Samsung is rolling out FreeSync technology to their 2018 line of QLED TVs

Polycount

Posts: 3,017   +590

AMD's proprietary adaptive sync technology, FreeSync, has been available for quite some time now.

If you've never heard of it before, FreeSync essentially allows the refresh rate of your monitor to sync with the FPS you're getting in a given game, reducing or eliminating screen tearing and stuttering.

Though this technology was mostly only available to PC gamers, that has slowly begun to change lately. As we reported in March, Microsoft rolled out native FreeSync 2 support to Xbox One S and Xbox One X consoles.

However, even with that support available, you still need the right TV to take advantage of it - that's where Samsung comes in.

As of today, the company is pushing out a software update that will enable FreeSync on some of their TVs, but there's a slight catch. If you turn FreeSync on, your TV's resolution will be capped at 1080p until you turn it off again. Furthermore, Samsung says occasional brightness issues may crop up over time.

As noted by The Verge, the TVs set to receive the software update include Samsung's Q6FN, Q7FN, Q8FN, Q9FN, and the NU8000. If you own one of those models, you should be able to toggle FreeSync under the "Game Mode" submenu in your TV's settings.

Permalink to story.

 
Kudo's to Samsung for retroactively updating the TVs. I am thinking about Xbox one X. Perhaps time to update my Samsung TV (10+ years and going strong) as well.
 
People are better off waiting till TVs support it natively. There will be better support then plus less issues.
The tvs geting the update, its Samsungs way of beta testing. Notice how its only the Q models n 1 8000 model that is getting the update.
Better off waiting till the fall or next years models.
 
People are better off waiting till TVs support it natively. There will be better support then plus less issues.
The tvs geting the update, its Samsungs way of beta testing. Notice how its only the Q models n 1 8000 model that is getting the update.
Better off waiting till the fall or next years models.
I'm pretty sure a company of Samsung's size wouldn't beta test their updates with consumer's TV. They have tremendous testing procedures. I mean, bugs are inevitable and phase rollout are smart (see Windows updates). Perhaps they are testing market reaction and demand for freesync. TVs are Samsung's bread and butter. They wouldn't risk their reputation saving chump change beta testing this way.
 
People are better off waiting till TVs support it natively. There will be better support then plus less issues.
The tvs geting the update, its Samsungs way of beta testing. Notice how its only the Q models n 1 8000 model that is getting the update.
Better off waiting till the fall or next years models.
I'm pretty sure a company of Samsung's size wouldn't beta test their updates with consumer's TV. They have tremendous testing procedures. I mean, bugs are inevitable and phase rollout are smart (see Windows updates). Perhaps they are testing market reaction and demand for freesync. TVs are Samsung's bread and butter. They wouldn't risk their reputation saving chump change beta testing this way.

Alot of these companies use end users to beta test crap they say is an official launch so I wouldn't put it past them.
 
People are better off waiting till TVs support it natively. There will be better support then plus less issues.
The tvs geting the update, its Samsungs way of beta testing. Notice how its only the Q models n 1 8000 model that is getting the update.
Better off waiting till the fall or next years models.

Yes but the update is free. New TV are not. The worst that can happen is you get some flickering, which in that case you simply turn it off.

I don't see a downside here.
 
I'm pretty sure a company of Samsung's size wouldn't beta test their updates with consumer's TV. They have tremendous testing procedures. I mean, bugs are inevitable and phase rollout are smart (see Windows updates). Perhaps they are testing market reaction and demand for freesync. TVs are Samsung's bread and butter. They wouldn't risk their reputation saving chump change beta testing this way.
You dont know Samsung then, this isnt their first time adding a feature without much testing. They've been doing things like this for over 10 yrs.
 
How long has FreeSync been out? And it's supposed to be piggy backing off the adaptive sync standard, yet....

If you turn FreeSync on, your TV's resolution will be capped at 1080p until you turn it off again. Furthermore, Samsung says occasional brightness issues may crop up over time.

WHAT?!

Oh, and Digital Foundries did a FreeSync 2 test on XBOX and it was not good. So I have to ask, what is so great about FreeSync again?
 
I'm at a loss for why gsync is barely available even though nvidia sells way more gpus.

Huh?
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ...=BESTMATCH&Description=g-sync&N=-1&isNodeId=1

Compare that to just Newegg's stock of FreeSync monitors (and limiting search results to exclude refurbished models)

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...ription=freesync&ignorear=0&N=4814&isNodeId=1

It's 189 FreeSync monitors to 81 G-Sync

That's approaching 3 times as many FreeSync monitors as there are G-Sync. Take into consideration that doesn't include many korean gaming monitors that aren't sold on newegg.


How long has FreeSync been out? And it's supposed to be piggy backing off the adaptive sync standard, yet....

If you turn FreeSync on, your TV's resolution will be capped at 1080p until you turn it off again. Furthermore, Samsung says occasional brightness issues may crop up over time.

WHAT?!

Oh, and Digital Foundries did a FreeSync 2 test on XBOX and it was not good. So I have to ask, what is so great about FreeSync again?


There is nothing wrong with FreeSync, just Samsung's first crack at it on TVs. That says nothing negative about the technology itself or other vendor's implementation.

Second, as far as I know, Digital Foundries tested only FreeSync on the Xbox One X, not freesync 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_LBOg-NcPQ&t=9s

Provide a link to your source.

In addition, their conclusion was that it works well, just not in all games. Certain Xbox games have V-Sync forced on or other issues that cause judder unrelated to FreeSync.

FreeSync isn't going to magically cure problems consoles have always had and it's not it's job to either. Some games still have judder? That's expected when the game had that issue before the FreeSync implementation.
 
Compare that to just Newegg's stock of FreeSync monitors (and limiting search results to exclude refurbished models)

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...ription=freesync&ignorear=0&N=4814&isNodeId=1

It's 189 FreeSync monitors to 81 G-Sync

That's approaching 3 times as many FreeSync monitors as there are G-Sync. Take into consideration that doesn't include many korean gaming monitors that aren't sold on newegg.





There is nothing wrong with FreeSync, just Samsung's first crack at it on TVs. That says nothing negative about the technology itself or other vendor's implementation.

Second, as far as I know, Digital Foundries tested only FreeSync on the Xbox One X, not freesync 2.


Provide a link to your source.

In addition, their conclusion was that it works well, just not in all games. Certain Xbox games have V-Sync forced on or other issues that cause judder unrelated to FreeSync.

FreeSync isn't going to magically cure problems consoles have always had and it's not it's job to either. Some games still have judder? That's expected when the game had that issue before the FreeSync implementation.

Freesync "free" - 189 monitors
G-Sync. Not free - 81 monitors
Let that marinate...

Quantity does not trump quality does it?

And Samsung is no leader in anything gaming related. What they do have is a large customer base, and FS is incredibly cheap to implement, yet hard to offer a consistent experience. Thats what you get when you piggyback on an existing standard. A shortcut even.

Thanks, but no thanks AMD. High refresh monitors alone are better than your tech, and G-Sync just takes it to a level you never could.

All I know is the VRR windows are still all over the place and that is not cool. Freesync 2 with HDR is just as half-assed as the original Freesync was including poor console support and performance out of the gate.
 
Last edited:
Freesync "free" - 189 monitors
G-Sync. Not free - 81 monitors
Let that marinate...

Quantity does not trump quality does it?

And Samsung is no leader in anything gaming related. What they do have is a large customer base, and FS is incredibly cheap to implement, yet hard to offer a consistent experience. Thats what you get when you piggyback on an existing standard. A shortcut even.

Thanks, but no thanks AMD. High refresh monitors alone are better than your tech, and G-Sync just takes it to a level you never could.

All I know is the VRR windows are still all over the place and that is not cool. Freesync 2 with HDR is just as half-assed as the original Freesync was including poor console support and performance out of the gate.

It's always people complaining about some FreeSync monitors when they completely forget they are comparing a $180 monitor to a $800, that's fair...

But yes, FreeSync is bad because it's implemented on both low and high end monitors. Woe is the enthusiasts who will never have to use them but complain anyways.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll continue using my $200 cheaper FreeSync variant Acer XF270HU with my Nvidia card that's identical to the G-Sync model and save my $200 all the way to the bank.
 
It's always people complaining about some FreeSync monitors when they completely forget they are comparing a $180 monitor to a $800, that's fair...

But yes, FreeSync is bad because it's implemented on both low and high end monitors. Woe is the enthusiasts who will never have to use them but complain anyways.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll continue using my $200 cheaper FreeSync variant Acer XF270HU with my Nvidia card that's identical to the G-Sync model and save my $200 all the way to the bank.

Freesync monitor + Nvidia GPU = I think you're confused...
 
Freesync monitor + Nvidia GPU = I think you're confused...

I'm not confused. I know FreeSync doesn't work with Nvidia cards (which I'm sure is what you were thinking).

My point was that G-Sync simply wasn't worth the $200 premium. Not that I ever notice tearing on the monitor anyways, even with my 1080 Ti.
 
I'm not confused. I know FreeSync doesn't work with Nvidia cards (which I'm sure is what you were thinking).

My point was that G-Sync simply wasn't worth the $200 premium. Not that I ever notice tearing on the monitor anyways, even with my 1080 Ti.

That's not what I was talking about though...
Please stay on topic next time.
 
That's not what I was talking about though...
Please stay on topic next time.

You quoted one sentence of my post that was a closing statement. It's not meant to be on point, it's a closing statement. (y)

It is not my fault you didn't respond to the rest of my comment.
 
You quoted one sentence of my post that was a closing statement. It's not meant to be on point, it's a closing statement. (y)

It is not my fault you didn't respond to the rest of my comment.

Nope. That's not what happened. You brought up high refresh in a discussion about adaptive sync. Freesync specifically in fact.
 
Nope. That's not what happened. You brought up high refresh in a discussion about adaptive sync. Freesync specifically in fact.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll continue using my $200 cheaper FreeSync variant Acer XF270HU with my Nvidia card that's identical to the G-Sync model and save my $200 all the way to the bank."

Nope, that was definitely about FreeSync. Since you are clearly confused, that's a FreeSync monitor. So yeah, I think perhaps you need to check these things up before commenting...

I don't know where you got the 'I was talking about high refresh" gibberish, that's a scarecrow if I've ever seen one.

All of this is off topic by the way. I'm going to say that if you don't reply back on topic in your next response that you accept that comparing a $180 monitor to an $800 is ridiculous and that you accept that just because FreeSync has lesser implementations on lower end monitors doesn't make it bad as a whole and that high-end FreeSync monitors are equal to their G-Sync counterparts (like my XF270HU, which has been widely reviewed).
 
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll continue using my $200 cheaper FreeSync variant Acer XF270HU with my Nvidia card that's identical to the G-Sync model and save my $200 all the way to the bank."

Nope, that was definitely about FreeSync. Since you are clearly confused, that's a FreeSync monitor. So yeah, I think perhaps you need to check these things up before commenting...

I don't know where you got the 'I was talking about high refresh" gibberish, that's a scarecrow if I've ever seen one.

All of this is off topic by the way. I'm going to say that if you don't reply back on topic in your next response that you accept that comparing a $180 monitor to an $800 is ridiculous and that you accept that just because FreeSync has lesser implementations on lower end monitors doesn't make it bad as a whole and that high-end FreeSync monitors are equal to their G-Sync counterparts (like my XF270HU, which has been widely reviewed).

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll continue using my $200 cheaper FreeSync variant Acer XF270HU with my Nvidia card ..."

^You went off topic. Next time don't reply to comments that aren't directed to you.
 
Back