This good news for owners of Freesync monitors …
Taken from TFT Central … This move will only work for future monitor releases, mind you – a firmware update which will be distributed amongst monitor makers will enable the next releases of G-Sync to support VESA’s VRR standard. This will not, apparently, be happening with already-released G-Sync modules, whether carrying NVIDIA’s first take on the technology, nor the v2 G-Sync modules. It’s not a perfect solution, and current adapters of G-Sync are still locked-in to NVIDIA graphics cards for VRR support on their monitors. It is, however, a definite step forward. Or a step backwards from a proprietary, apparently unneeded technology – you can really look at it either way.
Using Native G-sync screens with AMD and other graphic cards
We started to see hints of further change to NVIDIA’s approach over the last few months. Firstly in September 2019 the Acer Predator X27P appeared, featuring a minor update to the original X27 model, adding VRR support over HDMI for compatible games consoles. This screen features the v2 G-sync module still, but the addition of HDMI-VRR was a new feature and not something possible on any previous G-sync module screen.
Then very recently in November 2019 we saw news of the Acer Predator XB273 X, which in its specs on Taiwanese retail stores suggested that it would support HDMI-VRR (like the X27P advertised previously), and then also adaptive-sync over DisplayPort. We reached out to NVIDIA to understand more about what was happening.
NVIDIA confirmed for us that future G-sync module screens can be capable of supporting both HDMI-VRR and adaptive-sync for HDMI and DisplayPort, as the XB273 X’s specs had suggested. A firmware update is being made to the v1 and v2 G-sync hardware modules for future use which allows these new features.
That means that in the future a display featuring an NVIDIA G-sync module could work with compatible games consoles for HDMI-VRR. It could also work with any graphics card based on the adaptive-sync standard over HDMI and DisplayPort. This means that you would be able to use a Native G-sync screen (with module) from an AMD graphics card for VRR! So if you have an AMD graphics card, you could still enjoy the VRR experience and other additional benefits that the G-sync module brings even from a Native G-sync screen, which was previously out of reach to those users.
This new firmware is being used now for future Native G-sync screens, and the Acer Predator XB273 X is the first we’ve seen advertised with these new features. We confirmed with NVIDIA that it will NOT be possible to update firmware to any existing Native G-sync screen, or request updates to allow your current G-sync screen to be updated so that it would work with AMD graphics cards. The new firmware will only be applied to future G-sync module displays.
