What Is Gsync Pulsar? How Does It Work?

Nvidia Gsync has been astir since 2013, and portion this adaptable refresh complaint exertion was a crippled changer erstwhile it came out, it was costly and required gaming show manufacturers to instrumentality a analyzable module to marque it work. At CES 2026, though, Nvidia has introduced a caller signifier of Gsync that needs peculiar firmware: Pulsar.

Rather than simply syncing your display’s refresh complaint with your game’s framework rate, Pulsar uses strobe backlighting to simulate a overmuch higher refresh complaint – up to 1,000Hz, according to Nvidia. The extremity is to adhd much ocular smoothness to crippled motion, thing Nvidia has been fixated connected since Frame Generation archetypal debuted with the GeForce RTX 4090 successful 2022. Is Pulsar much of the same?

What is Gsync?

When Gsync came out, determination truly wasn’t thing similar it. At the time, PC games were notorious for surface tearing, wherever differences betwixt your refresh complaint and framework complaint would virtually origin a vertical teardrop successful your screen.

Gsync was immense due to the fact that it eliminated that occupation – if you had an Nvidia graphics paper – by syncing your refresh complaint and your framework rate, eliminating the origin of surface tearing entirely. This was initially imaginable due to the fact that Nvidia developed a spot it sold to gaming show manufacturers that would enactment arsenic a liaison betwixt your PC and monitor, making definite everything was synced up. But then, of course, Freesync launched.

AMD’s Freesync billed itself arsenic a nonstop rival to Nvidia’s Gsync and had the aforesaid extremity – syncing refresh rates and framework rates. However, Freesync was astatine archetypal a small little flexible, lone truly moving wrong a constrictive scope of framework rates. The quality was that with Gsync, erstwhile the framework complaint got down to a definite threshold, the refresh complaint of the show would alteration to beryllium double the framework rate, which avoided surface tears.

But eventually, Freesync caught up capable that Nvidia launched the ‘Gsync Compatible’ program, which opened up adaptable refresh rates connected Nvidia graphics cards without needing a gaming show with an costly Gsync module. Then, implicit time, gaming monitors that were exclusively Gsync started to slice retired of relevance.

Over the past fewer years, even, adaptable refresh rates person go truthful communal that astir gaming monitors are expected to enactment it, and astir TVs and crippled consoles enactment it successful 1 mode oregon another.

Perceived Smoothness?

There are 2 reasons to pursuit ace precocious framework rates: ocular smoothness and little latency. For the former, the thought is that the quicker frames are sent to the display, the much close the show volition beryllium astatine immoderate time. At a precocious capable framework rate, you tin virtually destruct question blur, but it’s incredibly hard to bash successful modern games. So, Nvidia has travel up with different solution with Gsync Pulsar.

While it doesn’t truly bash thing to amended latency oregon responsiveness, Gsync Pulsar uses a strobing IPS show to amended question clarity by fundamentally tricking your oculus into reasoning thing is moving faster. The mode Nvidia described it to maine was if you person an entity moving accelerated successful beforehand of your face, you’re going to people comprehend immoderate blur. But, if you person that aforesaid entity vanish and reappear accelerated enough, it’ll beryllium little blurry. I’m not definite if that really works, but that is what the strobing backlight is meant to simulate.

Strobing backlights and achromatic framework insertion (BFI) successful IPS displays are thing new, but successful the past they've been tied to the maximum refresh complaint of the monitor. There person been immoderate attempts to necktie BFI to adaptable refresh rate, astir commonly with Asus’ ELMB (Extreme Low Motion Blur) Sync successful immoderate of its monitors – though it was imperfect. Through the caller Gsync module, created successful concern with Mediatek, Nvidia was capable to unit the backlight to velocity up oregon dilatory down, depending connected the existent refresh complaint of the display, which results successful little blurry motion. However, portion this does look to beryllium much flexible than systems similar ELMB, Gsync Pulsar does person limitations.

By default, Gsync Pulsar volition beryllium acceptable to crook itself disconnected whenever the refresh complaint and framework complaint driblet beneath 90Hz. This is due to the fact that of the strobing backlight – if it slows down excessively much, the strobing itself becomes noticeable, and is going to beryllium uncomfortable to beryllium successful beforehand of. You tin acceptable it each the mode down to 75Hz if you privation to, but that is the hard little bounds astatine the clip of writing. Nvidia did assertion that it was moving connected a mode to alteration it astatine 60Hz arsenic well, but lone clip volition archer if that’s going to beryllium immoderate good.

But Does it Work?

When I visited Nvidia astatine CES 2026, it had a mates of demos showing Gsync Pulsar successful action, and the astir compelling 1 was successful Anno 117: Pax Romana. That’s not the benignant of crippled I’d typically subordinate with high-framerate gaming, but by rapidly panning astir the map, the quality successful question clarity was beauteous obvious. However, that’s lone 1 demo successful a controlled environment.

Gsync Pulsar is going to unrecorded oregon dice by however good it handles refresh rates that are actually, well, variable. The question seemed highly creaseless erstwhile it was moving astatine 200+ fps connected a high-end GPU, but what happens erstwhile the framework complaint starts dipping down towards that 90 fps little limit?

Luckily we won’t person to hold excessively agelong to find out. Gaming monitors with Gsync Pulsar volition commencement hitting the marketplace successful the adjacent week, truthful I’ll beryllium capable to get it into the laboratory and truly enactment it to the test. But for now, from what I saw astatine CES, it’s looking promising – conscionable don’t expect it to really marque you amended astatine video games.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra