LG rolls out firmware update enabling G-Sync compatibility for its 2019 OLED TVs

LG announced back in September that it was prepping a firmware update that would add Nvidia’s G-Sync Compatible technology to select 2019 OLED TV models, and now comes word that the update is locked and loaded.

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LG OLED65E9PUA 4K UHD TV (65-inch model)

Price When Reviewed:$4299.00

LG says the G-Sync update, which is compatible with 2019 65-inch and 55-inch E9 OLED TVs, 77-, 65-, and 55-inch C9 sets, and 65- and 55-inch B9 models, began rolling out this week in North America, with the rest of the world to follow later this year.

The firmware update landed on my 55-inch LG C9 OLED TV earlier this week, but alas, the long-in-the-tooth Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 graphics card in my PC is nowhere close to making the grade.

[ Further reading: Best graphics cards for PC gaming ]

Indeed, LG recommends at least a GeForce GTX 16-series GPU to enable G-Sync Compatible technology on your OLED TV, while our own Brad Charos recommends stepping up to a RTX 2080 Super or an RTX 2080 Ti if you want to take advantage of the LG’s full 4K resolution.

As Brad noted in his earlier story, merely installing the G-Sync update onto your LG OLED TV won’t turn it into a full-on G-Sync display. Technically speaking, a G-Sync compatible monitor or TV has been certified to meet Nvidia’s minimum standards for using the VESA adaptive sync specification (a.k.a. AMD’s FreeSync) to support variable refresh rates without the dedicated hardware installed in true G-Sync panels.

Nvidia first announced that it would begin supporting AMD FreeSync monitors back in January during CES 2019, although it would only offer drivers for those FreeSync monitors that it deemed “G-Sync compatible.”

Initially, only a dozen out of 400 FreeSync monitors made the cut, but those numbers have grown in recent months, and now TVs are in the mix, too.