Screen scrolling issue

[kprime18]

Hi,

I'm having a problem with what I can best describe as a scrolling effect on my screen when I'm playing games on my laptop. The game I notice this most with is Borderlands. When I'm moving in the game, there's a scrolling effect that goes up and down the screen. I'm not quite sure how to better explain the issue but I'd like to know if anyone has an idea on what the problem is or how to solve it. I've tried adjusting various graphics settings, but nothing seems to work. I heard that this could be a vsync issue.

I also have issues playing Eden Eternal, where the movement in the game doesn't really feel smooth. The image kind of stutters the least bit that it's noticeable. I don't know if these two issues are the same. So I wondering if this is a hardware issue or software issue.

Thank you.

 

[HEXiT]

sounds like your getting whats known as tearing... where your screen updates b4 a full frame has been copied to the frame buffer causing the system to display 2 slightly out of sync images to overlap... to solve this you turn ob vsnc in the game... only if the game has no vsnc option do you change it in your systems gfx control panel...

also if yout getting stuttering the chances are your ingame settings are to high and your hardware cant handle it. so turn the settings down and see if the game becomes smooth to play... if your on minimum already then theres not a lot you can do apart from upgrade... (use the free version of fraps to see what your fps are) you want to aim for 30 fps on a low end system or 60 on a medium/high end system.

 

[kprime18]

Thanks for the advice HEXit.

Turning on vsync appears to have eliminated the tearing but I still feel that the movement in game is not as smooth it should be. I read that turning on triple buffering in conjunction with vsync is good idea but the only way to do so is through a third party program called D3Doverride (from Rivatuner). I don't really feel comfortable using programs that I haven't heard of so I was wondering if I could get some opinions on D3Doverride. Is it a safe/effective use?

Also I'd like to know if there's any drawbacks from forcing vsync from the graphics control panel since it's off by default. Is it okay to leave it on all the time/

Thank you again.

 

[HEXiT]

turning on tripple buffering will work for some games but not others as it depends on whether the game engine supports it...
games that use it will get a good boost from it but others will show no improvment and even degradation...

if you want absolutley smooth then your gonna have to adjust the ingame settings... turning off soft shadows. higher end lighting features like hbao and dof (depth of field) will have a bigger impact on increasing performance than say turning the textures down to minimum so turn them off first...
the last things you adjust if your fps is still sucky is the fsaa or antialiasing maximum of 4 is often best. but 2 will work and off makes everything look blocky.
textures and finally screen rez...

its best not to turn vsnc on via the gfx panel, you only do that if theres no option for it in game. if theres an option in the games inbuilt advanced gfx settings its always better to use that... as you know it will be properly optomised for use with the game.