CES 2023 announced the first TVs to take advantage of a new (coming soon) feature of the Apple TV 4K 2022. This new feature is the Quick Media Switching Variable Refresh Rate or QMS VRR for the close friends.
When you watch shows on your Apple TV, sometimes content doesn’t have the same refresh rate, for example a 60 fps YouTube video interspersed with 30 fps ads. If you enable the tvOS option to automatically adjust the refresh rate to the content, switching from 60 fps video to 30 fps results in a brief black screen while the Apple TV and the television switch from one frequency to the other.
Image HDMI LA
The QMS VRR eliminates this black screen by using variable refresh rate (VRR) technology to instantly change the frequency between the two pieces of content. This only works if the resolution stays the same between the two pieces of content, otherwise the black screen is always there.
The QMS VRR is one of the (rare) new features of the Apple TV 4K 2022. It does not appear on its technical sheet, it is Apple that has promised it to some American media. It was supposed to be released at the end of 2022, but obviously hasn’t been distributed yet. It’s no big deal as compatible TVs are long overdue.
LG OLED TV 2023
LG is the first brand to introduce TVs supporting QMS VRR, namely all of their 2023 OLED TVs (Z3, G3, C3 series, etc.). Their prices and release date are not yet known. Other manufacturers are expected to introduce compatible TVs. We will update this article as announcements are made.
In theory, the QMS VRR can be retrofitted to existing devices with an HDMI 2.1a connection via a software update, but at the moment no manufacturer seems to want to improve their older products.
Apple TV 4K 2022 in the test: More compact, more powerful, but not so different