The Pixel 4's 90Hz Smooth Display slows down when screen brightness is lowered
When Google launched the Pixel 4, one of the key features it pointed out was the Smooth Display feature, refreshing the screen at 90Hz. But all is not as it seems.
We already knew that the high refresh rate is not supported by all apps and all scenarios, so Google drops from 90Hz to 60Hz on occasion. But a new condition has been unearthed. It seems that the use of a 90Hz refresh rate is dependent on screen brightness levels... until Google issues a fix, that is.
See also:
- Google Pixel 4 is oh so awesome [Review]
- Google Pixel 4 is officially here
- Pixelbook Go is a smart, competitively-priced Chromebook
The editor-in-chief of XDA Developers, Mishaal Rahman, discovered that if screen brightness is under 75 percent, the refresh rate drops to 60Hz. Tying screen refresh rate to screen brightness is a strange decision by Google, and the only way (at the moment) to get around this is to enable the "Force 90Hz refresh rate" option in Developer Settings.
Sorry, looks like it should be:
If brightness <= 75%, display id = 2.
If brightness > 75%, display id = 1.— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) October 23, 2019
Since the matter was brought to light, Google has issued a statement explaining the reason for the linking between refresh rate and screen brightness. The company also says that an update will be released to change the behavior:
In some conditions or situations, however, we set the refresh rate to 60Hz. Some of these situations include: when the user turns on battery saver, certain content such as video (as it's largely shot at 24 or 30fps), and even various brightness or ambient conditions. We constantly assess whether these parameters lead to the best overall user experience. We have previously planned updates that we'll roll out in the coming weeks that include enabling 90hz in more brightness conditions.
OnePlus took to Twitter to swipe at Google:
10% brightness: 90 Hz
20% brightness: 90 Hz
30% brightness: 90 Hz
40% brightness: 90 Hz
50% brightness: 90 Hz
60% brightness: 90 Hz
70% brightness: 90 Hz
80% brightness: 90 Hz
90% brightness: 90 Hz
100% brightness: 90 HzFast and Smooth anytime, anywhere.
— OnePlus (@oneplus) October 24, 2019