A PS5 Firmware Update Will Add VRR Support in the Future

Really good news, one of the big features missing from launch. Here’s hoping there’s more coming in the future.

How they going to update the PS5. Feel sorry for her

Sweet. My Samsung QLED does VRR. Now I just need to find a PS5. 😒

well thats cool and much appreciated but what i'd REALLY appreciate is them letting me use 120hz on my 144hz monitors =_=.

VRR is essential for PS5 with 120hz content, it will be dropping frames regularly.

With the exception some cross-gen games or indies, I don't think many games will have 120hz, it's a good future proofing features though.

Good to know but after shelling out the best part of £1000 on a 55 inch Sony 4K HDR TV just over 3 years ago I can't justify buying a new TV again anytime soon

@Marios-love-child same. My qled 4k HDR i got a few years ago when i got my pro will do just fine. Runs at 60hz tho but i dont care. Just got to hold out for a ps5 now

Now I just need to find a TV that supports VRR.

Vrr is cool and all, but.... No pc monitors actually support it yet at all, and only 1 year old top of the line tvs have it except for new tvs coming soon. And even people that own one, if you're running through an audio system or switching system, you still dont have hdmi 2.1 through to the tv. While cool, it feels like hype keeps touting a feature that less than a quarter of players will be able to use through at least half of, or all of, the generation.....

That's not a ps thing, it's all over the ms side too.

I love VR but there's a million other things they need to prioritise before this

Good that they're adding it but it's going to be a while before I have a TV that can take advantage of it and I doubt many of the games I buy will even have 120fps modes in the first place

Great (and absolutely predictable) but that's another one of those features blown out of proportion by marketing because it's for a tiny % of gamers concerned.
When it's there we wont hear about it anymore.

My 50Hz tv can’t wait!

@Icey664 VRR not VR

@MightyDemon82 V.R.R. not VRR

I’m glad for the few that have supported TVs but for me it’s a non-issue. Let’s just hope devs stop over budgeting their visuals which is what causes the tearing VRR fixes.

Really bad news in my opinion.

Sure it’s good for a tiny minority of niche cases who want to play at low fidelity and high frame rates (honestly just buy a PC if that’s important to you), but my number one fear with VRR that I’ve been expressing for over a year now is this:

Developers will release shoddy unstable games that can’t maintain a locked 60 or 30, and will simply say “that’s your problem, spend £1000 on a TV”. Then corrupt and unethical journos will ride shot gun for them by either covering up the tearing and judder, or passing it off with the same arguments about “buy a 1000 pound TV, it’s your fault peasant”.

As regular as clockwork, in early November before the consoles had even been released to normal consumers, that is exactly what happened.

Call me psychic.

So I hope Sony don’t patch in VRR because as it stands, the lack of said feature is the main reason to buy games on PS5 and not Series X.

My LG CX says 'get your arse in gear, Sony'.

Watch it arrive the same time as the VRR for the X900H TV, they probably left it off because they didn't have a TV ready with VVR.

Seems that a lot of items on the PS5 were not ready but they had to launch so xbox did not have an advantage, so they've got it out the door with basic items needed to play games and then be patch and fix the rest later.

@hypnotoad mine too!

@Toypop Yeap, the Series X Valhalla being the perfect example, if you use VRR the screen tearing in the game almost disappears.. apparently Ubisoft will patch it for everyone else, but the worry is devs won’t spend the time and resources of their games and instead rely on VRR to fix their issues. So a tiny percentage of people will get smooth gameplay thanks to lazy devs looking to maximise profit. We will see how it turns out... so far the PS5 is doing alright without VRR, I hope it’s introduction doesn’t change that.

In the meantime changing the output to -1 or -2 can be a decent short term fix for some, although you sacrifice true hdr for it

@S1ayeR74 you are right on the money bro. I've seen this before in the PC world, where devs don't optimise games such that they have huge fluctuations in frame rate. PC gaming is all about devs saying "it's your problem peasant, spend money or get lost".

To get a game to run at a stable 60fps on PC, you should only need a £1000 rig, Instead you have to spend £2000 on a PC capable of running it at 100fps, and a £500 g-sync monitor, then lock it to 60fps with the monitor taking care of the pathetic drops to 50fps. It's a sledgehammer to crack a nut all the time, and a total disrespect of your hard earned cash by lazy devs.

I'm saddened that consoles are inheriting all the worse traits of PC's. It's gradually drifting from mass appeal, to the elitist big-bucks gate keeping of the PC gaming world.

You now need a VRR TV to play basic console staples like Assassin Creed, it won't be long before you might as well just give up if you can't afford a keyboard and mouse for online fps, and we've already reached the stage where if you can't build a racing simulator in your moms basement, you are getting blown out of a lot of console racing games.

I wouldn't be surprised if Valhalla was testing the water by Ubisoft. Waiting to see if the games journas played it down by saying "well this is a good reason why you need VRR" (and that's EXACTLY what they did) and to see if consumers tolerate it.

If we don't push back now, this will be the norm.

Will certainly make a difference. It does on games like Valhalla and Dirt 5 on my Series X. Though bare in mind,screen tearing is not as bad on PS5 in those titles as it is on SX.

@NEStalgia color me stupid but isn’t that what “Freesync” suppose to do aka VRR?

@mousieone Yes. GSYNC and Freesync is VRR, but HDMI 2.1 introduced something called HDMI VRR which what he is probably referring to.

@Floki @mousieone Yeah, freesync is an ati/amd proprietary type of vrr that runs on hdmi 2.0 and dp. Gsync is nvidias version. Many monitors support the former, a good number support the latter. Almost no tvs support either, and almost no receivers or switches do either.

VRR is a new universal vrr hdmi 2.1. which most people won't actually have, most or all of this gen. No monitors at all have it yet and the only pre 2021 models of tvs that do are top of the line $3000+ tvs from the past year or so, and not even all of them. The only people that could use the feature are people with brand new bragging rights level tvs. If course most tvs coming next year onward will have it, but what percentage of pd5/xsx buyers are buying a new tv in the next 5-7 years? Cool feature, but so few people will actually get to use it is a little over hyped.

My monitor does support freesync... xsx not ps5 supports that. I've tried it, it works, but direct work through my hdmi switches (well, one does, bit not the ones with audio breakout.)

@NEStalgia While you are correct that few TVs support it. You're extremely exaggerating that price range. LMAO. You can easily pick up a TV right now that have support for all of the HDMI 2.1 feature like VRR for less than $800 like the LG NANO85.

@Floki yeah the new 2021 tvs (which confusingly, like cars, are on sale in 2020...) But the 2019/2020 tvs it was only the extreme high end ones, mostly only oleds, that did. And even among them, many were only 2.0a, not 2.1.

Regardless though, most people don't "upgrade" tvs the way they do consoles. They use them until they break or are so obsolete as to be visibly poor performing. Yes everyone or anyone buying a new tv after the next 6 mo is probably getting 2.1. but what percent of ps5/xsx owners will actually be replacing their tv in the next 5-7 years, let alone now at launch, to take advantage of it?

120fps at least should work with monitors, though most of those only support it over display port, not their hdmi 2.0 ports.

It's just awkward that the consoles are launching promoting features 95% of customers can't use yet, most customers won't know or understand they can't use it, and probably less than 50% will get to use it over the generation.

Hdmi versioning is just such a messed up "standard"

@NEStalgia The TV I just named one that isn't a 21 model year. It the 20 model, far from a extremely high end, and isn't OLED. Have you actual done any research or are you just speaking out your butt on this? If you look around you can find a bit of cheap quality TVs that do have support for VRR with HDMI 2.1

People actually do frequent upgrade their TV especially in and the around the time US football season starts every year. If anything, most people are looking to upgrade their TV now... It more or less the perfect time to upgrade. It a new console launch on top of holiday sales and Black Friday. If you're gonna spend $500 on a console. You're gonna make sure that TV you have support as many of it feature as possible.

Consoles have always been used to promote features that 95% of customer can't use yet, most customers won't know or understand they can't use it. Both Sony and Microsoft are advertising 8k on the box when they know damn well that there no 8k TV available on the market... Even the Pro, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X main selling point at release was HDR and 4k at time when there was barely 4k or HDR TVs on the market.

@Floki thank you I had a vague notion it might be something like that but only because dude @NEStalgia =p you don’t like to make things easy in a discussion that’s for sure. sighs

To be fair Sony isn’t “promoting” VRR they are adding it in as a “compliment” for people that do want it. The fact that it’s a hidden in a blog post update is my proof.

MS is promoting it but MS also had Freesync and 1440p support which a gaming monitor with those features is something many owners will have. And won’t break the bank.

@Kidfunkadelic83 @Th3solution Same here, hoping I get lucky and obtain a PS5 during Thanksgiving or Black Friday sales.

@KidBoruto good luck buddy. Im just holding out until i see one in a store, could be a few months id imagine. Plenty to play on ps4 tho so im not too worried.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I have a massive PS4 backlog so not worried there, just missing out on some good PS5 exclusives and playing better versions of some PS4 games.

@mousieone oh, hush, you

@Floki enthusiasts may upgrade tvs often. The mass market waits for them to break.

I mean that's great you found one of extremely few models of the 2020 models that do have it.... But it's one of very very very few, and is, again a mute point. The future ones after this will, but only a fraction of the market will actually be updating in that time. 4k is even a minority at this point in time.

Again, I'm not pinning this on Sony or ms. Moreso the internet commentariat that keep obsessing over it, and other hdmi 2.1 features. 2.1 switching equipment doesn't even exist yet... It's still stuck in direct connect to tv features which rules out complex ht systems still. And most of these features don't matter outside gaming. The new hdr formats do, but that's about it.

@KidBoruto im the same mate. Id really like one but i just keep thinking to myself"just wait" give it a few months and hopefully it will be plain sailing. Kinks patched out and a few more games to choose from.

This is going to be a thing for me in maybe 5 years. LOL.

@Toypop VRR is fantastic I have been using gsync on my monitor for years.
It has nothing to do with playing with on low fidelity and high framerate.
HDMI 2.1 VRR works from 30 fps to 120 fps. 40fps feels as smooth as playing at 60 fps with VRR.
I hate Vsync being forced on console games with the micro stuttering and latency it brings and I hate playing games locked at 30 fps even more.

Why the omission of Freesync as the Series S/X has it. My Samsung TV has Freesync so this is a big deal breaker for me.

@hammers1man I've been using g-sync on PC for years and that is not quite true.

40fps does not feel as smooth as 60fps, not even close.

G-Sync/Freesync works best at higher frame rates and where there isn't too large a fluctuation. If you are running between 100 and 115fps, you can eliminate stutter/tearing and you don't tend to notice the fluctuations so much.

It also works well when you have games that (like a lot of console titles) will hold 60 but very occasionally drop to 57 or 58. It's eliminates v-sync stutter and you don't otherwise notice such a minor drop.

Unless playing a competitive online fps, I will crank up the graphics to the highest fidelity I can without it dropping more than a few frames under 60. Then I cap it to 60 to stop my GPU melting down as in a typical AAA title, I don't really care or need it running up to 70fps etc. G-Sync then takes care of those little drops under 60. Hey presto, silent GPU fans and a smooth, tear-free experience.

In the case of Valhalla, we see drops down to 40 on Series X and VRR won't save you there.

If Sony enabled VRR on the PS5, the 99% of owners who don't have a VRR TV will suffer. Furthermore, even those with VRR will suffer as you will start seeing lazy ports like Valhalla on XSX which your fancy TV will not be able to compensate for.

Beg for this at your peril...

@NEStalgia Not all HDMI 2.1 TV's will have VRR so it is important to look for the feature when buying a new TV.

@Toypop @Toypop gsync works great at lower than 60 fps, better than Freesync does actually. I have not seen one micro stutter or the crappy latency you get from vsyc. A game running on 30 fps on a PC with VRR compared to A PS4 Pro at 30 fps is a different ball game.
You do know that gysnc was designed for performance below 60 fps as much as over 60 fps.

Great news. Yes, not many people will be able to take advantage of it immediately but it needs to be there ready for them when they buy new sets that can. Makes things like screen tearing a thing of the past.

@hammers1man I use gsync for drops just below 60fps. I have a 4K monitor. I moved away from 1440p 165hz to 4K 60hz a few years back as I mostly play console ports and WoW.

Outside of COD, I don't know why consoles gamers would swap so much resolution for the higher frame rates. Well in fairness I suspect that stats at Sony/MS's end will show less than 1% of users are doing that.

We know from the Steam hardware survey that forums are fantasy land and don't reflect the true market. I want games designed to maintain a solid 30 or 60 on console. The >99% of the user base shouldn't have to spend £1000 on a TV.

As I keep saying, if that's the road consoles are going down, I'll spend that £1000 upgrading my PC thanks very much and get far better performance for my money.

Spend £1000 on TV for your console and you get 1080p, 100 to 120fps.

Spend £1000 on my PC and I get 1440p 165fps+.

@rjc-32 120fps games are dropping frames on Series X currently, so I'm not sure how effective or vital VRR really is.

120fps games are dropping frames on Series X currently, so I'm not sure how effective or vital VRR really is? I'm not about to buy an LG CX for insane money so I can get little benefit from it along with OLED burn in! lol

@Toypop I can't see the vast majority of gamers spending over a grand on a TV either. Now that monitors finally are coming out with decent HDR and some amazing TV's are available on the cheap, paired with the amount of 4K/120fps games being counted on 1 hand over the next 7 years most likely, I just don't see many people seeing VRR as "essential" on console at least.

@morrisseymuse That’s the whole point of VRR, to compensate for dropped frames. The display will constantly be in sync with the number of frames that are output from the source device. This will result in a smoother presentation. Once you’ve used it you won’t want to go back to fixed rate displays.

@rjc-32 but theyre dropping frames in DMC5 when played in 120hz mode. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I would expect VRR to smooth out the fps to 120fps in such a situation and not the 100fps average we get on Series X? If therefore VRR can only do so much it seems and it's more a hardware issue, then surely VRR isn't going to be essential next gen?

@morrisseymuse VRR is there to eliminate tearing that is present without VSync enabled, and to eliminate the judder that occurs when Vsync is enabled and the target framerate is not kept.

VRR will not “convert” lower frame rates to the target, but it will work in sync with the display relative to whatever framerate the GPU/Console is outputting at a given time. Let’s say your console outputs 104fps, your screen will work at 104hz at this moment, so you won’t get the judder that would occur if your screen was working at 120hz while the GPU was outputting 104fps. The smoothness is the removal of this judder.

From your example, devil may cry outputting 100fps, VRR would tell the screen to work at 100hz at this moment. That’s why VRR is important where framerate fluctuations occur.

@Kidfunkadelic83 I usually wait until 3-4 years into the console's lifespan to save on money, but wanted to try and experience Launch Day hype from the point of owning one.

Oh well, hopefully the PS6 launch will be alot smoother, whenever that releases.

@Toypop P The thing is there are plenty of cheaper TV's and monitors with Freesync and Sony decide not to support it where microsoft do.
Anyone that uses VRR TV's and monitors will have a hard time going back to a fixed refresh rate panel. HDMI 2.1 will be the new standard and not supporting great features like HDMI 2.1 VRR or Freesync is living in the past when it provides such an improvement for gaming.

@hammers1man no it provides NO IMPROVEMENT on a fixed platform such a console.

If you buy games from developers who aren't lazy shovelware merchants, VRR has no value.

What use is VRR in games from quality developers? Their games run at a locked 30 or a locked 60 and never deviate.

So VRR is achieving the sum-total of NOTHING.

VRR only benefits you when developers release garbage products! You are paying to clean up their mess!

Give it a year and most of the real next gen titles will be 30fps, with a few at 60fps. You won't be playing at 120fps. That's PC territory.

On PC you can use G/Free sync to allow you to run games that are a bit out of your hardware's depth.

With a console it's the developers job to stay within the consoles depth. Sure I've no objection to them providing two modes (1080p/60 and 4K/30) but those modes should do what they say on the tin and hit those targets 99.9% of the time.

You've already been mugged off and duped into accepting that you pay for their failures. As usual it's gamers who are destroying the industry. You are Ubisofts dream ticket.

Gamers who buy pre-order DLC.

Gamers who buy microtransactions.

Gamers who buy new TV's so devs can shovel garbage.

You will all get what you deserve.

@rjc-32 hmmm, now this is interesting! Thanks, probably the best explanation of VRR I've read on the internet that! lol
My room has alas limited my 4K grandeous plans somewhat, I'm hoping there's decent VRR in smaller TV's lol

still bummed out, i got a Samsung Q6FN (2018 model) which does support 1440p 120hz but not 4k. so wish they would add 1440 as a supported reso. Either way looks like its time for another TV come tax time.