Sony could launch the update in March to provide VRR to the PS5 and its Smart TVs. Good news for users of excellent Sony TVs, according to audiovisual expert Vincent TeohSony would be working on a firmware that enables the long-awaited VRR on the PS5, as well as on various Smart TVs that were still pending to receive this functionality, such as the Bravia A80J, A84J and A90J.
Sony could launch the update in March to provide VRR to the PS5 and its Smart TVs
Although a few months ago we anticipated that the arrival was imminent, the truth is that Sony has taken it in stride. It has not been until now when both Vincent Teoh and various international portals have echoed that March will be the date chosen by Sony to bring the much-desired VRR (as well as 4K HDR and 120 Hz) both to its console and to various SmartTV, a highly demanded feature by its players.
What is the VRR: the most important gaming revolution of this generation of consoles
The importance of the VRR
The Sony OLEDs of 2021 have been one of the most awarded televisions of the year thanks to its HDMI 2.1 ports and really remarkable image quality. In addition, Sony was in charge of betting on these models by supporting 4K at 120 Hz and equipping them with the label «Ready for PlayStation 5» as an official seal of approval.
The HDMI 2.1 port, as we have explained several times, it is essential to get the most out of the new generation consoles. Why is it so important that a television has an HDMI 2.1? basically because it is the new protocol of the famous digital cable that will be used in the next generation of consoles and PC graphics, increasing bandwidth of the HDMI 2.0 port (18 Gbps) up to the new 40 or 48 Gbps (depending on the model) of the HDMI 2.1 port.
And why is so much bandwidth necessary? basically for advanced gaming features, such as being able to play 120 fps rates at 4K resolution with full chroma (444) and 10 or 12-bit depth with HDR activated -something that we probably won’t see on consoles but on PCs with the new graphics- and very especially: to be able to enjoy the VRR (either its open version of HDMI 2.1 or the owners of AMD –Freesync- and GSync -Nvidia-).
With the VRR we will be able to avoid tearing without “capping” the fps at 60, being out of sync with the TV; With this new method, if the game drops fps, the panel’s Hz will do the same, making these jerks imperceptible to the user.
In Sony’s own words, the VRR It also eliminates problems due to intermittency and screen “tearing” (as we told you) to produce a more fluid image. In addition to TVs, monitors have been incorporating this technology for some years now. By integrating VRR in HDMI 2.1, the differences between PC and console games are reduced.
In video games, it is not uncommon to see important changes in color or scenes, something that causes the image frequency to be reduced drastically. Precisely the VRR would also solve that problem (along with tearing), with the VRR being extremely important to optimize games, unlike in movies, in which the image frequencies are relatively stable (normally 24 fps).
It should be remembered that the VRR and the ALLM (the auto low latency modewho puts the TV on game mode automatically when launching a game with a console) it will only affect those who are gamers, as these technologies are not used for cinephile content. As we said, it is important to note that Sony has not yet officially confirmed that the arrival will be in March, but it seems most likely.
Source: Vincent Teo
