What is screen tearing?

Here's some information about screen tearing in Markdown format:

Screen tearing is a visual artifact that occurs when a video feed from a graphics card is not synchronized with the refresh rate of the display. This lack of synchronization results in the display showing parts of multiple frames at once, creating a visible "tear" or horizontal line across the screen.

Causes:

• Mismatch between Frame Rate and Refresh Rate: The primary cause is the graphics card outputting frames at a rate different from the monitor's refresh rate (measured in Hz). If the GPU renders frames faster than the monitor can display them, the monitor might start drawing a new frame before the previous one is finished, causing a tear. Conversely, if the GPU renders frames slower than the refresh rate, the monitor may repeatedly display the same frame, but when a new frame finally arrives mid-scan, a tear can still occur.

• Vsync Disabled: Vsync (Vertical Synchronization) is a technology that attempts to synchronize the frame rate of the game with the refresh rate of the monitor. When Vsync is disabled, the GPU is free to output frames as quickly as possible, without regard to the monitor's refresh rate, which greatly increases the likelihood of tearing.

Effects:

• Visual Distraction: Tearing can be visually distracting and can negatively impact the gaming or viewing experience. The tear line is often noticeable and can break immersion.

• Judder: In some cases, tearing can be accompanied by judder, which is a perceived jerkiness or stuttering in the video.

Solutions:

• Enabling Vsync: Enabling Vsync is the most common solution to screen tearing. It forces the GPU to synchronize its output with the monitor's refresh rate, preventing the display from showing incomplete frames. However, Vsync can introduce input lag.

• Adaptive Vsync: Adaptive Vsync is a more intelligent form of Vsync that dynamically enables or disables Vsync based on the frame rate. If the frame rate is higher than the refresh rate, Vsync is enabled to prevent tearing. If the frame rate drops below the refresh rate, Vsync is disabled to avoid performance drops.

• G-Sync/FreeSync: G-Sync (Nvidia) and FreeSync (AMD) are adaptive synchronization technologies that allow the monitor's refresh rate to dynamically adjust to match the GPU's frame rate. This eliminates tearing without the input lag associated with Vsync. These technologies require compatible monitors and graphics cards.

• Frame Rate Limiting: Limiting the frame rate to a value slightly below the monitor's refresh rate can also reduce tearing, even without Vsync enabled. This can be achieved through in-game settings or using third-party tools.

• Triple Buffering: Triple buffering can help smooth out frame rate variations and reduce tearing, especially when Vsync is enabled. It uses an extra buffer to store frames, allowing the GPU to work more independently from the display. However, it can increase memory usage.