WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.640 Variable refresh rate, or VRR, has been one of the coolest pieces of tech to grace our 00:00:04.640 --> 00:00:12.000 PCs over the past decade. Before VRR, you can have really ugly screen tearing, even with a high-end graphics card. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.360 But VRR has largely eliminated this problem for gamers with recent hardware. 00:00:16.360 --> 00:00:21.680 However, there's been a lot of confusion over what exactly VRR does and how it works, 00:00:21.680 --> 00:00:26.240 so let's get right down to explaining it. The basic premise of VRR is rather simple. 00:00:26.240 --> 00:00:30.040 It matches up your monitor's refresh rate, or how many times per second it's showing 00:00:30.040 --> 00:00:33.400 you a new image, with the frame rate of your graphics card. 00:00:33.400 --> 00:00:39.240 Traditionally, monitors would run at one constant refresh rate, say 60 times per second, or 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:45.840 60 hertz. But your GPU's frame rate would swing considerably depending on how hard it had to work to render 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.040 the action in the game you're playing at that moment. 00:00:49.040 --> 00:00:53.920 This mismatch would often result in tearing, where your monitor would essentially try to 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:59.120 display multiple frames at once because the GPU has fed it a new frame in the middle of 00:00:59.120 --> 00:01:05.440 a refresh cycle. The historical solution to this problem was to use a feature called Vertical Sync, or 00:01:05.440 --> 00:01:10.520 V-Sync, which would lock your graphics card's frame rate to your monitor's refresh rate. 00:01:10.520 --> 00:01:16.720 However, if your GPU's frame rate falls below your monitor's refresh rate, vertical 00:01:16.720 --> 00:01:22.720 sync can cause stuttering, as the GPU isn't finished rendering the next frame yet. 00:01:22.720 --> 00:01:28.240 VRR adjusts what your monitor is doing instead, making it a very attractive solution. 00:01:28.240 --> 00:01:33.440 While it is still possible to get tearing if your frame rate exceeds your monitor's maximum 00:01:33.440 --> 00:01:39.200 refresh rate, this can typically be solved by setting an FPS cap in your game settings. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:43.960 But not all VRR is created equal, as there are several different kinds of VRR buying 00:01:43.960 --> 00:01:50.120 for your attention. There's Vesa Adaptive Sync, which is an open source flavor of VRR that works on a driver 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:56.560 level. AMD has FreeSync, which is really just Adaptive Sync that AMD has tested and put their stamp 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:03.120 of approval on. Then there's NVIDIA, who has a group of solutions under the G-Sync umbrella. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:08.200 G-Sync, on its own, is a proprietary solution consisting of extra NVIDIA hardware built 00:02:08.200 --> 00:02:11.640 into the monitor to handle VRR processing. 00:02:11.640 --> 00:02:17.680 The term G-Sync-compatible, on the other hand, refers to an Adaptive Sync screen without 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.560 extra NVIDIA hardware on the display, but that was tested by an NVIDIA to confirm it 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:30.040 works well, similar to AMD's FreeSync. At the top of the NVIDIA food chain is G-Sync Ultimate, which includes fancier monitors 00:02:30.040 --> 00:02:35.600 with better HDR support, along with that special NVIDIA hardware built in. 00:02:35.600 --> 00:02:39.160 Compatibility is better than it used to be in that newer G-Sync displays that have the 00:02:39.160 --> 00:02:44.400 extra hardware can now work with non-NVIDIA graphics cards, even though this wasn't always 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:50.840 the case. And the various flavors of Adaptive Sync should work on most modern GPUs. 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:56.640 And VRR is part of the HDMI 2.1 spec and works similarly to Adaptive Sync, which is more 00:02:56.640 --> 00:03:01.680 of a DisplayPort thing. VRR can be susceptible to motion blur or ghosting. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:05.760 Although this problem is not unique to VRR, the issue is that displays can have a harder 00:03:05.760 --> 00:03:09.480 time compensating for it when VRR is enabled. 00:03:09.480 --> 00:03:13.160 You see, pixels have what's called a transition time to change from one shade of 00:03:13.160 --> 00:03:19.160 gray to another. And even though we use color monitors, we're talking about shades of gray because the actual 00:03:19.160 --> 00:03:23.440 light usually passes through a color filter to create the final image that you see. 00:03:23.440 --> 00:03:27.360 Anyhow, pixels are driven a certain amount so that they'll transition in a way that 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:32.480 looks correct. When your refresh rate is changing so often with VRR, you'll also have to change the 00:03:32.480 --> 00:03:36.440 amount that you drive the pixels. And this can be tricky. 00:03:36.440 --> 00:03:41.040 If you don't do it, or don't do it right, blurring or artifacting can occur. 00:03:41.040 --> 00:03:45.680 VRR displays compensate for this by driving pixels a different amount or over-driving 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:52.360 them depending on refresh rate. Determining the correct amount of overdrive requires extra processing and larger lookup 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:56.520 tables which store the correct values the display should be using. 00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:02.360 Which brings us back to G-Sync. Monitors with G-Sync hardware inside tend to do a better job with this extra processing 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:06.800 and give you an image with less motion blur. That's why the extra hardware. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:10.680 Now of course, we're not endorsing NVIDIA or telling you to go out and spend extra 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:16.800 money on a G-Sync monitor. If you care more about preventing screen tearing and ghosting blur isn't something you typically 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:20.680 notice, you might be completely happy with an adaptive sync monitor that'll cost you 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:24.200 less money. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta tear out of here. 00:04:24.200 --> 00:04:28.200 So thanks for watching guys, if you liked this video, you might also like our video 00:04:28.200 --> 00:04:32.120 on pixel cleaning. How does your OLED not burn in? 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:34.620 What does that setting do? What is it? Check it out.