GTX 260 Screen Tearing?

[jerkinjohn]

I have my PC hooked up to my Sony 26" LCD TV via HDMI. The native screen resolution is 1366X768 and I have the PC set at 1360X768. I am using a Evga GTX 260 GPU not OC at the moment.

For the most part COD looks totally awesome and am having alot of fun with it as this is my first build gaming PC. I am however noticing some screen tearing during certain parts of game play. Is this due to my TV not being able to keep up with my FPS?

I read that if I turn vsync on in the game options that it will eliminate the screen tearing but doesn't it also kill my FPS?

Thanx

 

[jzsang]

I have my PC hooked up to my Sony 26" LCD TV via HDMI. The native screen resolution is 1366X768 and I have the PC set at 1360X768. I am using a Evga GTX 260 GPU not OC at the moment.

For the most part COD looks totally awesome and am having alot of fun with it as this is my first build gaming PC. I am however noticing some screen tearing during certain parts of game play. Is this due to my TV not being able to keep up with my FPS?

I read that if I turn vsync on in the game options that it will eliminate the screen tearing but doesn't it also kill my FPS?

Thanx

Turn vsync on. The tearing will go away and the frames won't go down that much. After all, you are playing COD with a decent gpu at a reasonable resolution. It would be a different story if you were trying to play Crysis at 1920 x 1080.

 

[jerkinjohn]

Turn vsync on. The tearing will go away and the frames won't go down that much. After all, you are playing COD with a decent gpu at a reasonable resolution. It would be a different story if you were trying to play Crysis at 1920 x 1080.

Ok I turned it on and it DOES clear the screen tearing right up! Now is that because there is so much going on in COD and once I get a decent monitor that will help to right? Cause I also play Live For Speed a sim racing game and I don't get any screen tearing what so ever with that game.

Next week I'm picking up Crysis so I will probably have to turn vsync on with that as well. COD still looks sweet with it on! I really can't tell any difference in the graphics or anything. It just fixed my screen tearing

 

[IzzyCraft]

If your tv doesn't auto correct this consider looking into your tv options to change the res for that hdmi port to 1360x768. I know i had to change my rez for my tv but your is different model and manufacture.

 

[jzsang]

If you get a better monitor and turn vsync off, the tearing will return. Don't let this discourage you though, a higher resolution always looks better.

Going forward, I've highlight some things for you to consider / read up on...

- A higher resolution means that your graphics card will be taxed more. Expect a slight framerate hit after cranking up the resolution.

- Some games tear more than others.

- Vsync - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vsync

- Triple buffering - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_buffering

 

[jerkinjohn]

Ok thank you, and is screen tearing just a thing that PC gamers have come to except? It doesn't really bother me to much I just thought that once I got a higher res. monitor that the screen tearing issue would be resolved. Is it just a personal preference to have vsync off with more FPS and screen tearing or vsync on with less FPS and no screen tearing?

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

From my understanding tearing occurs whenever the GPU draws frames faster then the monitors refresh rate (usually 60hz). In order to compensate 2 frames are combined into a single frame resulting the the "tear" V sync, limits the fps to the monitors refresh rate which prevents tearing.

Tearing will occur as long as your FPS is higher then your monitors refresh rate no matter what you do. If you don't want to turn on V sync you'll have to buy a monitor that supports 120hz or more. (I'm not even a hundred precent sure whether those monitors could accept video input at that rate)

 

[apache_lives]

i generally force it on in the graphics card software/driver package my self

 

[jzsang]

Same here. I nearly always have vsync on. Screen tearing drives me crazy.

 

[EXT64]

I force Vsync on if tearing becomes noticeable (it really gets annoying when you are getting above 60FPS). In many games though I can turn it off since FPS stay low or are capped and tearing hardly shows up. You just have to try the game and see.

 

[efeat]

Ok thank you, and is screen tearing just a thing that PC gamers have come to except? It doesn't really bother me to much I just thought that once I got a higher res. monitor that the screen tearing issue would be resolved. Is it just a personal preference to have vsync off with more FPS and screen tearing or vsync on with less FPS and no screen tearing?

Screen tearing is just something that can happen with any PC, though it can almost always be resolved with vsync. As for your second question, I don't think you understand why screen tearing occurs.

A computer monitor (or in this case, TV) displays its image by drawing many still pictures very quickly to simulate motion - these still images are known as "frames." Most LCD screens operate at 60 hz, meaning they draw 60 frames per second onto the screen surface. When you're playing games, your graphics card draws frames as fast as it possibly can, and throws each new frame at the TV once it's done. What if your video card was throwing 70 frames per second at the TV, yet your TV can only draw 60 per second? Every so often, you would get an exchange like this...

GPU: "Hey, I finished drawing the next frame, here it is!"
TV: "Uh...thanks, but I'm not done displaying the last one you gave me..."
GPU "I don't care, I'm sending the new one!"
TV: "Great...this new frame deleted the one I was in the middle of drawing. I guess I'll just finish the rest of the frame with the new one I got, even though it doesn't match up"

When that happens, you get screen tearing. It's when part of the screen is showing frame A and another part is showing frame B because your GPU is going too fast. The two images don't match up right and you get a tearing effect. Vsync eliminates tearing by instructing your GPU to not go faster than the monitor or TV can go, so you never get two half frames displaying at the same time. While this may seem that you get less FPS, it ultimately doesn't affect anything. Your TV is running at 60 hz, so the most you'll ever see is 60 FPS, regardless of how many frames your GPU is drawing. Vsync just stops your GPU from drawing unnecessary frames (which, as mentioned above, eliminates screen tearing.)

 

[jerkinjohn]

Screen tearing is just something that can happen with any PC, though it can almost always be resolved with vsync. As for your second question, I don't think you understand why screen tearing occurs.

A computer monitor (or in this case, TV) displays its image by drawing many still pictures very quickly to simulate motion - these still images are known as "frames." Most LCD screens operate at 60 hz, meaning they draw 60 frames per second onto the screen surface. When you're playing games, your graphics card draws frames as fast as it possibly can, and throws each new frame at the TV once it's done. What if your video card was throwing 70 frames per second at the TV, yet your TV can only draw 60 per second? Every so often, you would get an exchange like this...

GPU: "Hey, I finished drawing the next frame, here it is!"
TV: "Uh...thanks, but I'm not done displaying the last one you gave me..."
GPU "I don't care, I'm sending the new one!"
TV: "Great...this new frame deleted the one I was in the middle of drawing. I guess I'll just finish the rest of the frame with the new one I got, even though it doesn't match up"

When that happens, you get screen tearing. It's when part of the screen is showing frame A and another part is showing frame B because your GPU is going too fast. The two images don't match up right and you get a tearing effect. Vsync eliminates tearing by instructing your GPU to not go faster than the monitor or TV can go, so you never get two half frames displaying at the same time. While this may seem that you get less FPS, it ultimately doesn't affect anything. Your TV is running at 60 hz, so the most you'll ever see is 60 FPS, regardless of how many frames your GPU is drawing. Vsync just stops your GPU from drawing unnecessary frames (which, as mentioned above, eliminates screen tearing.)

Thank you very much efeat! You just explained it in such a way that anyone could understand. I get it now and I have been trying to educate myself in regards to PC gaming. I built it which was a huge step for me. But then once I got it up and running I found out there was all these tweaks and adjustments that could be done. OC, vsync ect...

I know that there are LCD TV's out that are 120Hz now. Although mine is just 60Hz like you described above. When I can afford a new monitor I will pay attention to such thing as Refresh Rate and Lines of Resolution. The TV is just gettin me by for now and to tell ya the truth it's not so bad anyhow.

 

[efeat]

Thank you very much efeat! You just explained it in such a way that anyone could understand. I get it now and I have been trying to educate myself in regards to PC gaming. I built it which was a huge step for me. But then once I got it up and running I found out there was all these tweaks and adjustments that could be done. OC, vsync ect...

I know that there are LCD TV's out that are 120Hz now. Although mine is just 60Hz like you described above. When I can afford a new monitor I will pay attention to such thing as Refresh Rate and Lines of Resolution. The TV is just gettin me by for now and to tell ya the truth it's not so bad anyhow.

You're welcome...it's what we do here =)

To a lot of people, the difference between a 60 hz and 120 hz screen is unnoticeable, so don't go rushing out to buy one just because it's a bigger number. Try to find a demo or something so you can see for yourself if there's any difference to you. Resolution, on the other hand, is a far more noticeable spec. Should you decide to upgrade your TV, a 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 screen would be ideal.

Once you get all this stuff figured out and know of all the potential tweaks, you'll realize why it's hard for PC gamers to switch to consoles

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

I find it strange though that computer monitors rated rated at 120hz are so far limited to 1680x1050. I believe this may be a bandwidth issue with DVI. Current TV's that do 120hz or more use an internal process that takes 2 frames and generates a third frame with an image somewhere between the first and the second. Because this is done internally, it's debatable whether or not they can accept a 1920x1080 signal at 120hz over DVI, or HDMI.

 

[Vjeshta]

Screen tearing is just something that can happen with any PC, though it can almost always be resolved with vsync. As for your second question, I don't think you understand why screen tearing occurs.

A computer monitor (or in this case, TV) displays its image by drawing many still pictures very quickly to simulate motion - these still images are known as "frames." Most LCD screens operate at 60 hz, meaning they draw 60 frames per second onto the screen surface. When you're playing games, your graphics card draws frames as fast as it possibly can, and throws each new frame at the TV once it's done. What if your video card was throwing 70 frames per second at the TV, yet your TV can only draw 60 per second? Every so often, you would get an exchange like this...

GPU: "Hey, I finished drawing the next frame, here it is!"
TV: "Uh...thanks, but I'm not done displaying the last one you gave me..."
GPU "I don't care, I'm sending the new one!"
TV: "Great...this new frame deleted the one I was in the middle of drawing. I guess I'll just finish the rest of the frame with the new one I got, even though it doesn't match up"

When that happens, you get screen tearing. It's when part of the screen is showing frame A and another part is showing frame B because your GPU is going too fast. The two images don't match up right and you get a tearing effect. Vsync eliminates tearing by instructing your GPU to not go faster than the monitor or TV can go, so you never get two half frames displaying at the same time. While this may seem that you get less FPS, it ultimately doesn't affect anything. Your TV is running at 60 hz, so the most you'll ever see is 60 FPS, regardless of how many frames your GPU is drawing. Vsync just stops your GPU from drawing unnecessary frames (which, as mentioned above, eliminates screen tearing.)

hey can u pls help me after i enable vsync in the game Metro 2033 tearing still appear and what is another thing called flickering that appears too can u pls pls help me ?

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey