AMD could counter Nvidia's G-Sync with simpler, free sync tech

You knew this was bound to happen but AMD is claiming that they can offer a simpler version of Nviida G-Sync using freely available technology.

As it would turn out, AMD had the technology built into their chips for several years because it saved power.

Koduri explained that this particular laptop's display happened to support a feature that AMD has had in its graphics chips "for three generations": dynamic refresh rates. AMD built this capability into its GPUs primarily for power-saving reasons, since unnecessary vertical refresh cycles burn power to little benefit. There's even a proposed VESA specification for dynamic refresh, and the feature has been adopted by some panel makers, though not on a consistent or widespread basis. AMD's Catalyst drivers already support it where it's available, which is why an impromptu demo was possible.

Dynamic refresh works much like G-Sync, varying the length of the vertical blank period between display refreshes on a per-frame basis, so the screen can be drawn when the GPU has a finished frame ready to be displayed.

We all know that AMD is the king when it comes to paper launches but this looks like something that could very easily derail the G-Sync train before it leaves the station.

Of course you can't discredit the value of G-Sync since it actually resides on the monitor and better matches video hardware with the display but, the downside is cost and certification that is usually passed on to the consumer.

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