Nvidia revives proprietary G-Sync: first time after 10 years without FPGA

Nvidia wants to breathe new life into its proprietary G-Sync variable refresh rate (VRR) monitor technology. To this end, the company is expanding its cooperation with MediaTek: instead of previous G-Sync modules with expensive technology, traditional MediaTek scalers designed in conjunction with Nvidia will end up in monitors in the future.

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In recent years, G-Sync in its proprietary form has lost almost all relevance: There are only 19 monitors with G-Sync module in price comparisonof which there are only ten available, including two with G-Sync Ultimate certification. On the other hand, there is 207 Monitors that are “G-Sync Compatible”.. Like AMD, these use Freesync (More than 1000 monitors) Open standard Adaptive-Sync, so no special hardware required.

All G-Sync features, without FPGA

Nvidia presents G-Sync compatibles as inferior, with technologies such as variable overdrive or latency reduction being reserved for monitors with G-Sync modules. This was mainly due to the product policy nature, e.g. New MediaTek collaboration It proves it.

Its monitor technology supports all G-Sync functions introduced by Nvidia to date. There is also G-Sync Pulsar: dynamic ultra-low motion blur (ULMB) with variable refresh rate to reduce motion blur.

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Nvidia introduced G-Sync in 2013, but never released commercial scalers with chips designed for it in all those years. Scalers are the heart of the monitor electronics – they accept the image from the PC and control the panel. Instead, Nvidia is selling programmable logic gate chips (FPGAs) from Intel subsidiary Altera, which are expensive compared to specialized ASICs and run hot. So all monitors with current G-Sync modules actively cool the FPGA with a small, potentially annoying fan.

MediaTek is a large supplier of monitor and television hardware, often without branding. Monitor manufacturers can now buy the electronics they already work on. This should boost the spread of G-Sync again.

Three monitors start working

Nvidia has already announced monitors from three manufacturers that use the new MediaTek scaler: Asus’ ROG Swift PG27AQNR, Acer’s Predator XB273U F5 and AOC’s Agon Pro AG276QSG2. All three apparently use IPS panels and display 2560 × 1440 pixels (WQHD) at 27 inches at 360 Hz.

Most other specifications are currently unknown; Nvidia and MediaTek do not mention any image connections. Nvidia has rarely updated previous G-Sync modules, which is why they lack HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.0, among other things. Gives a little more information Asus announces the ROG Swift PG27AQNRWhich has two HDMI 2.1 and one DisplayPort 1.4. DisplayPort 2.0 may still be missing from new monitor technology.

It’s also unknown whether the new G-Sync monitors will continue to accept VRR signals from AMD’s Radeon graphics cards and what features will work then.

(MMA)