After nearly 18 months of waiting, Sony has announced that VRR support is finally coming to the PS5 soon. VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) is a technology helps to make sure games stay clear and smooth even when things get graphically intensive – we won't go into the technical stuff here, but we have a whole 'VRR explained' article if you want to read more about how it works.
But one thing you need to know about VRR is that not all TVs support it… and even the ones that do might not have support for the PS5's particular flavour of VRR.
So if you're thinking of getting one of the best gaming TVs now, and you want it to be ready for all the PS5's best graphical features, what you need is a quick and easy guide to which ones to buy, right?
Maybe a guide that includes TVs of various sizes, and that makes a point of choosing the models that give the best bang for buck rather than the most expensive ones, because there's a whole cost of living crisis going on?
Oh, hey, that's this one! There are the TVs we recommend that definitely work with the HDMI 2.1 VRR tech that the PS5 employs, as well as making the most of its 4K 120Hz support. So let's go, and we'll start cheap:
Sony 50-inch X85J
This is the least expensive TV in Sony's range that supports HDMI 2.1, which is the tech Sony is using to deliver VRR - and is pretty much the cheapest TV to include full HDMI 2.1 support, including 4K 120Hz (which the PS5 also supports). So it's perfect for those on a budget.
You also get low input lag, and it's great for general image quality for movies and TV at this price. There was a 43-inch model that also included these features, which was even cheaper and, of course, smaller. But that's now hard to find – grab one if you can! Or you can go bigger, and go 55-inch or 65-inch for a low price.
LG OLED48C1
This is not only one of the best OLED TVs, but a top choice for gaming too. We gave it the full five stars in our LG C1 review, and it won our T3 Award for Best Gaming TV last year. That's because it just supports everything – you get four HDMI 2.1 ports, all with 4K 120Hz and VRR support, plus super-low input lag. And it supports AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync VRR formats as well as the HDMI version – perfect for PC gaming, or using with Xbox too.
And OLED's image quality is just outstanding, thanks to its self-emitting pixels. It's less bright than equivalent LCD TVs, but offers pretty incredible HDR and better detail in dark tones – ideal for your Elden Ring sessions. It's also available in 55-inch, 65-inch and 77-inch sizes, though these get dramatically more expensive…
Samsung 55-inch QN85A
If you want a fairly big, bright TV that's playable even when the sun is streaming in, and that features cutting-edge screen tech for astounding HDR, look no further than this set. We gave it five stars in our full Samsung QN85A review, because it uses a next-gen mini-LED backlight to deliver deeper black tones than LCD can normally manage, with dazzling bright highlights.
And it's equipped for 4K 120Hz and VRR support over HDMI 2.1, naturally. In fact, Samsung's Game Bar feature is great here, making it especially easy to make sure that all the graphical wizardry is active – or letting you control just how low you want the input lag to be.
Sony 65-inch X90J
If you want a high-quality 65-inch TV for gaming that's a reasonable price, we'd stop right here. The X90J features Sony's most advanced 4K image processing for movies and TV, but is also part of Sony's 'Perfect for PlayStation 5' scheme, which means that not only does this set support HDMI 2.1 and all of its features, including VRR, but it also has some special sauce to make HDR in games work better on this TV than almost any other.
In our full Sony X90J review months ago, part of our concern was that it didn't have 4K 120Hz and VRR support yet… but both have been added now, so as long as you make sure you update the TV when it arrives, it'll be good to for whenever the VRR upgrade arrives on your PS5. It's also available in a 55-inch, and the 75-inch size is also unbelievably good value for something so big, and with such strong image quality.
