Variable refresh rate
display technology which varies the refresh rate of a display on the fly
Variable refresh rate (VRR) refers to a dynamic display that can continuously and seamlessly change its refresh rate without user input. A display supporting a variable refresh rate usually supports a specific range of refresh rates (e.g., 30 Hertz through 144 Hertz). This is called the VRR range. The refresh rate can continuously vary seamlessly anywhere within this range.
Purpose
On displays with a fixed refresh rate, a frame can only be shown on the screen at specific intervals, evenly spaced apart. If a new frame is not ready when that interval arrives, then the old frame is held on screen until the next interval (judder) or a mixture of the old frame and the completed part of the new frame is shown simultaneously (tearing). Conversely, if the frame is ready before the interval arrives, then it won't be shown until that interval arrives.
Variable refresh rates eliminate these issues by matching the refresh rates of a display to be in sync with the frame rate from a video input, making the display motion smoother. Although VRR is strongly associated with video games due to such content having unpredictable, discontinuous frame rates that would benefit from the technology, it is also useful for media whose frame rate is fixed and known in advance, such as film and video. Being able to sync the refresh rate with industry-standard framerates (24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, and 60 FPS), it again helps to eliminate screen tearing.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Variable refresh rate” is display technology which varies the refresh rate of a display on the fly. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Variable, refresh and rate, not as a finished interpretation.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q48972079. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Variable refresh rate” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.