Bug QN90C 1430 firmware: VRR in GameMode flickers almost unwatchable

[Hellknight]

Devices

Samsung QN94C (NeoQLED) + XBOX Series X

VRR - Mode

AMD Freesync Premium on 120 hz

After testing the latest firmware for the QN94C I came to the conclusion that there is a severe bug in the VRR Code: When playing games like Diablo 4 or The Ascent I get ugly blueish (?) flickering in scenes with static content where are slight animations (loading screens, even slight freezes due to loading of textures).

This bug is not so bad with 60hz but its still there.

You can easily check this behaviour in "The Ascent" when you load a game. Or in Diablo 4 while switching to the skill tree or collecting the "Gold Urn" in the new Horde mode when you have around 700 aether where the screen gets frozen for 2 sec due to all gold which drops ou of that urn.

Disabling VRR doesnt show this behaviour.

At the moment with the current firmware 1430.3 I cant recommend the qn90/94C for XBOX gaming.

Hopefully Samsung fixes this problem asap...

[AlwinS]

Hi @Hellknight,

did you already try another HDMI cable?

Kind regards

[Hellknight]

Thank you for answering my observations.

Yes - the XBox Series X cable an an Oehlbach Flex Evolution both have the same symptoms.

60 hz mode (in XBox settings) reduces this problem greatly but not completely.

When connecting the Series X to my Samsung Q995C soundbar (only 60 hz possible) I have the same problem like the console is directly connected to the TV.

Does the TV still process the VRR when the XBox is connected to the soundbar? If yes TV may be the problem if the soundbar processes the VRR my XBox may be the problem.

[Hellknight]

Update - still not fixed with the latest OneUI Update. So this TV still shouldnt be used for serious gaming with XBox Series X.

[Crue]

I have the same Problem on my 55" QN92C. It has really bad flickering when there are frame drops below 70-80 fps. I also have the QN92D, which does not have this problem anymore so they have somehow fixed it in the new model. Samsung, please also deploy the fix to the 2023 model!

[Hellknight]

This is not good - seems we have to buy a new Samsung TV to fix this obvious problem...

Btw. still not fixed with the Update after the OneUI Update so it doesnt seem that Samsung is willing to fix this problem...

[Hellknight]

OK investigated this problem further:

For example in the Title screen ("press a button... ") only a certain area in the middle of the screen flickers.

When turning VRR off everything is ok.

In the loading screen of "The Ascent" the whole screen is a flicker fest.

In my opinion there is a serious problem with local dimming and VRR.

This problem isnt as worse in 60 hz - the problem here is that my philips hue light strip (aka Ambilight for Samsung ) flickers when using VRR with 60hz. With 120 hz and VRR it works fine (but with worse screen flickering). With 60 hz WITHOUT VRR it works fine too.

So far the only workaround (in my case) is 120 hz WITHOUT VRR.

[Crue]

Yes, turning of VRR fixes the flickering as the TV has a fixed refresh rate but that introduces alot of screen tearing on my TV when the FPS drops. On the 2024 Model QN90D the flickering with VRR is fixed. I hope they see this and deploy the fix to the 2023 QN90C model.

[Hellknight]

When you press the "Play / Pause" button on the remote for 3 sec you can see the current refresh rate (for example 60 hz).

When the flickering occurs it shows 48 (in the case of Diablo 4) for a short time.

So VRR is practically non functional on the QN94C.

I really hope but doubt they'll fix this problem in the Tizen 9 Update.

[Hellknight]

To clarify "non functional": VRR gets triggered (otherwise the refresh rate would stay at 60 hz) but it's more or less defective.

This TV shouldnt be advertised as VRR capable (I would have bought another TV if I knew this earlier - TV is mostly for Gaming and Blu-Ray