- The PlayStation 5 will soon have a variable refresh rate feature in the upcoming months
- It will help issues like screen tearing and artifacting when playing on monitors with over 60Hz refresh rate
- Some older games will not have this feature supported unless they are patched
With the newest PlayStation Plus update now live, subscribers are one step closer to having a variable refresh rate feature.
VRR Coming Soon
The newest PlayStation Plus update recently dropped, and with that came the usual problems one might expect from a similar release. Despite the problems, owners of Sony’s newest console, the PlayStation 5, will at least have something to look forward to in the form of a soon-to-be-released Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) feature. The news comes from Sony’s official announcement of the latest PlayStation Plus update.
The Variable Refresh Rate feature is a graphics setting that syncs the refresh rate of the display to the PS5 console’s graphical output in real-time. Since the PS5 can output video at a much higher rate than most TV, VRR can help sync up the frames your console produces to the frames your screen is actually capable of displaying. The new feature will also greatly benefit players who use computer monitors, which often have higher refresh rates than TVs.
The benefit of having the VRR feature is that it can prevent graphical issues like screen tearing and artifacting. Both of these problems often occur when there's a mismatch between the output frames and the display's refresh rate.
What Are Some Particularities of VRR?
As much as the Variable Refresh Rate will be a good addition to the PlayStation Plus services, unfortunately, it will come only for the PS5. It will also only be enabled for HDMI 2.1-compatible TVs and monitors.
Older games might not be able to support VRR when it launches either, a problem that will have to be patched by the developer. Considering this, first-party Sony games will most likely take priority for such changes for VRR support updates. However, this might not be the case for other games.
Some other news Sony announced in the blogpost are the UI enhancements to Game Base and Trophy Cards on the PS5 alongside accessibility features like mono audio in headphones. PS5 players living in the US and UK will also be able to preview the new voice command features. These allow users to open games, apps, and settings, as well as control media playback using just your voice.
One final note is that Sony screwed up a bit with the update, as it has a bug that’s disabling everyone’s PS Plus accounts, preventing them from using the online features of any game. The issue is being worked on, as it's quite a big emergency.
