A Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has introduced a new 1.1a Adaptive-Sync Display Standard that caters to the emerging market of dual-mode monitors, such as the LG 32GS95UE. The new specification builds on the 1.1 standard, ensuring that certified dual-mode monitors deliver a high-quality experience in their native resolution and high refresh rate modes.
“Dual mode” is the unofficial name for the functionality of a new wave of gaming monitors. As the name suggests, these new dual-mode monitors provide two different visual experiences, one prioritizing screen resolution and the other prioritizing refresh rate. The aforementioned 32′ LG dual-mode monitor has a 4K 144 Hz mode and a 1080P 280 Hz mode suitable for fast-paced gaming.
This new generation of gaming monitors aims to address areas of the monitor market that are actively hindered by modern GPU technology. Monitor technology has improved to the point where 4K 240-480 Hz panels are now a reality, but modern GPUs struggle to keep up with this level of image fidelity. A prime example of this is the RTX 40 series, which completely lacks DisplayPort 2.0 or 2.1 support, instead using the much older 1.4 specification that is unable to fully support these new high-performance 4K gaming monitors.
Dual-mode functionality circumvents this issue by providing two separate resolution/refresh rate settings, one optimized for image fidelity and the other for smoothness. Unfortunately, the secondary setting (with higher refresh rate) will inevitably require some form of hardware upscaling. It will be interesting to see if this type of upscaling will be superior to game upscaling techniques such as DLSS and FSR.
According to VESA, the new 1.1a certification provides updated test procedures and logo support for monitors operating at different maximum refresh rates when resolution is reduced. This will ensure that any dual-mode certified monitor with 1.1a certification will operate within VESA specifications in all modes, including gray-to-gray response times, jitter, flicker, and more.
The new specification will come with a new logo specifying the refresh rate and resolution of each mode. VESA dictates that the left side of the logo displays the display’s maximum certified refresh rate at its maximum vertical resolution, while the right side shows the alternative maximum certified refresh rate and vertical resolution of the monitor.
In addition, VESA is also introducing support for screen overclocking with 1.1a certification. However, to be certified, each monitor must support non-proprietary Adaptive-Sync enabled GPUs (i.e., G-Sync/G-Sync Ultimate), and the monitor must pass all rigorous Adaptive-Sync Display compliance tests in its standard mode and be “completely re-tested a second time in overclock mode.” This will inevitably increase the stability and reliability of gaming monitors featuring overclocking in the future.
The LG dual-mode monitor is the first to be certified under the new Adaptive-Sync Display 1.1a standard, but we expect more gaming monitor manufacturers to announce their dual-mode compatible monitors soon.