r/SteamOS • u/TheYungSheikh • Aug 28 '26

help wanted 120hz appears less sharp at same resolution

Gallery image

Gallery image

I tried to take a photo to show what I mean but it’s a bit hard to see. But at the exact same resolution, 120hz appears way less sharp than at 60. At 60, the quality is beautiful. I want to play at 120, but the quality is much worse. Is this due to lack of HDMI 2.1?

I’ve tried with and without HDR, VRR etc. In both 60 and 120, the TV says it’s the same resolution as well.

TV: Sony Bravia KD-55X9000H

PC: ASUS TUF Gaming B650M-Plus Wi-Fi CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X GPU: ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9670 XT

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u/slowlybecomingsane Aug 28 '26

You need hdmi 2.1 for 4k 120hz

3

u/Aggravating_Plan11 Aug 28 '26

I thought the steam machines port was hdmi 2.1 capable it just wasn’t officially certified as 2.1 yet but the specs is there already

Edit: a quick google this is just the first article i found.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/why-wont-steam-machine-support-hdmi-2-1-digging-in-on-the-display-standard-drama/

The port is capable but linux is holding it back atm but valve are working on it so its just waiting a software patch.