Sony and third-party games affected, Xbox works fine.
An even delivery of frames is sent to the display, synchronising with the refresh rate of the panel.
At 60fps, a new frame is displayed with each new refresh of the screen.
At 30fps, a new frame persists for two refreshes.
As the name suggests, VRR operates with a variable refresh rate.
So, what’s the problem with PlayStation?
If you have a VRR-compatible panel, you may have access to a refresh rate monitor.
It’s the closest you’ll get to a console equivalent to a PC-style frame-rate meter.
Others believe the problem only kicked in after a non-specified LG OLED firmware update.
At this point we should stress that this is a Sony-specific issue only.
Quitewhythis is happening is unclear.
This support is at the system level, activated within the PlayStation’s front-end.
It is limited to 60Hz and only allows VRR to work within a 48Hz to 60Hz ‘window’.
Reports thatElden Ringhas a similar 20 minutes of smooth play followed by a stutter every eight seconds are confirmed.
It’s not a third-party developer problem as Sony games can be impacted.
In game modes where there is less variability, the problem is less likely to present.
Thankfully, that’s not exactly a major problem on most of the affected games we’ve found.
The only other workable solution is to restart the game every so often when the issue emerges.
Obviously, this is not ideal.
We’ve informed Sony of all of our findings and would hope to see this addressed.
We’ll report back on this in due course.
