The weak point for the previous monitor, which I own, is it's simply too big with too few HDR zones(10). The weakness wasn't really the lack of NITS(1,000 on the first model), but I guess it's a bit of an improvement, it's just not the main weakness of the monitor as an HDR monitor.
For myself, because of the HDR being not so great from lack of zones(banding) on the monitor, I don't use the HDR. The monitor looks better calibrated properly, and it doesn't calibrate properly(black levels/gamma) with HDR enabled.
As an owner of a G9, the curve is fine because it's a massive 49". I agree that on a 27"(what I came from) any curve is too much curve. Unless someone is sitting less than a foot from their monitor, it's a waste.
I also have the monitor previous to the G9, the C49RG90, I absolutely love it! Also like you I don't use HDR ever. The number of back lighting zones is a joke. It's horrible, there are ten zones. Some monitors have hundreds of backlighting zones. The ASUS PG27UQ is a 27" monitor with 384 zones.
When you turn on HDR the colors looked washed out or like they have a gray filter over them, the blacks look horrible.
The brightness is amazing. I keep it turned down when I'm windows but when I'm gaming or watching a movie I turn the brightness up and I think it's game changing. Even with the room darkened I still keep the brightness turned up in games.
If they don't fix the hdr in this new version samsung has to be the most stubborn, and just plain stupid companies. Everyone, every owner, every reviewer complains about the hdr. It really is unusable.
I want to upgrade to the G9 for the increased curve and higher refresh rate but I hope they don't jack up the price for this new model after changing something that didn't need to be fixed. The monitor is already one of the brightest monitors on the market. Absolutely no need to make it brighter.
They need to fix the backlighting, change the type of backlight or whatever, it needs more zones, as in hundreds more zones to allow fine tuned control over exactly where and how much of the screen is made brighter.
Still it's an amazing monitor, I the picture by picture mode is a nice feature for when you're reinstalling windows or working on your system in any way. I have it hooked to my receiver so I can use my fire stick on half the screen while working in BIOS or whatever.
A lot of people complained of QC issues with the C49RG90, dead/stuck pixels etc but my monitor is perfect. I've had it a little over year and it's still flawless.
