects and clarity, not something that is easily described in a review or even YouTube video. Seeing it in a real-world environment, in the end, is what will be the convincing factor. Next page, please.