This year's and last year's Samsung flagship OLED TVs appear to support Quick Media Switching (QMS), an interesting new feature based on HDMI 21a design

FlatpanelsHD broke the news after a recent review of the Samsung S95D OLED TV, the star attraction in the 2024 Samsung TV lineup QMS essentially allows refresh rates for a variety of content, and the TVs will be able to switch between different refresh rates for the same content, Often referred to as an “HDMI bonk,” this means seamless switching between refresh rates without the discomfort of a black screen switching between refresh rates

While on the surface it may seem fairly rudimentary, it is in fact a very remarkable technology, first introduced in LG's 2023 TV lineup Although barely noticeable to most users, there is no judder when switching between content sources, such as a 50 fps TV show and a 24 fps movie

According to FlatpanelsHD, QMS is currently only available via compatible HDMI 21a media players (Apple TV 4K available in 2022); the QMS feature itself is also currently only available on S95D and Samsung S95C OLED TVs

QuickTime

Quick Media Switching (QMS) is a streamlined method built on HDMI 21a design that allows TVs to switch between different refresh rates for different content without skipping Although very subtle and mostly unnoticeable, switching between these modes causes a black screen to pop up, essentially restarting the refresh rate

With QMS, however, the content remains fluid and does not experience the oft-repeated “HDMI bonk”

QMS seamlessly leverages VRR (variable refresh rate) to allow content such as a 60 fps TV show and a 24 fps movie to content, such as a TV show at 60 fps and a movie at 24 fps, without lag or judder

However, this feature does not work when switching between HDR and standard content, only switching between different refresh rates Also, currently this feature is only available on two Samsung OLED TVs and only when connected to an Apple TV 4K

It can also be seen on the 2023 and 2024 LG TV lineup, including the LG C3 OLED Again, an Apple TV 4K is required to function properly It remains to be seen if this feature will be included in a wide range of streaming dongles, such as the best Roku devices, but VRR and HDMI 21a compatibility is definitely needed

According to a FlatpanelsHD article from a year ago, several TV distributors weighed in on the QMS feature, particularly LG and Sony As for Sony, they told Flatpanels, “QMS VRR will not be supported Future plans have not been determined” LG only stated that it will not be on older TVs, but seems to support it on all of their newer OLED TVs So far, Samsung and LG seem to be the only providers that support QMS (and Philips TVs outside the US)

My view? It's great that this particular HDMI 21a feature is now on two of the best Samsung TVs on the market, but who knows where it will be next?