I wouldn’t buy a TV without this feature.

• The technology of tomorrow is here today
• Maybe prices will come down

Smart TVs come packed with ports and features that many people aren’t taking advantage of. I don’t blame you for not using everything or being aware of what comes with a TV nowadays, especially since it feels like the manufacturers don’t do a good job of even explaining why something’s good. If you walk into a store, you might see buzzwords like Dolby Vision, Ultra Motion, Super Contrast Booster, and other things of that nature. Some of those features, like Dolby Vision, are good, while some of the others are largely for marketing.

However, there’s one feature that I think stands out among the rest, and I’m talking about VRR. Variable Refresh Rate is a wonderful piece of technology that has been a staple of computer monitors for quite a while now, and it’s finally making its way over to living room TVs. The way this technology works is it smooths out your display if the frame rate isn’t stable. In video game terms, it means that drops from 60 FPS won’t be noticeable as long as they happen within the display’s VRR window. It’s able to smooth everything out and create a far less jarring experience. If I were buying a TV today, VRR would be the number one feature I’m looking for.

The technology of tomorrow is here today

It’ll have value for years to come

Like many of you, I’m a big gamer. While I primarily play on PC, I do have both an Xbox Series X and PS5, and lately, I’ve been gravitating toward them. My living room TV is a Sony Bravia X90J, complete with 120Hz and VRR support. I was lucky enough to receive VRR in a software update, and for a while, I didn’t really see the use of it. It wasn’t until we started seeing games push higher framerates that the VRR mode came in handy.

While the Series X and PS5 can hit the 120 FPS target in many games, staying locked at that number is another battle entirely. Luckily, VRR is able to smooth out those rough edges, and if everything works as intended, you might not even notice the dips. Although I don’t own a PS5 Pro myself, it’s easy to see how the most powerful console pairs nicely with VRR. The Pro specs allow this model to consistently hit higher framerates, so having a 120Hz and VRR-enabled display pays dividends here.

I know you could’ve always experienced VRR by using a computer monitor, but that’s not nearly the same as a full-sized living room TV. There’s a massive difference between a 27-inch monitor and a 65-inch TV, so I’m glad to see technology that’s been around for a long time rolling out to the masses. I don’t expect console gaming to ever fully replace PC gaming, but it’s things like this that help close the gap ever so slightly.

The downside to a VRR TV is the price tag. You can find VRR included on a computer monitor for far less than a TV. The most popular TVs on the market are 60Hz, and you’ll typically find any 120Hz TV worth its salt also paired with a high-end display such as an OLED or Mini-LED. This combination results in a high price tag that is hard to meet for a lot of people. However, it does mean that if you bought a TV with the intention of having the best picture quality, you might already have the VRR box checked off without even realizing it.

What you have to ask yourself is how often you find yourself gaming. A high refresh rate and VRR don’t do a lot of good for somebody just watching Netflix all the time. This is just technology that benefits gamers, in a gigantic way, mind you. I think it’s well worth the price of admission, and I couldn’t imagine going back to a TV without it, especially as game consoles continue to push boundaries.

The good news is that TVs last quite a long time, so if you buy one now, you’ll be reaping the rewards for a long time — perhaps even an entire console generation. People don’t tend to upgrade their TVs with regularity, so you might as well buy one with all the features you want right at the beginning. The only time I’ve ever gotten a new TV is when my old one stopped working.

Maybe prices will come down

Patience works out sometimes

I remember the early HD era when 720p widescreen TVs were rolling out and how expensive those were. Even a measly 32-inch TV felt like it came close to breaking the bank. As time went on, those TVs became more affordable, and the same thing happened with the 4K displays. Nowadays, you can find a 4K display for just a few hundred dollars. Keep in mind that these are far from the top-of-the-line choices, but the fact that you can find them in the first place is what needs to be applauded.

I don’t know if you’ll ever see something with 120Hz or VRR for as low as $300, but I probably thought the same thing about regular 4K displays a few years ago. Companies seem to find out how to drive costs down over time, this console generation being a huge outlier.

With HDMI 2.2 being just on the horizon, we could also be looking at a world where 120Hz becomes more normalized than it already is. Currently, VRR and 120 FPS modes only work over HDMI 2.1, and there are still plenty of TVs where 2.1 ports are limited. It’s not surprising to still see TVs with just 2.0 as the standard, and that just doesn’t cut it for me anymore. I don’t know how long it’ll take for HDMI 2.2 to finally overtake 2.1, as it feels like it’s taken a while for 2.1 to even gain the foothold that it has.

Nevertheless, this is as excited as I’ve been in a long time in the TV space. The last time I felt like this was when 4K TVs came out, and that already feels like a decade or so ago. The next iteration was meant to be 8K, but it feels like the general consumer has completely rejected that, and it means manufacturers have to go back to the drawing board. A good path forward is higher refresh rates and VRR. I have to admit that I didn’t think I’d be seeing 144Hz TVs, let alone 120Hz ones, this soon. I guess I knew it was possible since monitors were doing it, but I never really connected the dots and imagined that living room TVs could do the same thing. I’m very happy that it’s a reality.