Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

AMD takes aim at HDR gaming, high-end PC market with FreeSync 2 tech

Jayce Wagner
By

amd schedules computex 2017 press event vega likely chip feat
AMD announced a new version of its popular FreeSync technology on Tuesday, as it looks to build on the success of the existing technology while also introducing some new features that will make high-end PC gaming a little easier. The aptly named FreeSync 2 will improve upon its predecessor by offering support for HDR content in the first half of 2017.

The original version of FreeSync was designed to smooth out your PC gaming experience by reducing screen-tearing, which was caused by the video card and monitor being out of sync. Frame rates that were too high for a given refresh rate would cause unsightly tearing, and to mitigate that, most games use v-sync to lock your framerate to your refresh rate.

Recommended Videos

Unfortunately, that can cause some other performance issues, so AMD developed FreeSync, a technology that enables compatible monitors to communicate more effectively with compatible video cards. That way, frames are served up according to your refresh rate without v-sync, the middle man.

Related

“Radeon FreeSync 2 technology is the first of its kind that combines HDR support with dynamic refresh rate technology, and does it in a seamless, plug-and-play manner that improves gaming quality automatically when the right content is present,” said Scott Herkelman, AMD’s vice president and general manager of gaming.

The latest version of FreeSync takes things a step further, by incorporating support for HDR content. Currently, HDR content is handled by your monitor, which does its own tone-mapping and can lead to latency issues. FreeSync 2 cuts out another middle man by shifting the tone-mapping workload to the GPU instead of the monitor.

Compatible monitors will be able to recognize FreeSync 2-capable graphics cards and allow your GPU to tone map directly to your display’s target luminance, contrast and color space. According to AMD, using FreeSync 2 offers over two times the brightness and color volume over sRGB.

FreeSync 2 will be rolling out in the first half of 2017, and will be backwards compatible for FreeSync-compatible AMD Radeon GPUs, including the Radeon RX series based on Polaris architecture.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jayce Wagner
Jayce Wagner
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A staff writer for the Computing section, Jayce covers a little bit of everything -- hardware, gaming, and occasionally VR.
Lenovo dishes out its first curved gaming monitor packed with AMD FreeSync tech
Lenovo C560 Touch

AMD announced on Friday that Lenovo finally joined its FreeSync collective with the launch of the new Lenovo Y27f Curved Gaming Monitor. While the 27-inch panel costs $400, it only has a maximum resolution of 1,910 by 1,080, so gamers looking for Ultra HD PC gaming will need to look elsewhere. However, it does provide a curved experience, promising a wider view and better, more immersive gaming.

Of course, there’s the FreeSync aspect, too. This is AMD’s technology, hence the reason why the chip company is promoting this specific panel. Lenovo is no stranger when it comes to gaming monitors, but this is its first packing FreeSync tech that plays nice with AMD’s graphics chips. That said, if you root for Team Nvidia, you may want to check out Lenovo’s $600 27-inch Y27g Curved Gaming Monitor packing G-Sync technology and a FHD resolution.

Read more
Dell's new, affordable gaming monitor packs FreeSync, is a perfect partner for the RX 470
Dell XPS 13 (Skylake)

AMD gamers looking for a new monitor should give Dell’s new SE2717H a peek, a 27-inch panel sporting AMD’s FreeSync technology. It costs a mere $250. Does the pricetag surprise you? Don’t be -- it only has a max resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 at 75Hz.

Honestly, this panel should fit in just fine with AMD’s overall assault on the mainstream gaming population. The company introduced the Radeon RX 480 back in June, a new graphics card aimed at providing everyone with a quality VR experience for very little money. The 4GB model costs $200, whereas the 8GB version costs $240. AMD followed that launch with two additional cards last month: the Radeon RX 470 for high-quality PC gaming ($170) and the Radeon RX 460 for eSports gaming (rumored at $100, but unconfirmed).

Read more
Microsoft learns to listen, enables G-Sync and FreeSync for Windows Store games
new tomb raider game leaked tombraider2

Microsoft is fixing some major gaming shortcomings of its Windows Store platform. An update today lets gamers turn off v-sync, and use Nvidia's G-sync or AMD's FreeSync, in games purchased from the Windows Store, according to Ars Technica.

Gamers, it needs to be said, are not impressed with Windows Store so far. More than most PC users, gamers like to tweak their settings to get as much power as possible out of their hardware. Until today's update, games distributed via the Windows Store have not given access to some key preferences, upsetting gamers who want to get the most out of their systems.

Read more