Variable refresh rate or VRR is a technology that monitors the refresh rate of your display and adjusts it to give you the best possible screen image. This allows you to reduce stuttering and tearing in games, movies, and other video content.
What does that mean? It means your graphics card will refresh its image (or frame) at a faster rate which should help smooth out any jitter or stutter you might notice on the screen.
Check out this article to find out everything you need to know about VRR.
What Is Variable Refresh Rate?
Variable Refresh Rate is the ability of a display to change its refresh rate according to the frame rate of the image being displayed. This can be done by either increasing or decreasing the number of times per second that an image is redrawn onscreen.
The most common variable refresh rates are 60 Hz and 120 Hz. These refer to how frequently a screen refreshes, as in “refreshes every 1/60th of a second or every 1/120th of a second”.
The main difference between these two frequencies is how long it takes for your computer’s graphics card to render each frame: 60 Hz requires a single frame every half-second, while 120 Hz requires two frames every second (and so on).
For example, if you wanted to play video games at 60 Hz instead of 30 FPS (30 frames per second), your screen would have to refresh about 33% faster than normal to keep up with what’s happening onscreen.
Theoretically speaking, if you could run at 60 FPS without laggy performance which isn’t likely but possible then your graphics card would have time to draw more than one frame every half-second and therefore reduce input latency.
There are various online Refresh Rate Checker Tool available to check refresh rate of monitor.
How Does The Technology Work?
Variable refresh rate technology works by using a technique called V-Sync. V-Sync is a technology that allows your monitor to adjust its refresh rate according to the frame rate of your graphics card.
It does this by alternating between two different refresh rates: a standard rate (the refresh rate you’re accustomed to seeing on your monitor or TV) and an alternate rate (a lower, more aggressive one).
The standard rate is usually 60Hz, but some monitors can go as high as 120Hz or even higher.
If you’re using a graphics card with a higher frame rate than your monitor can handle—say, more than 120FPS—your monitor will detect this and ask you if you want to use the alternate refresh rate instead of your normal one.
If you do, it will change over to the alternate refresh rate automatically; otherwise, it keeps up with whatever frames per second your graphics card is sending out.
Why Does VRR Matter In Gaming?
Variable refresh rate is a technology that determines how fast your monitor refreshes its image. This can be helpful for gaming because it helps to reduce motion blur, which is caused by the monitor’s refresh rate.
Motion blur is a visual artifact that occurs when objects on the screen move too fast for your eye to follow them. It occurs because there are two frames of information at any given time: one from the previous frame and one from the current frame.
The human eye’s persistence in vision means that it takes longer than a second to read those frames and process them into an image.
As a result, what you see on screen lags slightly behind what’s happening in real-time, which can be disorienting and annoying in games where there are fast-paced movements or explosions.
Variable refresh rate technology changes this by allowing monitors to adjust their pixel response time based on the speed at which you’re playing games.
So if you’re moving around quickly, then your monitor will likely have a faster pixel response time (PRT), which means that it will show images more quickly than if you were sitting still playing games such as Overwatch or League of Legends (LoL).
VRR Supported Consoles
Sony’s PlayStation 5 supports VRR with the help of the standard HDMI 2.1 implementation. On the other hand, Xbox Series X and Series S also support VRR through HDMI 2.1 in addition to AMD’s FreeSync technology.
That means that they can display images at a higher or lower frame rate than your monitor is capable of displaying.
This is used to improve responsiveness by reducing the amount of lag between seeing an image and having the image appear onscreen.
The Xbox One X supports VRR in a window of 40Hz to 60Hz, while the Xbox One supports FreeSync, which is a standard format for variable refresh rate support.
Microsoft’s next-gen console will also support HDMI 2.1, which means it will be able to handle VRR at 4K from as low as 30Hz right up to 120Hz.
Microsoft’s Xbox Series X will support both FreeSync and HDMI VRR, so you’ll be able to play games with either one or both types of technology—or even use them together if you want!
Which TVs Support VRR?
If you have a TV with HDMI 2.1 sockets and you’ve been wondering if it supports variable refresh rates, there are a few things to keep in mind.
First of all, HDMI 2.1 is only officially supported by a few brands, and the two best ones are LG and Samsung. If your TV has HDMI 2.1 sockets, it should support a variable refresh rate (VRR).
However, there aren’t many TVs out there with HDMI 2.1 sockets that support VRR. The two best brands for VRR support are LG and Samsung—but not all of LG’s OLEDs have been HDMI 2.1-certified yet, so don’t count on that brand to be able to take advantage of VRR just yet.
Samsung’s top TVs generally aren’t officially HDMI 2.1-certified but have offered VRR support for a while now—so this brand can definitely give you some good options for your next TV purchase if you’re interested in playing around with VRR yourself!
FAQ
What Is A VRR Range?
A VRR range is a specific range of FPS (frames per second) that your monitor can operate within. It is important to keep in mind that all monitors have a VRR range, and it can differ depending on the specifications of the monitor and the implementation of the technology.
Are All VRR Monitors The Same?
No, not all VRR monitors are the same. VRR monitors are monitors that use variable refresh rate technology (VRR) to reduce screen tearing and blur.
Both Nvidia’s G-Sync and AMD’s FreeSync offer a similar experience; however, they are implemented differently and can offer additional features such as reduced motion blur or low framerate compensation.
How Does This Technology Benefit Me?
VRR technology helps make your gaming experience smoother by reducing jitter and helps makes dips in framerates less noticeable.
Jitter is the interruption of frames displayed on a monitor and can cause stuttering or other problems with your gameplay. VRR helps reduce this so you can enjoy your games with less frustration!
How Do I Avoid Exceeding My Monitor’s VRR Range?
You can use vertical sync (V-Sync) to cap your monitor’s refresh rate to the max and prevent it from exceeding your monitor’s VRR range.
Do I Need Specific Hardware To Use These Technologies?
Yes, you must have a monitor as well as a graphics card that supports VRR technology.
Conclusion
So that was all about VRR technology and its benefits for gaming. While not many consoles and TVs support it as of now, it’s certainly something that’s keeping a good pace in the industry. We hope you found this guide helpful.
