HDMI 2.1 VRR support will come to AMD Radeon RX GPUs with a future driver update

AMD plans to support variable refresh rate technologies outside of their FreeSync ecosystem

HDMI 2.1 VRR support will come to AMD Radeon RX GPUs with a future driver update

HDMI 2.1 VRR support will come to AMD Radeon RX GPUs with a future driver update

AMD has announced a lot of new technology today, be it their Ryzen 2000G series of desktop APUs with Vega Graphics or their upcoming second-generation Ryzen and Threadripper series CPUs
 
Amidst all of these hardware reveals, there is one that has not gotten much press, an announcement that was expected but showcases the differences between two of the world's largest GPU producers. Today AMD revealed that they are planning to add HDMI 2.1 VRR (variable refresh rate) support with an upcoming release of Radeon Software Adrenalin, the standard that will bring variable refresh rates to future televisions. 
 

     Radeon Software will add support for HDMI 2.1 Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) technology on Radeon RX products in an upcoming driver release. This support will come as an addition to the Radeon FreeSync technology umbrella, as displays with HDMI 2.1 VRR support reach market.


This announcement came on the same day that Nvidia revealed their 120Hz 65-inch "Big Format Gaming Displays", giant G-Sync HDR monitors that could be described as a range of large G-Sync smart TVs if it wasn't for the fact that it doesn't support TV channels or inputs. While Nvidia's BFGD range is an impressive technological feat, they are built with mostly proprietary technology with a price tag that is likely to be astronomically high. Right now Nvidia has not committed to supporting HDMI 2.1, whose VRR tech is a mandatory portion of the standard. 

  

HDMI 2.1 VRR support will come to AMD Radeon RX GPUs with a future driver update

 

AMD's commitment to supporting HDMI 2.1 VRR showcases the company's willingness to adapt to the market, whereas Nvidia is doubling down on their own technology with BFGDs.  It is hard to see this as anything other than Nvidia's attempt to take on the Gaming and TV markets, releasing this product at a time where the writing is already on the wall saying that future TVs/HDMI devices will support VRR. 

You can join the discussion on AMD's planned support for HDMI 2.1 VRR on the OC3D Forums

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Most Recent Comments

08-01-2018, 17:45:58

NeverBackDown
Good thing to hear. The sooner we get away from 2 ecosystems to one standard is a good thingQuote

08-01-2018, 18:17:17

cj09bruno
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeverBackDown View Post
Good thing to hear. The sooner we get away from 2 ecosystems to one standard is a good thing
this wont change much as freesync was already open, so the only thing that changes is the name, nvidea will keep pushing g-syncQuote

08-01-2018, 19:06:24

grec
Quote:
Originally Posted by cj09bruno View Post
this wont change much as freesync was already open, so the only thing that changes is the name, nvidea will keep pushing g-sync
NVidia has to refuse to adopt HDMI2.1 if they don't want their GPUs to have a built in free alternative to G-Sync. They can probably hold off adoption for a year or so(Doesn't look like they'll have any truly new gaming GPUs in that time given Volta is just a compute-orientated spin on Pascal) but likely not much longer than that. Like many of NVidia's "features" past and present it will soon be destined for the history books due to their proprietary nature(And general lack of reason to have ever existed in such a form).Quote

08-01-2018, 21:09:07

AngryGoldfish
Quote:
Originally Posted by tgrech View Post
NVidia has to refuse to adopt HDMI2.1 if they don't want their GPUs to have a built in free alternative to G-Sync. They can probably hold off adoption for a year or so(Doesn't look like they'll have any truly new gaming GPUs in that time given Volta is just a compute-orientated spin on Pascal) but likely not much longer than that. Like many of NVidia's "features" past and present it will soon be destined for the history books due to their proprietary nature(And general lack of reason to have ever existed in such a form).
I dunno. Nvidia has such a stranglehold on the market, they somewhat call the shots. While Intel still holds the largest GPU market, the people that use Intel's onboard graphics aren't going to be using VRR in any capacity or particularly care about it. Unless AMD's new Pinnacle Ridge APUs and Intel's new Vega-equipped models absolutely dominate even among those who like to be at the top of their gaming... game, I don't see G-Sync falling away fall a while. Even if Nvidia did adopt VRR with HDMI 2.1 with their next GeForce cards, G-Sync could still be prominent for many gamers.Quote
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