PS5 and PS5 Pro Users Face Ongoing VRR Stuttering Issues

PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro owners are experiencing recurring stuttering problems when using Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) features. The issue affects both Sony's first-party games and third-party titles, creating an annoying gameplay experience for many users.

Digital Foundry, a respected tech analysis group, has confirmed these problems after testing 19 different games on various displays. Their investigation revealed that the stuttering isn't related to specific TV brands as previously thought but is actually a problem with Sony's consoles themselves.

The stuttering most commonly appears in games that support 120Hz VRR with unlocked frame rates. Players typically enjoy smooth gameplay for about 20 minutes before a noticeable stutter begins to occur every eight seconds. This regular stuttering completely undermines the purpose of VRR, which is meant to deliver smoother gaming experiences when frame rates vary.

According to Digital Foundry's testing, the technical cause appears to be the console momentarily dropping out of VRR mode. When the stutter happens, there's a brief spike in refresh rate to 120Hz before returning to normal operation. This creates the jarring effect players are experiencing.

Games confirmed to suffer from this issue include popular titles like:

• Diablo 4

• Elden Ring

• The Last of Us Part 1 and Part 2

• Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered

• Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

• Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

• Hogwarts Legacy

• Metaphor Refantazio

Importantly, when Digital Foundry tested third-party games on Xbox consoles, they found no such VRR stuttering issues, confirming this is specifically a PlayStation problem.

The testing also revealed some games that don't seem affected by the issue, including Dragon's Dogma 2, God of War Ragnarok, Gran Turismo 7, and Immortals of Aveum. However, even these might develop problems under different testing conditions.

What makes the issue particularly puzzling is the lack of clear patterns between affected and unaffected games. It's not limited to third-party developers, as Sony's own games can experience the problem. It also doesn't appear to be engine-specific, since games running on the same underlying technology can fall into either category.

The only common factor seems to be that games with more variable frame rates tend to have more problems when VRR is active. Games that run consistently at specific frame rates (like 30fps, 40fps, 60fps, or 120fps) generally work fine.

For players experiencing these issues, Digital Foundry suggests two workarounds: either disable VRR entirely in the system settings or restart the game every 20 minutes or so before the stuttering begins. Neither solution is ideal, but they can help manage the problem until Sony releases a fix.

Sony has not yet officially acknowledged the issue or announced plans to address it.

Source: Eurogamer