You can enable Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR) on Windows 11 in order to allow the OS to switch between a lower refresh rate and a higher refresh rate based on your activity. This allows Windows to lower the display refresh rate for text and other simple tasks. For gaming, it will raise to say 120Hz if display supports that.
Dynamic refresh rate is a new feature of Windows that changes the display refresh rate on demand. The operating system will analyze your activity at PC, and then seamlessly change the refresh rate. A lower value allow to save more power, which is very important for mobile devices.
DDR is currently available for laptops with a display that supports Variable refresh rate (VRR) and a refresh rate of at least 120Hz. This allows Windows 11 to refresh such a display at 60Hz for daily productivity tasks, such as email, typing a document, and thus save the battery life.
If you launch a game, or some media content, Windows 11 will dynamically raise the refresh rate to 120Hz.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that besides the hardware support your system must have a proper graphics driver (WDDM 3.0) installed.
This post will show you how to enable or disable the Dynamic Refresh Rate feature in Windows 11.
Enable Dynamic Refresh Rate in Windows 11 (DRR)
- Open Settings from the Start menu or with the Win + I keyboard shortcut.
- Click on System > Display.
- In the Related settings section, click on the Advanced display option.
- On the next page, find the option Choose a refresh rate and set it to Dynamic.
You are done! You just enabled the DRR feature in Windows 11.
Later, you can disable it by simply reverting the above steps and setting the refresh rate option to a fixed value.
How to Disable Dynamic Refresh Rate for a display
- Open Windows Setting using the Win + I hotkey.
- Navigate to System > Display and click on the Advanced display option.
- On the Advanced display page, find the option Choose a refresh rate.
- Select one of the static values, e.g. 60Hz or 120Hz from the drop-down menu.
Done! Windows 11 will no longer change how it refreshes the screen.
Note: If you don't see the option described in this guide, this means your hardware doesn't support DRR or you have an incompatible version of the graphic driver.
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What is the purpose of this feature? Power saving?
Indeed