Gadgetory

hey guys and once again welcome back to hardware unboxed adaptive sync display technologies both Nvidia and AMD have been available on the market for several years now initially Nvidia g-sync and Amy's rethink different quite differently in the implementation and user experience but now that both technologies and ecosystems have matured I figured it's a good opportunity to revisit g-sync and free sync to see where the difference is currently lie in 2017 free sync uses the visa adaptive sync standard a component of DisplayPort 1.2 a along with a variety of off-the-shelf display scalars that support adaptive sync g-sync uses a proprietary model from Nvidia in place of the usual display scaler though it also communicates over display point the proprietary module along with the closed nature of the juicing platform makes it more expensive to implement and free sync which I'll explore in more detail a bit later in this video both g-sync and free sync provide the key features of adaptive sync but due to their differences in their implementation there are some differences in additional features provided by edge technology as g-sync monitors use a proprietary scaler module most displays are limited to just DisplayPort and HDMI connectivity with only DisplayPort supporting adaptive sync free sync on the other hand uses standard display scaler so free sync learners often have many more connectivity options energies and counterparts including multiple HDMI ports and legacy connectors such as DVI and even VGA free sync has another connectivity advantage through a feature called free sync over HDMI as the name suggests amy has managed to get adaptive sync working over standard HDMI connectors and cables provided both the GPU and monitors support the feature there are a few benefits to running adaptive sync over HDMI rather than DisplayPort primarily the fact that HDMI cables are much cheaper than DisplayPort cables and devices with limited room for ports such as laptops can use them more widely adopted HDMI standard for compatibility with other displays without losing support for adaptive sync proprietary module does give it some advantages though g-sync continually tweaks monitor overdrive on-the-fly to eliminate ghosting wherever possible which has been shown previously to improve ghosting performance compared to free sync displays driver and monitor tweaks over the past two use have improved freesync displays in this regard though NVIDIA has integrated a feature called ultra-low motion blur or you LMB into every g-sync monitor as well which strokes the backlight in sync with the displays refresh rate to reduce motion blur and improve clarity in high motion situations the feature works at high fixed refresh rates typically at or above 85 Hertz though it does come with a small brightness reduction the main downside to you LMB is that it can't be used in conjunction with g-sync in other words you need to choose between variable refresh rates without stuttering and tearing or high clarity and low motion work most people will prefer to use g-sync for the smoothness it provides what eSports enthusiasts will love you LMB for its responsiveness and clarity at the expense of tearing again this is a feature that does not have an equivalent in the free sync implementation low framerate compensation or LFC is another point of difference between g-sync and free sync every adaptive sync monitor has a refresh rate window for example 30 to 144 Hertz within which the refresh rate can dynamically adjust to the GPUs render aid what happens between zero Hertz and the displays minimum refresh rate 30 Hertz in the case of my example is determined by whether the monitor supports LFC monitors that do support LFC duplicate frames and refresh rates when frame rates are below the displays minimum to ensure variable refresh continues to function below the minimum for example when 20 FPS game player is played on a 32 144 Hertz adaptive sync monitor with LFC every frame is duplicated and the monitor operates at 40 Hertz within its refresh window monitors with that LSC would run at 30 Hertz with either staring or stuttering depending on the precincts setting due to it running at 20 fps and not 30 LFC is extremely important on monitors with high minimum refresh rates such as 48 hurt LLC on these sorts of models allows the variable refresh window to extend into the crucial 32 48 hurt zone and function as if the monitor has no minimum refresh rate with that LC on this monitors there is a jarring effect when frame rates fluctuate in the 40 to 55 FPS soon as variable refresh if you continually activating and deactivating at the 48 FPS boundary so LIC is crucial for the best adaptive sync experience every g-sync monitor comes with support for LFC so when buying a g-sync display it's not something you have to worry about who think is a different story is only some monitors mostly hi and monitors support LLC you'll need to consult aim these display lists to check whether a free sync Mon on your radar supports LLC whereas it's already a known quantity with every g-sync display some of the initial teething issues with both adaptive sync technologies have been resolved since its initial launch resync works the same in both precinct and gsync with vsync controls only affecting how frames are displayed outside the variable refresh window borderless window gaming with adaptive sync is also supported now by both free sync and gsync although ambe's implementation appears to be a bit dodgy in some situations as for graphics card support that remains the same it's both free sync and gsync free sync requires a see islands Radeon rx 200 series card from 2013 on newer while g-sync requires a Kepler GeForce 600 series card from 2012 or newer g-sync doesn't work with AMD graphics cards and free sing doesn't work on Nvidia graphics cards as has always been the case the main takeaway from looking in range of juicing can precinct displays is that G sync is a known quantity whereas free sync bonus vary significantly in quality basically every GC quarter is a high-end unit with gaming suitable features a large refresh window support for LFC and you OMB in other words when purchasing a do sync monitor you can be sure you're getting the best variable refresh experience and a great monitor in general with free sync some monitors the gaming focus with high-end features and support for LFC but many aren't and a more geared towards everyday office usage than gaming potential buyers will need to research free sync modernism more than a sink equivalents to ensure that they're getting a good monitor with all the features necessary for the best variable refresh experience pricing is one of the most contentious issues with free sink versus GT as in video charges a hefty premium for the use of their proprietary module I've researched a bunch of near-identical free sync and gsync monitors to examine their price differences and here are the results looking at near identical miners from the same manufacturer g-sync adds exactly 200 US dollars in most cases to the MSRP over the free sink model when looking across brands the margin to me as well as $100 but often hovers near that same $200 mark for the six monitor types I've researched the average price difference when looking at the most similar models was 188 dollars u.s. two of the G sink models could be overclocked using the on-screen display beyond what the equivalent free sink model was capable of which adds a bit of value to the premium price you're paying for the most part though you're only getting the F mentioned benefits of G sink like you LMB LFC and of course adaptive sink compatibility with nvidia graphics cards fruiting models are universally cheaper though one of the six monitors I examined the ASA h2 seven 7hk did not support LSC due to its limited refresh rate windows new adaptive sync monitors are set to hit the market in the coming months which harnessed some new additions to the free sync and gsync ecosystems jisuk is expanding its feature set to include support for HDR monitors and wide color gamut HDR learners with g-sync will support all its key features like you LMB and LFC though there will also include far larger gammas and higher brightness for HDR functionality drivers will seamlessly switch between SDR environments for desktop work and HDR in support applications where appropriate free sync to is a much larger update that not only includes support for HDR monitors but also introduces a monitor of validation scheme they will see only the best monitors given a precinct to badge routing to minors worth at least twice the maximum brightness and color volume over standard srgb displays and monitors will be validated to ensure they meet input lag standards in few millisecond range according to a and D all 332 miles will also support LFC freezing to will include similar features to jisuk HJ as well like support for larger gamut higher brightness and automatic switching between SDR and HDR modes there's still no word on whether AMD will charge a premium for free sync to validation and branding though the updated technology will bring through sync closer to what Jessie provides in every monitor so there's a lot of information to take in about the differences between free sync and gsync I still think most people be making a purchasing decision for their monitor based on the graphics card that they have in their system course Ambu users will buy free sync minors Nvidia users will buy GCM owners but it's always nice to know the differences between the two ecosystems to know exactly what you're getting and you know it might influence some people's purchasing decisions you never quite know anyway that's it for this little look at free sync and gsync again I hope you guys learned something from this video and we'll catch you in the next one