AMD and Samsung have announed the first FreeSync-enabled monitors.
These monitors are the 23.6-inch and 28-inch variants of the Samsung UD590, as well as the UE850’s 23.6-, 27-, and 31.5-inch models. The 28-inch UE590 is already on the market.
As a refresher, AMD’s Project FreeSync is the company’s effort to leverage industrystandards to bring dynamic refresh rates to monitors. It competes directly with Nvidia’s G-Sync, but whereas Green Team’s version is proprietary and adds between $100 and $200 to the cost of the monitor, FreeSync uses an optional protocol in the DisplayPort 1.2a specification in the form of the open Adaptive-Sync standard, which is free for anyone to implement.
The idea behind FreeSync is that it will remove tearing in games and reduce stuttering, creating a much smoother experience for the user at refresh rates below the maximum refresh rate of the monitor.
“We are very pleased to adopt AMD FreeSync technology to our 2015 Samsung Electronics Visual Display division’s UHD monitor roadmap, which fully supports open standards,” said Joe Chan, Vice President of Samsung Electronics Southeast Asia Headquarters. “With this technology, we believe users including gamers will be able to enjoy their videos and games to be played with smoother frame display without stuttering or tearing on their monitors.”
The FreeSync-enabled UD590 and UE850s will be available in March 2015, with the remainder of the UHD lineups following later.
