Google is testing support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) in the Chrome OS 101 Dev Channel. Users wishing to participate in the beta test must enable a flag from chrome://flags#enable-variable-refresh-rate after upgrading the system to access the feature, which of course is only available for “displays that support this capability”.
Google’s testing of the feature may indicate a smoother gaming experience on Chrome OS, which will make a lot of sense for what’s coming next, considering Google just announced that Steam is “coming” to Chrome OS. Rumors have also been swirling about the release of three potential gaming-focused Chromebooks, a possibility that has grown stronger with the new Chrome OS logo that adds RGB keyboard support.
But on the other hand, VRR support could herald a refresh rate upgrade for Chrome OS tablets in the future, and the current Chrome OS display experience is rather clunky compared to traditional operating systems. Tablets running Chrome OS obviously need VRR if they want to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple – the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series has a 120Hz refresh rate, and the iPad Pro comes with ProMotion support (which is basically another name for VRR ) to make the scrolling animation smoother.
Notably, the two major GPU brands, AMD and NVIDIA, support variable refresh rates. AMD’s solution, called FreeSync, uses a royalty-free variable refresh technology, also known as Adaptive Sync. NVIDIA’s G-Sync is a proprietary solution that provides the same experience. Well, this experimental flag could hint at AMD’s GPUs in future Chromebooks.
What is a variable refresh rate?
Here’s a quick explanation of what variable refresh rates are and the benefits they bring. Let’s start with the “refresh rate” of the monitor.
If your Chromebook has a 30Hz display, that basically means it can render or display 30 different frames per second. Likewise, a 60 Hz monitor can display 60 frames per second. The higher the number, the smoother the overall display, especially when watching videos or playing games.
Given the above description, you might be able to guess what a variable refresh rate is. This refers to a computer’s display that can match the refresh rate of the graphics chip or card. On monitors that support it, the frame rate from the GPU is synchronized with the monitor to eliminate stuttering and screen tearing.
I’m sure everyone has seen stuttering on a monitor or display at least once. Screen tearing is more common in the game world, and it’s not good-looking. It’s like the game is rendering in multiple offset parts of the display, which happens when the screen can’t keep up with the speed of the GPU.
Obviously, this is a feature for Chromebooks, but there’s a problem in the description. It only works on “capable monitors”. So far it’s unclear if any Chromebooks have ever offered a variable refresh rate display. On some relatively new devices, connecting to an external display that supports variable refresh rates may be possible, but not certain. So basically you need a powerful CPU and GPU to run Steam games on a Chromebook, say.
So if you’re not going to run demanding PC games on your Chromebook, you probably won’t care too much about this Chrome OS 101 detail.
Regardless, with Chrome OS 101, Google is continuing to expand the range of Chromebooks beyond being “just a browser” and enabling technology for a good gaming experience.