Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) is a term that is used to refer to dynamic display refresh rate which makes motion look continuous and seamless. It has been commonly known regarding television, but the gaming world is going to revolutionise with this technology. But how does VRR make a difference in gaming? You might be confused but we have described everything in this article that you need to know about VRR in gaming, including VRR working and its benefits. 

What is VRR?

Refresh rate can be defined as the number of times a display can refresh in a second and it is measured in Hertz (Hz). For instance, a 20 Hz display can refresh 20 times in a second. As the refresh rate keeps increasing, the quality of the viewing experience is enhanced. Ideally, a display of 120 Hz or above refresh rate is capable of delivering a smooth and continuous display experience. Display quality is crucial for having a comfortable experience while playing video games or watching videos. VRR can support variation in refresh rates, which means that it allows the refresh rate to change in real-time. Frames-per-second (FPS) rate can be changed through VRR in a device such as a gaming console. VRR gives the freedom of refresh rate change to VRR displays within a wide range for providing a seamless video gaming experience. 

How does the technology work?

The problem with low refresh rate displays is that they make movements look discontinuous. When you play a game, it becomes critically important to have a higher display rate, otherwise you’ll lose the game due to lag in the display. If your display does not support a high refresh rate, you’ll not be able to aim at a fast-moving target in the game. Today, a refresh rate of 60Hz is the lowest that can be seen in modern devices, and most displays allow only a constant refresh rate, which means that images in a display change at particular time intervals only. 

A display lacking VRR creates issues such as screen-tearing, wobbling effect, and lagging due to non-synchronized refresh rate and frames per second. Lack of variation in refresh rates may result in serious lagging during the display. Lagging occurs as a result of the unavailability of a new frame of an image when the time of its display arrives, due to this the previous image stays on the screen until the new image arrives. This can be very problematic for video gamers, as they may face serious lags while gaming due to the slow refresh rates and bad graphic power of their device. This problem generated a need to introduce the Variable Refresh Rate technology. VRR is responsible for altering the refresh rates seamlessly as per the requirement, which depends upon the speed of availability of the coming frames. VRR allows the display to stay in sync with the speed at which new frames are being generated. For example, if your device fails to run a frame in time, the refresh rate of the monitor will be slowed down to prevent the lagging effect. VRR has additional advantages when it comes to video gaming, such as if your Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is able to create more than 60 FPS, then a VRR display will work towards pushing its refresh rate beyond 60Hz to provide an even smoother motion display. Xbox Series X with the help of VRR technology can produce up to 120 FPS with compatible games. Sony has also promised to release a VRR compatible PS5 soon. Besides gaming devices, manufacturers of other devices including smartphones and tablets have also started adopting VRR technology in their displays to save the battery from exhausting quickly. When a device has to show only a static image, then what’s the point of refreshing the screen 120 times per second, hence the workload will significantly be reduced resulting in power saving. This technology will help in establishing a better connection between a monitor or TV and a gaming console or a media streaming device. As a consequence, when a device sends video frames at its fastest speed, the display adapts accordingly and employs its own refresh rate seamlessly within the given range to match the source device. Currently, VRR is being provided by Apple’s ProMotion, Nvidia’s G-Sync, HDMI 2.1, Qualcomm’s Q-Sync, and some others.

Can it improve the gaming experience?

VRR is definitely going to enhance the gaming experience of players who love to play multiplayer games, sports games, and fast-paced games. It will help in eliminating problems such as latency, screen tearing, lagging, and wobbling effects. It will improve the gaming experience in terms of better image quality, continuous display, and seamless motions. 120Hz or 4K display supportive games will assure the players an engaging and responsive gaming experience. User satisfaction is the foremost thing that matters the most and VRR will help adventure-loving gamers to have a thrilling experience. Although it would not matter much for the players who do not play fast-paced games. In addition to a VRR supportive TV, you will also need a supported console, HDMI cable, and supportive games to enjoy the thrill. A television that supports advanced VRR features will result in better HDR tone-mapping; hence enhancing the contrast, luminance, and dark area details. The ecosystem for VRR might be in its nascent stages but it is soon going to gain widespread adoption. It will drastically improve the gaming experience in gaming consoles as well as PC-based gaming. The connectivity of a gaming console to a device such as a TV or a monitor that supports VRR solutions can eliminate judder and lagging effects caused by mismatches in FPS and the refresh rate. Users will be able to enjoy the enhanced image quality and smoother experience in video games. The higher the FPS, the increased the image and video quality. Due to the increased adoption of VRR technology, more games are being developed that can be played at 120 FPS. This will give players the advantage of playing fast-paced games smoothly such as first-person shooting games, car or bike racing games, or real-time strategy games. Victory in multiplayer games majorly depends upon the speed of players, so a good VRR display will be helpful on many fronts for thrill-loving gamers. 

Conclusion

VRR is capable of supporting a wide range of refresh rates which in turn will help in eliminating the lag faced while playing video games. VRR possesses the ability to transform both console gaming and PC gaming by providing seamless and continuous display motion. Although it would not change things much for gamers that do not play fast-paced thrilling games, it will definitely improve the gaming experience of fast gamers.