Sony has announced a major system software update for its HT – A 7000 and HT – A 5000 soundbars with Dolby Atmos support. Most of all, this news will please the owners of the PS5 and Xbox Series X game consoles, as the new firmware will finally implement the long-promised support for the VRR and ALLM functions.
This support was promised by Sony in new firmware as soon as these soundbar models appeared on sale. It seems that this moment is very close. Either way, this firmware update will be welcomed by anyone looking to get a new soundbar with Dolby Atmos for next-gen gaming.
The Sony HT-A7000 and HT-A5000 soundbars feature one or two HDMI 2.1 pass-through ports, which currently support 8K/60Hz, 4K/120Hz and Dolby Vision HDR video – Sony will soon add VRR and ALLM to that list. The transmission of VRR (Variable Refresh Rate ) information via the soundbar’s HDMI pass-through ensures that a VRR-enabled TV can avoid video freezes and change the frame rate in sync with the frame rate of any game .
ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) support will allow your console to interact with a compatible display, whether it’s displaying in-game script or playing video, so that the console can automatically activate a fast-response game preset when needed.
The exact date of the release of the new firmware has not yet been announced, but we can hope that this will happen very soon.