External g-sync works through hdmi

No it doesn't, it's just running fps = refresh so the frame time is perfect. I'm an amateur at this.

****

fyi

This isn't meant to work for obvious reasons but it does atm. Implies g-sync on the laptops is implemented at a driver level as came up briefly a few years back.

Set g-sync off, clone the external monitor as primary connected with an hdmi cable, run the game and hey presto the external monitor is clearly running with g-sync.

There's a video down the bottom (go to the last 20 seconds). The phone isn't of high enough quality to demonstrate it convincingly, but to the naked eye it is clear g-sync is working due to the absence of v-sync microstutter. The laptop is running v-sync off as this is a driver limitation for a cloned monitor. For any naysayers, to anyone who has tried it with and without the effect is very obvious - otherwise there'd be no point in marketing it. I've checked it a few times and it's there. Obviously I can't explain the why or the how, but in this particular instance only it is working and that is all I can say.

The external monitor is g-sync capable in this instance, but the light isn't active indicating g-sync is on. Driver is 398.11. With g-sync on in the control panel it didn't work. I don't know under what conditions it will and won't work for now.

I only stumbled across this as I'm short a mini displayport adapter and was trying to see if there was any instance in which this new 1080p 8bit TN monitor doesn't look like a washed out piece of overpriced **** (spoiler alert - there isn't. They look horrible. Don't ever buy one like I did. They flog them to kids who don't know better).

I'm tempted to sell it and buy a cheap IPS external - but I expect sooner or later this will be quietly patched out if they become aware of it. The cheapie IPS in the laptop is years ahead of it, and the only g-sync IPS externals are 2k, which drops the framerate below well 60fps in most major titles with this laptop (P650HS-G).

 

G-Sync Mobile is basically the same as FreeSync so I could see how this could be made to work over mini-DP/DP...... However, FreeSync over HDMI is a completely different beast.

This is where it gets dicey. HDMI does not have variable timing capability natively (at least until 2.1 is released), nor do the TCONs know how to handle it. So the external monitor, by definition, is not running with variable timing.

There's nowhere near enough information in your video. No framerate info, the shutter rate is useless and the camera is moving all over the place. Prey is also one of the few games which has DX11 based triple-buffering available to it.

At this point, I'm putting my money on Windows screen Cloning rendering everything to an internal v-sync'd buffer before duplicating it to both output buffers.

 

Yes, my hdmi freesync monitor seems to confuse 3dmark into thinking g-sync is running but it's not actually.

 

Actually it's even simpler than that Stooj. It's running at fps = refresh so there is no frame time stutter. I shouldn't have said g-sync but instead perfect frame time, I didn't think it was adjusting the refresh.
How stupid of me.

I keep forgetting that little screen isn't running at 60hz.

Oh well, to hell with all this crap.

PS. I already said the camera obviously wasn't up to snuff, but pls upload a video of your mobile phone cams so I can witness your stone dead hands at work.

 

and to other posters, don't buy these tn gsync externals. The factory calibrations are all over the shop, and they routinely crush blacks so severely to the point that it's unwatchable. Absolutely absurd for the premium they charge.

 

Your experience is going to depend on the exact panel and the seller.

 

Sigh... another platitude for an issue you are unfamiliar with.

Google it.

 

Good info in here!

 

You gave a general blanket statement which is false. I had a TN G-sync panel with no issue, if you want to note specific brands and models then feel free.

As someone just shown they still need to do research perhaps don't go throwing stones at others and get a better understanding of the fundamentals of g-sync and how it operates.

 

So...do you mean V-Sync? If you output frames are at the exact "fixed" rate of the monitor, that is by definition, V-Sync (either double or triple buffered). Nothing to do with G-Sync/FreeSync variable timing.

As I said, the reason it would "appear" to be perfect frame time without tearing is because you're running cloned monitors. When you clone, the image is first rendered to an internal buffer, which is then copied to all other buffers prior to output. The copy process is very likely V-Sync'd by default.

It's panel dependent as Meaker said.

I've got a first gen AOC 24" G-Sync 144hz TN panel and it crushes blacks. It's also no great mystery as to why. It's an early gen panel and runs at 6-bit + FRC as with almost every lower end 144hz panel. Most of the early panels also have a warm-up time which makes them seem worse. Mine is grey as hell for the first 10-15 minutes of use. Most newer expensive panels are now IPS or in the case of earlier 27"/1440p/TN panels (ASUS PG27 something) they were a true 8-bit panel.

I just checked your video again, and it's a ASUS PG248Q which is a 6-bit+FRC panel as well.

But the most important question is... WHY are you connecting to it with HDMI in the first place?!

It's a G-Sync panel, just use a mini-DP -> DP cable so you're not limited to 60hz.
More importantly, the Nvidia driver will automatically default to limited colour range (16 to 235) over HDMI connections which will absolutely wash out all your colours.

 

You can go in and change those settings but there are bandwidth limits to HDMI.

 

Meaker google 'tn gsync crushed blacks' or 'tn gsync gamma'. Just google it. Then you can say something like well my monitors fine or its panel dependant and everyone will heave a sigh of relief that you fixed the issue with the power of your mind.

Yes my original post was stupid and I'm happy to admit it.

Stooj .. ok mate... yes this is what vsync is.

What you're missing is that when your fps = refresh you get perfect frame time as the buffer matches the refresh exactly. You can read a decent little primer on blur busters under gsync preview, fyi.

It's irrelevant that it's cloned as vsync is on - which is what you want for gsync as it merely enforces vsync outside of the gsync refresh range (eg 35 - 144 hz).

I suppose any first year undergrad would laugh at us for discussing such basic things but there you have it.

As for pg248q bit depth, well, well done stooj.You're not the only one who can type the model number into some unsourced guess work like display specifications.com. No one actually knows what the panel is, but it is undoubtedly a dithered 6 bit.

But guess what, Stooj, bit depth isn't the cause of crushed blacks or washed out shadows now is it? It can cause banding. These widely repeated complaints that their s2417dg or whatever looks 'washed out' etc are due to abysmal gamma calibrations to suit the perceived tastes of their target market.

The black levels are stuffed as a result. You can try fiddling with the gamma in the control panel, but without a calibration unit you stuff the gamma curve and the colours don't look right over the full space.

So yes it is 'panel dependant'. This is the ultimate redundancy. If I kick your monitor down the stairs and it doesn't work that is a 'panel dependance'. The great minds of notebook review at work!

The issue is these days they routinely set their chosen preset low because kids who play cs:go and call people unfortunate enough to join them '****cocks' cannot abide a shadow that isn't very light grey. This appears to have crept up and gotten worse over the years since the first reviews, and the tn panels are generally far worse in this respect than the ips - probably because of the 1ms market.

So no, the bit depth isn't relevant at all. I have an undithered 6 bit laptop ips that has much better black levels.

Finally, my dear Stooj, you absolutely need to know right now WHY I WAS USING HDMI?

Well ok Stooj.

BECAUSE STOOJ IT USES A TOTALLY DIFFERENT GAMMA PRESET ON HDMI FULL RGB FOR A REASON NO ONE CAN FIGURE OUT. IT'S MUCH HIGHER AND THE BLACKS ARE NICE AND DEEP BUT IT'S ALSO MUNTED AS IT CRUSHES BLACKS TO HELL. IT'S UNDOUBTEDLY SOME SORT OF ERROR BY THE FIRMWARE PROGRAMMER.

OK, STOOJ?

LANA? LANA? ... LLLAAANNNAAAA!

In all honesty the only truth to come out of this is that no one posting in this thread really knows what they're talking about.

So let's all waste precious time together. The Internet is such an awful and false way of talking to people

 

What an epic meltdown.

 

That's not correct at all. The monitor clock cycles independently of the graphics frame-buffer. That's the entire reason why V-Sync creates input lag, because the GPU is never perfectly in sync with it.

It's completely relevant. Cloning inserts a whole new buffer into the output chain which completely derails whatever normal buffer sync is happening with the monitor.

Having a short bit depth does indeed cause banding, but the addition of FRC creates dithering artifacts which are most prevalent at near-black level and can also cause it to appear grey-ish.

But it's mostly caused by cheap fast TN panels having rubbish black levels to begin with.

Of course it does, because it's IPS

Oh the irony...

There's a saying: If everyone treats you like a bad guy, it's usually because you're the bad guy...

 

People do get a picture of how things work in their minds and get fixated on it no matter how many times you try and explain it.

All this from saying "hey you are being too broad saying all displays are a certain way," when I own one that is not.