How To Turn On VRR on a Sony TV

Sony offers some of the best gaming TVs, guaranteeing stunning picture quality and an immersive sound experience. Still, you can make gaming on a Sony TV even better by enabling the Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) mode. The VRR mode will significantly boost your gaming experience by improving responsiveness and lowering latency. Luckily, turning on this mode is pretty straightforward, provided your TV model supports it. Keep reading to learn how to turn VRR on and off on a Sony TV.

Turning On VRR with a Sony TV

Generally speaking, TVs offer a consistently smooth experience for watching movies and TV shows. This is made possible by their fixed refresh rate. However, video games aren’t as consistent.

In fact, video games usually incorporate drastic scene changes, causing the frame rate to reduce dramatically while the console loads new information. These sudden transitions can lead to lags and screen tearing. That’s where VRR comes into play.

After enabling the VRR mode on your TV, it will match the TV’s refresh rate to the game’s frame rate, thus providing a smooth gaming experience.

Unfortunately, this innovative feature isn’t available on all Sony TV models. So, before attempting to enable the VRR mode, you must first check if your TV supports it.

How to Check if Your Sony TV Supports VRR

For VRR to work on your TV, it has to be supported by every link in the gaming chain. This means that your TV and gaming console must support VRR, and you need to use an HDMI 2.1-compatible cable.

The cable is crucial in this chain since VRR is a part of HDMI 2.1 technology. It’s important to note that having HDMI 2.1 doesn’t necessarily mean having the VRR option. So, you should check your TV’s specifications to ensure it supports VRR.

When it comes to Sony TVs, some HDMI 2.1 features are present on select TVs released in 2019. However, the VRR feature is only present on specific models released in 2020 and onwards.

Here’s how to check if your Sony TV supports VRR:

1. Visit the Sony Support website.
   
2. Select “TVs, Monitors & Projectors” under “All.”
   
3. Using the same drop-down menu, choose your TV category.
   
4. Scroll down until you find your TV model.
   
5. Click on your TV’s tab to open its product page.
   
6. Select the “Specifications” option under the model’s name.
   
7. Navigate to the “Connectivity” section.
   
8. Check if “VRR” is written under the “Features specified in HDMI 2.1” tab.
   

If VRR is present, you can move on to the next step.

Update Your TV

Before turning on the VRR mode, it’s essential to ensure your Sony TV is up to date. Generally speaking, software updates improve performance, which is key to playing games on TV. However, updating your Sony TV’s system is especially important due to some past issues with VRR compatibility.

Namely, many users noticed that activating the VRR mode on Sony TVs with XR Cognitive Processor turned off the backlight’s dimming feature. As a result, the HDR contrast wasn’t as good when VRR was on.

Fortunately, an update from June 2022 addresses this issue, allowing VRR and local dimming to co-exist harmoniously.

How to Update Sony Google TV

If you own a Google TV, you can quickly check if your Sony TV is up to date:

1. Press the “Quick Settings” button on your TV remote.
   
2. Go to the “Settings” icon.
   
3. Select the “System” option.
   
4. Navigate to the “About” section.
   
5. Choose the “System software update” tab.
   
6. If available, select the “Software update” button.

When the “System software update” tab displays a “Your software is up to date” message, you’re good to go. You can also enable the “Automatically check for updates” option to ensure you don’t have to update the software manually in the future.

How to Update Sony Android TV

Updating your Sony Android TV is a relatively straightforward process. Here’s what to do:

1. Press the “Home” button on your TV remote control.
   
2. Select “Help” on the screen. If you don’t see the option, go to the “Apps” icon.
   
3. locate the “Help” tab.
   
4. Choose the “System software update” option.
   
5. Select the “Check for a system software update” button.
   

To avoid updating the system manually each time, set the “Automatically check for updates” option to “On.” After that, your TV will download new updates when connected to the internet or during standby mode, depending on the model.

How to Enable HDMI Enhanced Format for VRR

After ensuring your TV model supports this mode and updating your system, there’s nothing left to do but enable VRR on your Sony TV:

1. Press the “Home” button on your TV remote control.
   
2. Go to “Settings.”
   
3. Select the “Channels & Inputs” tab under the “General Settings” section.
   
4. Navigate to the “External inputs” option.
   
5. Click on the “HDMI signal format” tab.
   
6. Choose the HDMI port that you want to use as VRR.
   
7. Select the “Enhanced format (VRR)” option under the “HDMI signal format” menu for the chosen port.
   

The chosen HDMI input will be put into game mode, so make sure to connect your gaming console to that specific HDMI port. Note that some Sony TV models will have the “Enhanced format (VRR)” option only on connectors “HDMI 3” and “HDMI 4,” so use those.

After enabling the VRR mode, you’re all set on the Sony TV side. However, you also need to change your gaming system.

Enable VRR on Your Gaming Console

Enabling the VRR mode on your Sony TV won’t do much if your gaming console doesn’t support this mode. You’ll be able to make the most of a dynamically adjusted frame rate if you own a PS5 or an Xbox Series X or Series S.

If your console supports VRR, a few clicks are all it takes to reap its incredible visual benefits.

How to Enable VRR on Xbox

You can enable VRR on your Xbox console (Series X or Series S) in three simple steps:

1. Navigate to “Settings.”
   
2. Select the “Video modes” tab.
   
3. Check the “Allow variable refresh rate” option.
   

How to Enable VRR on PS5

Although it took Sony a little while to catch up to Microsoft, the VRR feature has been finally introduced with the PlayStation 5 rollout. Here’s how to enable VRR on your PS5 console:

1. Launch “Settings.”
   
2. Select the “Screen and Video” option.
   
3. Go to “Video Output.”
   
4. Toggle the “VRR” option to “On.”
   

How to Turn Off VRR on Sony TV

While VRR does wonders for your gaming experience, the same can’t be said for enjoying regular TV content. So, once you’re done gaming, you’ll probably want to turn the VRR mode off. Additionally, VRR is not supported on all games, and some fare much worse than without it.

Regardless of why you need VRR off, the process will be easy since it follows the exact steps used to turn the feature on:

1. Press the “Home” button on your TV remote.
   
2. Navigate to “Settings.”
   
3. Go to the “Channels & Inputs” tab.
   
4. Select the “External inputs” option.
   
5. Click on the “HDMI signal format” tab.
   
6. Locate the HDMI you’ve chosen to use as VRR.
   

Once you’re in the “HDMI signal format” menu, you can select any of the remaining options:

• Standard format
• Enhanced format
• Enhanced format (Dolby Vision)
  

Regardless of your choice, the VRR mode will be disabled.

VRR Is the Name of the Game

The introduction of the VRR mode has resolved the annoying issue of screen tearing many gamers have experienced while using their consoles. It also allowed game developers to try more ambitious endeavors and focus on creativity rather than targeting a specific refresh number to match the TV’s rate.

For these reasons, using the VRR mode is essential to enjoying an exceptionally smooth gaming experience with fast response time and true-to-life image details. Best of all, this mode is incredibly easy to turn on and off, allowing you to seamlessly switch back to the regularly scheduled TV program.

Have you had issues with screen tearing while gaming on your Sony TV? Have you tried to turn on the VRR mode? Let us know in the comments section below.