LAS VEGAS—AMD’s FreeSync technology continued to lift off further from the launching pad, as eight or so monitors will now support the technology.
AMD released a list of the monitors at the CES show here. AMD’s FreeSync technology forces the graphics card and the monitor to run at the same refresh rate, to avoid “tearing” issues that can affect the graphics quality of a game. Nvidia has a competing technology, known as G-Sync.
LG announced the first ultrawide FreeSync monitor a few days ago, the UltraWide Gaming Monitor (34UM67). However, it said little more: we know that it exists, it’s ultrawide, and it supports AMD’s FreeSync. The company teased features like ‘Black Stabilizer’ and input lag-reducing ‘Dynamic Action Sync’ in its press release, but remained mum on crucial tidbits like screen resolution, refresh rate, panel type, inputs, and price.
On Monday, AMD released a few more details, including what competition LG will have in the FreeSync gaming monitor market. Manufacturers from BenQ to Viewsonic will support the new technology at varying resolutions.
AMD The full list of PC display monitors supporting AMD’s FreeSync technology, as of Jan. 2015.
“The broad adoption of FreeSync technology from our partners shows how the industry strongly values the same open ecosystem and quality that AMD strives for,” said Roy Taylor, corporate vice president, ISV/IHV Partner Group, AMD, in a statement. “Gamers who use FreeSync technology with AMD Radeon R-Series graphics and AMD latest generation of APUs can rest assured that they’re enjoying the best possible experience.”
Why this matters: It’s important for AMD to get its FreeSync technology off the ground, if only to provide some pricing competition to Nvidia’s technology. Nvidia’s G-Sync panels require proprietary hardware that add to a monitor’s cost, while support for AMD’s FreeSync is baked into the DisplayPort 1.2a standard, so FreeSync monitors should theoretically be cheaper. Still, until we know exactly what those prices are, we can’t really assess this technology’s importance, outside of the abstract.
Additional reporting by Brad Chacos