The PlayStation 5 is a pretty impressive piece of kit – provided, of course, you can actually get your hands on one. For the fortunate, they’ll be treated to: insane visual clarity, smooth frame rates n’ load times, tactile feedback in the controller, dynamic sound, and a small-but-steadily-growing selection of games to put all those bells and whistles to good use. Highlights thus far since launch have been Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart, assorted Spiderman games, and, oddly enough, Bugsnax. However, if all of this still wasn’t quite technically proficient enough for you – you greedy mug – then fear not. Sony have announced they’re bringing Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support to the console. And all ten PS5 owners in the nation stood up and clapped.
VRR Tolkien
So, what exactly is VRR? Well, it’s a dynamic, adaptive frame rate setting which aims to minimise any kind of input delay between the console and your TV, and hence between your controller and the action you’re seeing on screen. When enabled, the setting syncs the refresh rate of the display to the PS5 console’s graphical output. This, per Sony’s blog where the announcement was made, “enhances visual performance for PS5 games by minimizing or eliminating visual artifacts, such as frame pacing issues and screen tearing.
Gameplay in many PS5 titles feels smoother as scenes render seamlessly, graphics look crisper, and input lag is reduced.” I should note they pop an asterisk after this bold claim, adding the following footnote: “results may vary by game, the TV you’re using, and the visual mode you’ve selected for a specific game.” Got to cover our rears for all eventualities, eh?
Of course, not every PS5 title will support this feature right out of the gate; after all, some weren’t designed with it in mind. The following lucky games are to receive patches to make them VRR-compliant:
- Astro’s Playroom
- Call of Duty: Vanguard
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Deathloop
- Destiny 2
- Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition
- DIRT 5
- Godfall
- Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Village
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
- Tribes of Midgard
So, how can gamers go about getting this fancy upgrade onto their priceless systems? Apparently, it’ll “arrive globally through a PS5 console update over the next few days,” so keep hooked up to your internet and hope for the best. Once the update is all snug and installed, “VRR will automatically be enabled for supported games if your PS5 console is connected to an HDMI 2.1 VRR-compatible TV or PC monitor,” but it can be switched off if you’re so inclined. Here’s hoping nothing bricks in the process.
Well, if the meme about the human eye not being able to perceive anything above 60fps has any merit to it, we’re about to find out. Will you be testing out the VRR functionality? Do you even own a PS5? Let us know!
Via, PlayStation Blog.
