NVIDIA improves G-SYNC Pulsar with less than 1 ms MPRT at 240 Hz

NVIDIA has released firmware 1.1.10 for the first monitors compatible with G-SYNC Pulsar. The update improves the sharpness of moving objects when using 240 and 360 Hz modes, as well as fixing situations where Pulsar could stop working during a game.

The change affects four 360Hz QHD monitors: Acer Predator XB273U F5, AOC AGON PRO AG276QSG2, ASUS ROG Strix Pulsar XG27AQNGV and MSI MPG 272QRF X36. They all use the NVIDIA module responsible for coordinating the variable frequency and strobe lighting.

Less than 1 ms MPRT at 240 Hz

G-SYNC Pulsar combines variable refresh rate with backlight modulation tailored to each frame. Its goal is to reduce motion blur without forcing the monitor to maintain a fixed frequency, as is the case with traditional strobe modes.

He firmware 1.1.10 It brings to the 240 and 360 Hz ULMB2 modes the sharpness that NVIDIA previously offered at 60 Hz. The company claims that the improvement is maintained with a brightness of up to 480 nits, although the final result depends on the pulse width setting selected by the user.

With a frequency of 240 Hz and the Pulse Width parameter set to 50, NVIDIA has measured a MPRT time of 0.97 ms. By reducing the width to 25, the figure drops to 0.83 ms, while with a value of 100 it remains at 1.37 ms. In 360 Hz mode and Pulse Width 100, 1.14 ms has been recorded.

MPRT measures how long a moving pixel remains visible and is not equivalent to the panel’s GtG response time. The value is used to estimate the perceived persistence of the image. This makes it especially useful when comparing modes with dark image insertion or strobe backlighting.

Pulsar will remain active in more situations

The second important modification affects stability. NVIDIA has increased the time that Pulsar remains operational and reduced instances where the system would crash when detecting images with a high degree of variation.

These scenes could appear in games with lots of particles, vegetation, visual noise, or rapid changes between frames. The monitor could interpret that the conditions prevented maintaining the backlight modulation correctly and disconnect Pulsar. lVersion 1.1.10 adjusts that behavior to avoid unnecessary interruptions.

The update too modifies the moving sharpness of the variable frequency G-SYNC Pulsar mode. NVIDIA has not announced changes to the native resolution or maximum frequency of the monitors, which continue to operate at 2,560 × 1,440 pixels and up to 360 Hz.

The result will also depend on the performance of the computer. To take advantage of 360 Hz it is necessary to generate a high number of images per second, although Pulsar can work in a variable interval and does not require constantly maintaining the maximum frequency of the panel.

Installation from the browser via USB

NVIDIA distributes the firmware through its web tool. It is necessary to connect the monitor to the computer or compatible device using a Micro-B USB cable that allows data transfer. The process works with recent versions of Chrome, Edge, and Opera on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and ChromeOS. iOS is left off the list.

Typical installation takes five to ten minutes. The monitor must first be placed in update mode, which displays an on-screen indication and slowly flashes its status light. If the process is interrupted, the tool itself allows you to try again and offers a recovery procedure in cases where the monitor does not start correctly.

This version continues the work done with previous firmwares. 1.1.4 removed accused double images below 90 FPS. 1.1.6 improved performance between 100 and 180 FPS, while 1.1.8 reduced latency to 240 Hz, tweaked ULMB2 to 120 Hz, and fixed G-SYNC and Pulsar disappearing after waking the monitor.

Firmware 1.1.10 is offered for the four current G-SYNC Pulsar models and does not change their physical specifications. The update focuses on making better use of the panel’s backlighting and keeping the system active during a wider variety of scenes.