Windows 11 PCs support Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR) tech

by Mark Tyson on 30 June 2021, 11:11

Tags: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Windows 10

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In 2021 a smartphone or tablet with a high refresh rate display and dynamic refresh rate (DRR) might be on your shopping/wish list. The appeal of this application of screen technologies is that fast-paced activities will benefit from the screen refreshing at full pelt, but activities like reading a text, watching a video, or making a call adjust the screen to refresh at a more modest rate, saving battery life. Moreover, you don't have to twiddle in settings to change your screen refresh rate depending on what you are/will be doing, the OS will do it for you - dynamically.

Microsoft has revealed that it is rolling out DRR to Windows 11 users on supported devices. A developer blog explains that "Windows 11 will seamlessly switch between a lower refresh rate and a higher refresh rate based on what you’re doing on your PC". Microsoft is looking at slower refresh rates for "everyday productivity tasks," with automatic switching to the fastest refresh rate of your device for tasks such as inking and scrolling.

Microsoft's DRR is going to be set on an app-by-app basis, with more apps being added over time. DRR aware apps already available include; Microsoft Office, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Whiteboard, Microsoft Photos, Snip & Sketch, Drawboard PDF, Microsoft Sticky Notes, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft To Do, Inkodo – for smoother inking. Office also uses DRR for improved scrolling smoothness.

If you are already testing out the Windows 11 Insider Preview build you can check out DRR in the above-mentioned programs as long as you have supported hardware (said to be a laptop with a display that supports Variable refresh rate (VRR) and a refresh rate of at least 120 Hz, plus WDDM 3.0 graphics drivers). If that is you, open Settings, then select System > Display > Advanced display. Next, choose a refresh rate from the dropdown options that has 'Dynamic' in the name.

Please note that DRR relies on VRR hardware, but Microsoft asserts that these settings won't affect your games. "All your existing games will continue to run and perform like they always have because DRR does not apply to games," says the dev blog.



HEXUS Forums :: 10 Comments

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Seems like a nice feature, providing the user has control over when/if it is enabled. These sorts of things have a habit of having a downside (often for a subset of users) though so being able to override what the system thinks is best, is a must.
I thought VRR was already part of some VESA standard, at least for laptops. Isn't that what AMD based FreeSync on?

Is this just Microsoft rebranding VRR as DRR or is there something fundamentally different.

EDIT: Yea they did, it was back in 2014 and they called it ‘Adaptive-Sync’ and in 2009 for eDP. :confused:
Does anyone organise their PC layout in a similar fashion to the article picture?
Corky34
I thought VRR was already part of some VESA standard, at least for laptops. Isn't that what AMD based FreeSync on?

Is this just Microsoft rebranding VRR as DRR or is there something fundamentally different.

EDIT: Yea they did, it was back in 2014 and they called it ‘Adaptive-Sync’ and in 2009 for eDP. :confused:

This is just the branding for the glue in Windows that allows software other than games to support it. I guess as its not full screen windows needs to more involved than it does for a game.
Wrinkly
Does anyone organise their PC layout in a similar fashion to the article picture?

I've done split screen between two apps to make it easier to copy info between them but never tried 3! I suspect its useful on an ultrawide screen but little else!