LG became one of the first major TV manufacturers to combine variable refresh rate (VRR) technology with 4K OLED panels in 2019. Gamers suddenly found themselves with NVIDIA’s G-SYNC compatibility in a large form factor that could easily rival many monitors. Even though current consoles and PC GPUs are limited to HDMI 2.0, that doesn’t stop these premium panels from providing exceptional experiences. Presently, gamers can still enjoy up to 120 Hz 1440p or 4K 60 Hz VRR on those 2019 models if their gaming device supports it. Meanwhile, LG has now added AMD’s FreeSync Premium for its 2020 CX and GX line of TVs. FlatpanelsHD has reported on the latest firmware upgrade.
LG has released the promised firmware update to add support for FreeSync Premium (with HDR) on its 2020 CX and GX OLED TVs. The same update enables ATSC 3.0.
Color Depth Limits
This new upgrade doesn’t come without some limitations, though. AMD users will only be able to activate it with a 4:2:0 8-bit color depth. However, at those settings, 4K 120 Hz is reportedly possible. Owners of a card like the XFX RX 5700 XT THICC III Ultra, which Brent reviewed last month, could have quite the experience with less demanding games. The FreeSync range will be 40 to 120 Hz. Anything under 40 Hz will receive Low Framerate Compensation (LFC). Another HDMI 2.0 limitation requires that the port being used disables Dolby Vision. This loss shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering its bandwidth needs.
The color depth restrictions will more than likely no longer apply once other devices begin to adopt the HDMI 2.1 standards that both select LG 2019 and 2020 models already have. However, full compatibility will remain unknown until they’re released and tested. LG has stated that it is planning to roll out this feature to its 4K BX and 8K ZX OLED TVs next. So far, there has been no word on if they plan to add this upgrade to their 2019 models.