PanamanianDevil
2 May 2010, 09:21
Vsync stands for Vertical Sycronization. It refers to the syncronization of the Vertical refresh rate of your monitor versus your video card. Let's say you have a high end video card that can display games at 100fps. Well, when you display a game at 100fps and your monitor can only physically display 60fps (found in most LCD's due to the 60Hz sync rate) screen tearing occurs. Here's a youtube video that very clearly illustrates what screen tearing looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz9iI98WtK8
Now that you know what to look for as far as screen tearing, watch this example and see how turning vsync on resolves the problem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0ZhDGTVm4M
Because I run high end video cards, I always force vsync on. Because I know that my card can constantly produce the needed 60fps. It's ok to force the frame rate of the card "down" to 60fps if your card wants to produce more. Anything above 60fps is useless on a 60Hz monitor. However if your card is on the lower end, and can't constantly produce at least 60fps, vsync would be detrimental to your video results because your card can't keep up with the needed 60fps syncronization.
Now you understand my disappointment when learning that ATI through their own addmitance can't force vsync on in Windows Vista or Windows 7. They claim it's an application problem and blame Microsoft. Nvidia has no problem making this happen.
Now that you know what to look for as far as screen tearing, watch this example and see how turning vsync on resolves the problem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0ZhDGTVm4M
Because I run high end video cards, I always force vsync on. Because I know that my card can constantly produce the needed 60fps. It's ok to force the frame rate of the card "down" to 60fps if your card wants to produce more. Anything above 60fps is useless on a 60Hz monitor. However if your card is on the lower end, and can't constantly produce at least 60fps, vsync would be detrimental to your video results because your card can't keep up with the needed 60fps syncronization.
Now you understand my disappointment when learning that ATI through their own addmitance can't force vsync on in Windows Vista or Windows 7. They claim it's an application problem and blame Microsoft. Nvidia has no problem making this happen.