Confirmed: PlayStation 5 and PS5 Skilled occupy VRR stuttering concerns

We have an ongoing stream of reports from recent months indicating an issue with the PlayStation 5: VRR support has a problem where game performance can be disrupted by a distinct, noticeable glitch that occurs every eight seconds. Various hypotheses have been proposed and discussed online, covering a range of displays and firmware versions, but after conducting an extensive investigation into the matter, we can confirm that it is a genuine issue, affecting both PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles – and based on our analyses, it may influence any display that is VRR-compatible.

To fully comprehend the issue, it is essential to explain how VRR – variable refresh rate – typically operates, and more specifically on PlayStation consoles. Prior to the introduction of VRR, the most reliable performance in console gaming involved frame rates locked at either 60fps or 30fps. A consistent stream of frames is transmitted to the display, synchronizing with the refresh rate of the panel. At 60fps, a new frame is shown with every refresh of the screen. At 30fps, a new frame appears for two refreshes. As the term implies, VRR functions with a flexible refresh rate. Instead of the console needing to synchronize with the display refresh, the console itself determines when the refresh occurs – typically whenever a new frame is ready to be shown.

With VRR, a game does not need to run locked at 60fps or 30fps to provide a smooth experience for players – as long as frame rates remain fairly consistent, gameplay continues to feel fluid, even when a game operates within a variable 50-60fps or 100-120fps ‘range’. It is advantageous for players and can be seen as a sort of ‘fix’ for variable frame rates, substantially reducing stuttering and effectively eliminating screen tearing in titles that exhibit it.

So, what is the issue with PlayStation? The most straightforward instance of the stuttering problem arises in games that support 120Hz VRR with unlocked frame rates – titles like The Last of Us Part 1 and 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Diablo 4, for example. What happens is that gameplay functions perfectly fine for around 20 minutes, but shortly after that, a significant glitch manifests every eight seconds, give or take a few frames. The purpose of VRR is to provide consistency to variable frame rates, and the ‘magic’ is lost when the game stutters so conspicuously in such a regular rhythm.

If you have a VRR-capable display, you might also have access to a refresh rate monitor. Ignoring more complex aspects of VRR that are not relevant to this discussion (low frame-rate compensation, etc.), these outputs show you how usually the console is directing the display to refresh with a new frame. It’s the closest you can get to a console-like performance meter similar to PC. Thanks to the inclusion of these meters, we have found that the stuttering causes the refresh rate counter to briefly spike up to 120Hz in the most notably affected titles. So, in a game like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 on PS5 Pro, for instance, we can see frame rates in the 60-70fps range thanks to the onscreen display – and when a glitch kicks in, there is that noticeable, brief jump to 120Hz.

Since refresh rate displays are so common across many different TVs and monitors – with the same 120Hz ‘spike’ occurring on all tested displays, we can eliminate some of the proposed causes for PS5/Pro VRR glitches. There has been a theory that the issue is limited to LG OLED TVs, or TVs based on LG OLED technology. Others believe the problem only began after an unspecified firmware update for LG OLED TVs. However, we have tested a Samsung mini-LED display, an LG OLED TV, an LG OLED PC monitor with HDMI 2.1 VRR support, and even an Eve Spectrum monitor. All have refresh rate counters, all show glitches, and all exhibit brief spikes to 120Hz when a glitch occurs. At this point, all evidence suggests that it is not the display that is the source of the problem, but rather the PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro consoles. The jump to 120Hz indicates that the console is momentarily losing VRR ‘in the moment’ and reverting to a fixed refresh rate, resulting in the glitch.

At this moment, we must emphasize that this is a Sony-specific issue. Xbox VRR remains robust, and in multi-platform games that exhibit the problem on PlayStation, the Microsoft console operates flawlessly.

Exactly why this is occurring remains unclear. We have tested a total of 19 games now, discovering that while many games experience the issue, others seemingly do not. The evidence suggests that if the output frame rate of the console does not fluctuate too much, the glitch is less likely to occur. We can observe the impact of the issue without difficulty in Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, for instance, but it is more interesting to see if it is an issue in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which runs on the same engine and utilizes the same Sony libraries.

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