Pixel 4, 4 XL cap display refresh rate at 60Hz below 75 percent brightness

Pixel 4, 4 XL cap brandish refresh rate at 60Hz below 75 percent effulgence

Y'all'll need to crank up the brightness to bask that 90Hz goodness

One of the all-time additions Google fabricated with the new Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL is the new 90Hz OLED brandish. It'south smoothen, crisp and altogether a joy to use — at least, assuming you have your brightness cranked.

Some enterprising Redditors discovered that the Pixel 4 and iv XL lower the screen to a 60Hz refresh rate when the display is below 75 percentage effulgence.

Both The Verge and XDA Developers'Mishaal Rahman have confirmed this, with the latter sharing a technical write-up on Twitter. Using ADB commands, they discovered that if the display falls below 75 percent brightness, the software will lock it to a 60Hz refresh rate.

Holy crap. Google Pixel 4 changes between 60Hz and 90Hz based on screen effulgence.https://t.co/J6J2SjNBEw

I tested using ADB and logcat.

If brightness < 75%, display id = ii.
If brightness >= 75%, display id = 1.

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) October 23, 2019

It's worth noting that Google's 'Shine brandish' setting on the phone says it automatically adjusts the screen from 60Hz to 90Hz for some content. However, it doesn't explain the criteria for the change.

Droid Life likewise points out that the Pixel iv's Ambient EQ setting — which adjusts the colour of the display based on surrounding calorie-free — can cause 90Hz to stick at lower levels of brightness. Unfortunately, it simply works if you lot smooth a bright lite on the telephone.

How to force 90Hz all the time on Pixel 4

While the limitation is disappointing, the good news is that it'due south a purely software one. Users who want to bask 90Hz all the time tin force information technology in 'Programmer options.'

To practice then, you'll need to enable the Developer options sub-menu in the Settings app. Start by heading to 'About telephone,' scrolling down to the bottom and repeatedly tapping on 'Build number.' After a few taps, you should get a notification that "Yous're at present a developer."

Back out of the About telephone menu and tap on 'System.' There should now exist a Developer options menu. Click it and scroll down to the 'Debugging' section. Towards the lesser of this section is the 'Force 90Hz refresh rate' option. Turn it on to brand certain the Pixel iv always use the high refresh rate but be aware that it will brand the Pixel 4's bombardment life significantly worse than it already is. Too, it's worth noting that this overrides the 'Polish display' setting from higher up, so information technology doesn't matter whether you leave it on or not.

If you're interested in testing out what refresh charge per unit your device is using, you can hands notice out using a website called 'testufo.com.' It will show your current refresh rate besides as an animation so y'all can easily encounter the departure between refresh rates. It should work on most devices, including phones and tablets.

Other Android smartphones, like the OnePlus 7T, always keep the display running at the maximum 90Hz refresh rate. While it'southward articulate that a hardware limitation isn't backside the Pixel 4's odd brandish limitations, it isn't clear why Google implemented the software limits that it did.

Update ten/25/2019: Google provided more details regarding the 90Hz limitations and promised a software update to give users more command over the display'south refresh charge per unit.

Source: Reddit, XDA Developers (Twitter) Via: The Verge, Droid Life