PS5 beta update introduces Discord voice chat and vrr support for 1440p

Sony has released a beta update for the PlayStation 5 that adds support for Discord, among other things. There will also be support for variable refresh rate when playing at a 1440p resolution.

The invited players can use voice chat via Discord and thus easily communicate with friends on other platforms. To do this, they need their Discord and PlayStation Network accounts link together via the PS5 settings. Next, the Discord mobile app on a smartphone or PC is required to actually start a conversation on the PS5. The latter was also necessary for some time with the Xbox, where Discord support has been present for some time, but the need for the mobile Discord app has expired with Microsoft’s consoles.

Another part of the test is the variable refresh rate support for 1440p resolutions. Vrr is currently supported on the PS5, but only at 4k and 1080p. To enable its use, an HDMI 2.1 screen is required. Vrr is part of this HDMI standard and allows a screen to dynamically adjust its refresh rate to the output of the GPU. This prevents, for example, half-rendered frames and covers frame drops, as it were, so that there should no longer be any stuttering or screen tearing.

The update will be available to invited beta program participants from the United States, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, and France starting Thursday. Sony notes that it is not certain that all tested components are actually part of the final update. This update, which will be released worldwide for all PS5 owners, should be released sometime in the coming months.