By 2020, we will see a big jump in video games thanks to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and TV makers are bringing new technology to the event. Both TCL and Vizio announced this week that some of their new TVs will support various refresh rates on PCs and game consoles, a feature that will help games run smoothly on your TV. (LG it also added me to some of its top OLED TVs last year).
Adaptive regeneration rates are a popular feature among PC gaming, as they are a very common feature for today's game monitors. Since this is new to console players, or anyone else interested in TVs, let's talk a little bit about what they can do for different price ranges.
A different refresh rate allows the PC or console of the game to change the number of times it sends new information to the screen (from hundreds to hundreds of times per second). Each time this happens, your machine tells the screen what to display – everyone's position, location and object, and the screen "pulls" on it. That static image is called frame, and the number of times your computer sends images to the screen is "frame rate." TV buffs can adapt to one of these if you watch smooth movement.
Why would you need a variable rate, you ask? Unlike movies and TV, video games create each image frame on a page. As a result, games are often the most demanded of computers and have an impact on performance changes. Depending on the game's experience (or inconsistency) the computer's requirements for the game can vary greatly: Sometimes such swings can create visual issues such as screen crashes, where multiple animation frames appear simultaneously, and lag.
Here's a tech demo that illustrates the difference between playing a game on a PC with and without a technical update rate, also known as "adaptive adaptation."
To avoid these issues, heart-shaped games like the Xbox One, PlayStation, and Nintendo switch, are made to work on a fixed frame, typically 30 or 60 seconds per second. (Not every game is presented in that promise, it's more about the game itself as a machine.) If these startups support the adaptive flexibility found on these TVs, the consoles will be able to run games without those restrictions. Depending on the game, that can result in animations, which look better. For some, it may not mean anything.
On PC, there is dual synchronous synchronization technology, but no TV creator specifically solicits any. Me wait the technology will be widely used, and Microsoft has confirmed that the upcoming Xbox Series X will further support active synchronization. Tony has not confirmed that the PlayStation 5 will support a different refresh rate, but given some of the claims you did it when it comes to reducing load times, it looks like a natural wrap.
On current machines, the Xbox One S and X are compatible with the display of FreeSync, a type of PC-based sync adapter. PlayStation 4 and Nintendo switch do not support active synchronization in any way.
While I'm not in a hurry to spend a fortune on new TV with active sync, I'm not going to overlook this feature if you buy something new in the next year or so – at least, if you want a smooth gameplay that you can find in a console that will be based on technology. You better buy that first is finding the best TV you can find, rather than the other way around.
