Variable Refresh Rate API

The Variable Refresh Rate API allows you to change the current display refresh rate. The API provides IVariableRefreshRate.SupportedRefreshRates, an array of display refresh rates that the device supports. To change the current refresh rate, call IVariableRefreshRate.SetRefreshRateByIndex with a valid index for the array of supported refresh rates.

Note: The supported refresh rates depend on the model of the phone, Android Display Settings, and application-specific settings in Samsung Game Launcher.

The Variable Refresh Rate API is supported on all devices where UnityEngine.AdaptivePerformance.Samsung.Android.VariableRefreshRate.Instance is not null.

If the current refresh rate or the list of supported refresh rate changes because of an external event, the IVariableRefreshRate.RefreshRateChanged event is triggered. This can happen when a user is making changes to the Display Settings.

The Unity core API Screent.currentResolution.refreshRate is automatically updated when the refresh rate changes. This update might not happen immediately, so it is not recommended to cache the value of Screent.currentResolution.refreshRate in your application.

Technical details

Unity Support

This version of VRR is compatible with Unity Editor versions 2019 LTS and later, specifically:

  • Unity 2020.2.0a7+
  • Unity 2020.1.0b5+
  • Unity 2019.3.11f1+

Device Support

Variable Refresh Rate is currently only supported on following devices:

  • Galaxy S20 with GameSDK 3.2 (April 2020 update).

Project Settings

To enable proper timing for Adaptive Performance, you need to enable the Frame Timing Stats option (menu: Edit > Project Settings > Player > Other Settings).

If you want to use Application.targetFrameRate to limit the target frame rate, set the VSync Count option under Edit > Project Settings > Quality > Other to Don't Sync.

Unity has several quality levels in the quality settings. We recommend to switch the VSync Count to Don't Sync for each quality level. This will avoid issues with Adaptive Performance features like Adaptive Framerate and limiting the target framerate with Application.targetFrameRate.

Optimized Frame Pacing

Adapitve Performance and Variable Refresh Rate is not compatible with framce pacing and we recommend to dissable Optimized Frame Pacing under Edit > Project Settings > Player > Resolution and Presentation.