Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) has become an essential feature when buying screens, especially those specialized in video game play. Manufacturers’ marketing departments know that this is important information and that they value it, so they highlight it to support their sales. And not always with the required accuracy.

VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) has announced a new display certification program, which must clarify the level this variable refresh rate. The new standard joins other implemented associations, including Displayport, VESA screen holders, and DisplayHDR certifications, which indicates its potential as a high dynamic range and indicates the potential to display images (still or moving) as close as possible. as much as possible in the real world.

VRR: a mess

You already know that variable refresh rate is a technology that allows screens change the refresh rate on the fly between the specified rangeremoving artifacts from images and generally improving communication between the graphics processor and the screen through frequency synchronization. This feature is not just about games, but it is in this segment that is most important.

This variable refresh rate is implemented in the PC through a technology called “Adaptive Sync” standardized by VESA. It is widely used in industry and is supported by major graphics chip providers (NVIDIA, AMD and Intel), all monitor manufacturers and is also present in some TV models. It is well supported on operating systems such as Windows, it is also used by the latest Xbox Series X consoles and was recently added by Sony for the PS5.

VESA introduced native VRR support with Displayport 1.2a in 2014. Graphics card manufacturers support it, but they have specific VRR solutions you know, such as G-Sync from NVIDIA and FreeSync from AMD. These providers have pProprietary VRR display certification programs, however, are closed and do not specify what display tests and configurations are involved.

Hopefully the VESA program should fix this by being more open about their test procedures and stricter about which screens pass each of the levels, which should help consumers make their choice.

Rules for VRR

VESA has announced the implementation of two levels with two appropriate logos that manufacturers will be able to use if their screen meets the values ​​defined in the certification. It should be noted that VESA only tests and certifies displays that are compatible with DisplayPort, more advanced than HDMI in display interfaces, and more used in personal computers.

Note also that spol will not test any “overclocked” refresh rates offered by OSD manufacturers. All certifications will be performed at the factory default settings, which means that the unpacking mode should have reasonable pixel response times without any changes, which often – again marketing – are not realistic at all.

AdaptiveSync

It is the first of the certifications and the most interesting, because it is designed mainly for game monitors. Requires displays to have a minimum refresh rate of 60 Hz and a maximum refresh rate of at least 144 Hz. The logo will show the maximum refresh rate supported by the display.

Support for low frame rate compensation will also be mandatory, which helps units stay within the VRR range even if the frame rate falls below the minimum refresh rate. The standard will also test gray-to-gray (G2G) response times, which must be less than 5 milliseconds.

This doesn’t sound very impressive, considering that many of today’s monitors advertise response times of less than 1 ms and refresh rates that have reached a maximum of 360 Hz. However, VESA tests will be much more rigorous and realistic, which ultimately interests consumers.

MediaSync

The second of the certifications is for mid- and basic-level displays and focuses on the proper operation of VRR for media playback and content creation. It requires a relatively narrow refresh rate range of at least 48-60 Hz, but VESA will test for flicker, overshoots, oscillations and most importantly vibrations.

On a display without a 60Hz VRR, watching a 24fps movie will result in even frames being displayed at three refresh intervals, while odd frames will be displayed in two. This is called a 3: 2 pulldown and creates jitter. MediaSync-certified displays solve this by using duplicate frames as needed to bring lower frame rates within the monitor’s refresh rate range, with jitter limited to 1 ms.

Variable refresh rate: What it is and why it matters

If you get a little lost in it all, explain in advance that a PC or game console sends new information to a screen to which it is connected tens to hundreds of times per second. Each time this happens, the machine tells the screen exactly what to show, the location of each person, place and thing, and the screen “plots” it.

The generated static image is what we know as the rámec frame ’(frame), while the number of times the computer or console sends images to the screen is the “frame rate” you will see highlighted as fps. The variable refresh rate allows the screen display images at the same speed as the number of images you receive at that time. And that’s very important for games, because unlike other entertainment content, such as movies, series, or TV shows, video games create every frame on the fly.

Depending on what happens in the video game, the frame rate generated by the PC graphics card can vary greatly, because the static image of the turn-based strategy game has nothing to do with driving or running shooting and shooting.

Considering that a computer with a higher-end graphics card can produce images at tremendous speeds (usually much higher than the average on monitors or TVs), move images to the screen without a variable refresh rate may cause image jitter, jitter, flicker, input delay, and other display artifacts that impair your gaming experience.

In practice, the use of this technology improves image quality, response speed at virtually any frame rate per second and generally delivers better gaming experience. Therefore, VESA certification is important so that the consumer is clear about the level of variable refresh rate (at least the minimum) that the purchased monitor offers.