The Nintendo Switch 2 may receive support for docked mode 4K and 120 Hz output at some point in the future.
YouTuber Restore Technique’s new teardown (thanks, Reset Era member GeoNeo) of the retail version of the Nintendo Switch 2 dock has revealed its cooling fan, the HDMI hardware chip it uses, and the design of the dock connector. The possibility of the dock’s ports being replaceable has also been discussed.
One of the key findings of this teardown is that the HDMI hardware chip used in the Nintendo Switch 2 dock is the Realtek RTD2175N, which could technically support simultaneous 4K and 120Hz output in docked mode with the aid of Display Stream Compression (DSC) technology. It’s likely that the console maker will enable the feature via a future firmware update. It’s worth pointing out that the HDMI cable that comes packed in the Switch 2 box does in fact conform to the HDMI 2.1 standard, further suggesting that Nintendo plans on supporting the output spec at some point in time.
While there will hardly be any Nintendo Switch 2 games that support native simultaneous 4K and 120 fps, the availability of the feature will allow developers to use upscaling techniques to improve image quality at 4K output in games that do support 120 fps. This will result in better image quality and lower input latency compared to letting the display handle upscaling. Games like the upcoming Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will undoubtedly benefit from this. Currently, it can only output at 1080p in its Performance mode, which targets a frame rate of 120 fps. This isn’t an issue in the Switch 2’s handheld mode, as its display has a native resolution of 1080p. However, in docked mode on a 4K screen, the TV/monitor will need to perform the upscaling.
In related news, the Nintendo Switch 2 has reportedly been shipped with a minor battery calibration issue. There’s a simple and easy fix, however. Read about it here.
