{"id":4673,"date":"2021-06-28T10:02:53","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T17:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/?p=4673"},"modified":"2025-04-01T10:32:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T17:32:11","slug":"dynamic-refresh-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/dynamic-refresh-rate\/","title":{"rendered":"Dynamic refresh rate \u2013 Get the best of both worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve been following laptop trends, you might have noticed that more and more devices are being released with displays that have a high refresh rate. A higher refresh rate means that motion on the screen feels smoother\u2014for example, inking and touch feel immediate and smooth. However, this will also reduce battery life. If you&#8217;re using a laptop and want to save battery power, you can lower the refresh rate, but it might reduce the quality of your overall experience.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a tough choice you would normally need to make, but not anymore. With Dynamic refresh rate (DRR), you get the best of both worlds\u2014a more natural and responsive inking experience along with smoother scrolling, all while minimizing battery usage.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>What is Dynamic refresh rate?<\/h2>\n<p>Dynamic refresh rate is a new feature that can be found in Windows Insider builds (Dev channel) on supported devices. Like the name suggests, DRR lets your device set the refresh rate dynamically. This means that Windows 11 will seamlessly switch between a lower refresh rate and a higher refresh rate based on what you\u2019re doing on your PC. This helps to balance performance and power consumption. For example, with a Dynamic (60 Hz or 120 Hz) mode, your display will refresh at 60 Hz for everyday productivity tasks, such as email, writing a document, and so forth to conserve battery life. It will then seamlessly switch to 120 Hz for tasks such as inking and scrolling, to provide a smoother and more responsive experience.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll be rolling out support for this feature in more apps over time. Currently, these are the apps that support it:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Smoother inking: Microsoft Office, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Whiteboard, Microsoft Photos, Snip &amp; Sketch, Drawboard PDF, Microsoft Sticky Notes, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft To Do, Inkodo<\/li>\n<li>Smoother scrolling: Microsoft Office<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>How to use Dynamic refresh rate<\/h2>\n<p>To try out Dynamic refresh rate, you\u2019ll need to:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Have supported hardware.<\/li>\n<li>Join the Windows Insider Program (Dev Channel).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><u>Supported hardware<\/u><\/h4>\n<p>To use DRR, you\u2019ll need a laptop with a display that supports Variable refresh rate (VRR) and a refresh rate of at least 120 Hz.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, DRR requires a graphics driver (WDDM 3.0) that supports it (available through Windows Update). We\u2019re working with our graphics display partners to bring updated graphics drivers that support DRR to the Windows Insiders Program. Therefore, some people might need to wait a little longer to use DRR.<\/p>\n<p>To quickly find the display adapter driver version and model that\u2019s installed on your laptop, select the <strong>Start<\/strong> button, type <strong>dxdiag<\/strong>, and then select it. Select the <strong>Display<\/strong> tab. In the <strong>Drivers<\/strong> box, look at the version number next to <strong>Version<\/strong> and the driver model next to <strong>Driver Model.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Join the Windows Insider Program<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>DRR is only available in the Windows Insider Program (WIP) Dev Channel. If you haven\u2019t joined the Windows Insiders Program yet, open <strong>Settings<\/strong>, then select <strong>Windows Update<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Windows Insider Program<\/strong> to join. For more info, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/insider.windows.com\/\">Windows Insider Program website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Choose a Dynamic refresh rate<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>To select a Dynamic refresh rate<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Open <strong>Settings<\/strong>, then select <strong>System<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Display<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Advanced display<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>For <strong style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Choose a refresh rate<\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">, select a refresh rate that has <\/span><strong style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Dynamic<\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> in the name.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/DRR-UI-6.22.2021.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-4677 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/DRR-UI-6.22.2021.png\" alt=\"DRR\" width=\"1195\" height=\"114\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/DRR-UI-6.22.2021.png 1195w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/DRR-UI-6.22.2021-300x29.png 300w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/DRR-UI-6.22.2021-1024x98.png 1024w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/DRR-UI-6.22.2021-768x73.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1195px) 100vw, 1195px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> [Updated] DRR should not affect games designed for variable refresh rate (VRR), but it can limit the maximum refresh rate of other games. If you enable DRR and find that a favourite game appears to be running at a lower refresh rate, the best mitigation is to disable DRR.<\/p>\n<h2>How to provide feedback<\/h2>\n<p>We\u2019d like to get your feedback for DRR. If you have feedback, please submit it through the <a href=\"https:\/\/support.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows\/send-feedback-to-microsoft-with-the-feedback-hub-app-f59187f8-8739-22d6-ba93-f66612949332\">Feedback Hub<\/a> app. When you provide feedback, select the category <strong>Display and Graphics<\/strong>, subcategory <strong>Resolution and Refresh Rate<\/strong>, and make sure to include the words <strong>Dynamic Refresh Rate<\/strong> or <strong>DRR<\/strong> in the title or description so that we can find it quickly.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/Image-2-DRR-blog.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4675 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/Image-2-DRR-blog.png\" alt=\"Image Image 2 8211 DRR blog\" width=\"856\" height=\"579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/Image-2-DRR-blog.png 856w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/Image-2-DRR-blog-300x203.png 300w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2021\/06\/Image-2-DRR-blog-768x519.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 856px) 100vw, 856px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>FAQ<\/h2>\n<p><em>1. What is refresh rate?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The refresh rate of a display is the number of times per second that the image refreshes on the screen. For example, a 60 Hz display will update the screen 60 times per second.\nOverall, the refresh rate determines how smoothly motion appears on your screen. For example, if you\u2019re playing a game that has a lot of fast-moving action, a higher refresh rate can help improve your overall gaming experience to keep up with the action. A higher refresh can also help you get a better experience with smoother motion when you\u2019re browsing the web or using a digital pen to write or draw.<\/p>\n<p><em>2. How can I confirm that I am getting smoother scrolling and inking in Microsoft Office?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Microsoft Office on Windows 11 should support both smoother scrolling and inking. To check support, go to <strong>Options<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Experiment<\/strong>. Under <strong>Flight Assignments and Overrides<\/strong>, verify Interaction Tracker (<strong>Microsoft.Office.AirSpace.InteractionTracker4Support<\/strong>) is set to <strong>true<\/strong>. If it is set to false, in that same window, under <strong>Impersonation<\/strong>, for <strong>Audience<\/strong> select <strong>Insiders<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><em>3. How can I determine if my laptop supports VRR?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Open <strong>Settings<\/strong>, and then select <strong>System<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Display<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Graphics<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Default graphics settings<\/strong>. Look for a section named <strong>Variable refresh rate<\/strong>. If this section doesn\u2019t appear on this page, it means your laptop doesn\u2019t support VRR.<\/p>\n<p><em>4. How do I know the refresh rate of my display?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Open Settings, then select <strong>System<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Display<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Advanced display<\/strong>. For <strong>Choose a refresh rate<\/strong>, select the drop-down box to see all the supported refresh rates.<\/p>\n<p><em>5. Can I use DRR on my external display?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>No, DRR is only available on laptops.<\/p>\n<p><em>6. Will smooth inking work with any pen?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When using a compatible pen on Windows, with DRR you can get the smoothest and fastest ink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dynamic refresh rate is a new feature that can be found in Windows Insider builds (Dev channel) on supported devices. Like the name suggests, DRR lets your device set the refresh rate dynamically. This means that Windows 11 will seamlessly switch between a lower refresh rate and a higher refresh rate based on what you\u2019re doing on your PC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44281,"featured_media":12651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-directx"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"<p>Dynamic refresh rate is a new feature that can be found in Windows Insider builds (Dev channel) on supported devices. Like the name suggests, DRR lets your device set the refresh rate dynamically. This means that Windows 11 will seamlessly switch between a lower refresh rate and a higher refresh rate based on what you\u2019re doing on your PC.<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}