30 FPS cap at 4K. Workarounds?

gordonfreemanjr

So, my RPi4 limits the framerate to 30 FPS while on the 4K resolution, which is default for my Smart TV.

The problem is I can’t change the resolution to any other allowing 60 FPS: each time I do that the EmulationStation just dies and there’s no way to bring it back apart from wiping the SD card and starting over. Happened to me three times already.

Therefore, I need a way to ensure 60 FPS at 4K, probably by editing the config.txt. The question is: what lines do I add and where?

I’m on 4GB RPi 4, clean install, Retropie version 4.7.1 from the img file.

gordonfreemanjr

Here’s the advice I’ve collected:

adding the hdmi_enable_4kp60 line to config.txt
adding the v3d_freq_min=500 line to config.txt
adding the force_turbo=1 line to config.txt
changing the governor during runtime by writing to the sysfs file - /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/policy0/scaling_governor (I don’t understand this one)

quicksilver

@gordonfreemanjr you need to add this to your config.txt

hdmi_enable_4kp60=1

However, performance is going to take a major hit. I'd recommend running your pi at 1080p resolution, the pi struggles with 4k resolution.

gordonfreemanjr

@quicksilver I’d love to, but everytime I change the resolution to 1080p the EmulationStation dies and I need to wipe the SD card.

YFZdude

@gordonfreemanjr
After changing the resolution to 1080p but before wiping the SD Card, have you tried a different HDMI port on the TV, or tried it on a different TV?

I'm wondering if your TV has some settings that might be preventing it from accepting other input types. So called "smart" TVs these days seem to have an annoying number of settings that can really mess up your intent to do things. It could be the TV is picking up the data that the Pi can output at 4k and won't accept anything less until you can disable that feature.

Just some ideas to try...

dankcushions

@gordonfreemanjr said in 30 FPS cap at 4K. Workarounds?:

@quicksilver I’d love to, but everytime I change the resolution to 1080p the EmulationStation dies and I need to wipe the SD card.

you don't need to wipe it - the resolution setting is saved in the config.txt as you were instructed here.

if

hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

isn't working try

hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=82

gordonfreemanjr

@dankcushions I’ll give it a go. Thanks!

gordonfreemanjr

@dankcushions It worked! Thanks. I’m officially on 1080p.