AMD’s FreeSync kills G-Sync
NVIDIA’s G-synch technology launched to much acclaim back in October of 2013, but it took much longer for working monitors with this technology to arrive. The idea behind the tech was solid. Rather than monitors and GPUs operating at different refresh rates, leading to problems with frame tearing (V-Sync off) and stuttering or latency (V-sync on), G-Sync slaved the monitor’s refresh rate to the GPU’s outputted frames. This removed all of the problems caused by V-Sync, and also allowed for silky smooth motion at framerates of around 40fps and above. There was one issue though; it required a proprietary scaler inside the monitor to work, and this caused G-Sync monitors to be much more expensive than their V-Sync cousins, with a price premium of $250 or more. As a result we haven’t seen many G-Sync displays hit the market, with just a handful on sale today.
AMD’s answer to G-Synch is FreeSync, which it developed in conjunction with the VESA group, the body responsible for display standards. Unlike G-Sync, it’s an open, royalty-free technology, which means it shouldn’t add much to the price of the displays it’s used in. It seems to operate basically identically to G-Sync, except that it doesn’t require a proprietary scaler. Instead, the major scaler suppliers (Realtek, Novatek, and MStar) have all built FreeSync into their latest scalers, which are now being used by the likes of Acer, BenQ, LG and Samsung. This helps to explain while we’ll see eleven FreeSync displays in the coming months, almost double the number compared to G-Sync.
There is one major difference with the first implementation of FreeSync though – it only operates down to the minimum refresh rate offered by the monitor. In the case of the LG 34UM67 display we’re reviewing here, that’s 48Hz. Below this, the monitor kicks into V-Sync on or off, depending on which setting the user selects. G-Sync does not have this issue, as it has no bottom fps limit. This is important to note, as more demanding games will often dip down to 40fps or so, and in this situation G-Sync displays silky smooth motion while FreeSync caps the screen’s refresh rate at 40Hz (or fps), which leads to even worse stuttering than if standard V-Sync was disabled. It’s only an issue when games drop below the monitor’s minimum frame rate, but it could be a biggie for those with less powerful GPUs. Thankfully it’s only a limitation of the display’s minimum refresh rate, and there are several FreeSync displays already available with a 40Hz refresh rate.
FreeSync currently only works with AMD products that feature the GCN 1.1 architecture, which means it’s limited to the R7 260/260X, R9 285, and R9 290/290X/295X2 products. Sadly owners of the excellent value for money R9 280/280X will miss out on it, as this uses GCN 1.0. Kaveri APUs are also supported, which includes the A6-7400K, A8-7600/7650K, and A10-7700K/7800/7850K processors. It also only works when using a DisplayPort 1.2 cable, as it’s part of the Adaptive Sync standard supported by this connection type. NVIDIA products aren’t compatible with FreeSync, but the fact that it’s an open standard means the company is free to implement support. Given the high cost to develop G-Sync, we doubt NVIDIA will do it in the near future, but will likely jump on board once FreeSync’s dominance is proven.
The first FreeSync product to cross PC PowerPlay’s desk is LG’s new 34UM67 Ultra-Wide display. It’s a 34 inch whopper, using the 21:9 aspect ratio to fill more of the user’s field of view. Based on an IPS panel, it has excellent viewing angle performance, which is extremely important for Ultra-Wide displays. Past models would exhibit colour shifting towards the edges of the screen, but the IPS panel used here ensures this problem is no longer applicable. Before we dig into the image quality, let’s take a look at the exterior.
To be frank, we hate the stand on this monitor. It's one of those fixed jobbies that can’t be adjusted, which is simply useless for customising the monitor’s position to best match your gaming environment. The default position is ok, but LG needs to start equipping its displays with the highly adjustable stands found elsewhere. The screen uses a frameless design, which means the glass covering the panel stretches all the way to the edge, with a one millimetre bezel around this, with the exception of the bottom bezel which is around 12mm thick. Accessing the On Screen Display (OSD) is done via a small joystick, and this opens up a decent range of colour tuning options.
Using the image quality tests at lagom.nl, we found the gamma and colour reproduction to be spot on. It also performed ably in the white and black saturation tests. Firing up some Battlefield with an R9 290 to test for motion blur, we noticed a small amount until we enabled the gaming mode, which delivers a grey to grey pixel response time of just 5ms. Enabling FreeSync saw silky smooth performance at variable framerates, without any stuttering or mouse lag - basically identical to G-Sync. However, when the performance dropped below 48fps on the Dust Bowl map, things weren’t quite so rosy, with much frame tearing (we had it set to disable V-Sync below 48fps).
There is one final issue regarding image quality. The screen’s resolution is just 2560 x 1080, which isn’t as high as other recent 21:9 34 inch panels we’ve tested, such as the Philips BDM3470, which is of the same size but packs in 3440 x 1440 pixels. The Philips is also the same price, but doesn’t include FreeSync. As a result, the LG display had more obvious pixilation than the Philips. While this is an interesting first step for FreeSync, the low resolution at this price and minimum supported refresh rate of 48Hz make it a difficult product to recommend. We’d suggest holding off for now, until more FreeSync panels arrive with lower refresh rates and more competitive pricing. BENNETT RING
VERDICT
FreeSync definitely has plenty of promise, but this panel is overpriced and underspecced to make it a must-have.