Intel’s PR rep sat down for another “Between Two Monitors” tech chat for Arc discrete graphics. The company promises to continuously provide information about Arc before launching the upcoming project. The reason is that the game allows players to have all the information they need before making a purchase. To do this, it will release short videos that will answer the questions of the players. This week Arc released a new briefing discussing how it handles variable refresh rates (VRR) and HDR, and there’s talk of support for HDMI 2.1.
Since VRR, the GPU world has been split between Nvidia’s G-Sync and AMD’s FreeSync. However, in May the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) officially announced its own open standard based on adaptive synchronization. This is an attempt to provide an open standard that measures SyplayPort’s ability to display dynamic refresh rates using various performance tests. This effort is designed to eliminate competing standards and reduce confusion among customers. After all, the average gamer may not be able to parse the different versions of G-Sync and FreeSync available, especially with ratings like “G-Sync compatible” and “FreeSync Premium Pro,” which makes things a little muddy.
To demonstrate the Arch’s capabilities in this arena, Ryan Schrout shot Death Stranding on a 4K, 120Hz Acer monitor using an Arch A750 GPU. It doesn’t specify which certification the monitor has, only that it supports variable refresh rates. The display shows the refresh rate while matching the frame rate of the game, which is around 100 FPS/Hz. It runs at 1440p, so overall the GPU is doing pretty well on this game. “The Arch fully supports DisplayPort VRR requirements,” he said. Arch sums it up by saying it supports “any and all” VESA Adaptive Sync levels. The company also verifies Arc on 100 of the most popular VRR displays to ensure a smooth experience at launch. As an aside, it’s unclear if Ryan is wearing two watches in this video; An easter egg?
Moving on to HDR, Arch says it supports it on compatible monitors. However, there are many different HDR certifications that vary depending on the monitor’s brightness capabilities. These include Display HDR400, DisplayHDR 600, etc. Then, he mentions that HDR is difficult to display on video as you need your own HDR display to view it. As proof that it’s working, Intel jokes that it spares no expense and has high-precision external testing equipment. That “device” is a man named Ken, who has seen the controller and agreed that it is working.
Preliminary specifications released by Intel for the A750 GPU.
Finally, lower-end Arch GPUs support HDMI 2.0 natively. That includes the A310, A380 and A580. However, they can be upgraded with a PCON chip to support HDMI 2.1. This decision is left solely to partners who make GPUs. High-end GPUs, including the Arc A750 and A770, support HDMI 2.1 natively. The chyron on the screen also says that all Arch GPUs support DisplayPort 2.0. The PCON chip he mentioned performs protocol conversion from DisplayPort 2.0 to HDMI 2.1.
The company recently said that an Arc launch is “now on the horizon,” but it’s not yet clear when that will happen. The big question is whether Intel can start before AMD and Nvidia’s next-gen GPUs arrive, which could be around September. Intel’s competitive GPUs are said to be very powerful, so Intel hopes it can pull it off. However, that energy can come at high temperatures. So, Intel may be hoping to undercut them on cost-to-performance and efficiency.
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