Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR) toggle causing severe screen stuttering on my laptop

Question

Hey team,

my new laptop supports Dynamic Refresh Rate to save battery life by switching between 60Hz and 120Hz depending on what's on screen. However, whenever it switches—like when I stop scrolling a document—the transition causes a massive, jarring hitch on the display. Is there a way to permanently disable this feature and lock the panel to a constant 120Hz?

Answer 1

Hi Adi Wijaya,

To permanently disable this feature and lock your display to a stable 120Hz, you should open Windows Settings, navigate to System, and click on Display. From there, select Advanced display, look for the Choose a refresh rate drop-down menu, and explicitly select 120 Hz instead of any option labeled as Dynamic. If your laptop model includes a dedicated hardware toggle for Dynamic Refresh Rate underneath that menu, ensure it is switched to Off, keeping in mind that while this configuration provides a perfectly smooth visual experience, it may slightly increase battery consumption compared to the adaptive mode.

Setting the refresh rate to 120Hz will be smoother but may consume more battery power and some applications/drivers may still cause stuttering if they force a refresh rate; if stuttering persists, updating the BIOS/display drivers and trying to disable power saving features in the BIOS/Windows usually helps.

If these adjustments successfully stop the screen stuttering on your laptop, please accept this answer to assist other users dealing with display transition glitches.

Tracy.

Answer 2

Yes. Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR) can be turned off so the panel runs at a fixed refresh rate such as 120 Hz.

To disable DRR and lock the display to a constant refresh rate in Windows 11:

1. Select Start > Settings > System > Display.
2. Select Advanced display.
3. Under Choose a refresh rate, pick 120 Hz (or the highest fixed rate available) instead of any dynamic/variable option.
4. If a Dynamic refresh rate toggle is shown, turn it Off. DRR can only be enabled when the hardware supports it; turning it off forces a constant refresh rate.

With DRR disabled and a fixed 120 Hz selected, the system will no longer switch between 60 Hz and 120 Hz, which should eliminate the stutter during transitions. Note that this may reduce battery life compared to using DRR or a lower fixed refresh rate.

If using Windows 10 on any device, DRR is not supported; only fixed refresh rates are available. In that case, simply select the desired refresh rate under Advanced display settings.

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References:

• Change the refresh rate on your monitor in Windows