The world of videogames is increasingly fascinating and demanding on a technical level, which can often cause display problems. One of them is called Screen Tearing, or simply tearing. But what is tearing on a screen and how can we avoid it on a PC?
What is tearing on a screen?
Tearing has been defined as “tearing” and, in the case of a screen, denotes a graphic division of the displayed image. A division in the sequence of the vertical image that is noticed by the presence of horizontal lines when we move the mouse.
This phenomenon causes the image on the screen to appear split, as if it were different sections of the same view. The cause is due to a technical problem caused in the output from the video card. When the video card GPU is not activated it is not able to supply the required speed the images that it sends to the screen.
In other words, it is a lack of synchronization between the information sent by the graphics card and what you see on the monitor. Normally, Tearing causes the screen to be divided so that parts of different frames of the game can be seen at the same time.
Out of sync occurs when the amount of Hz required by the monitor is not satisfied by the video card. In other words, the frame rate per second (FPS) required by the monitor is higher than what the video card can generate.
Thus, in order to compensate for speed, the video card skips a few frames or plays them halfway in order to move to the next frame.
How can we avoid it on PC?
There are some alternatives to try to avoid the tearing that is experienced when watching streaming reproductions. As is the case when the frame rate demanded by the monitor is higher than what the GPU is capable of delivering, this could be adjusted. It is important to know what the GPU of your PC is for and how it works to avoid forcing it when installing a program that demands a lot from this processor.
What adjustments can you make?
Some things we can do is make use of available technology to make some adjustments, such as the following:
- Game resolution: So that the graphics card does not work overloaded, we can decrease the resolution of the games or the graphic load. This will allow the monitor to be synchronized with the GPU video card, eliminating Tearing. Or change the graphics card for a new one, so there is no overload.
- Hardware acceleration mode: In some cases, activating this feature can help decrease tearing. You can modify its settings, for example if you use Chrome, in the section: Settings> Advanced settings> System. There it will show you the option: use hardware acceleration when available; sliding the button to the right activates this setting
- Vertical Sync: If the game gives you this option, activating Vertical Synchronization (VSYNC) will help reduce Tearing.
- Triple Buffering: This function helps reduce tearing by creating a kind of cache that prevents a frame from appearing before the previous one has been fully exposed.
With these settings you could alleviate the tearing that could occasionally appear on the screen. The main companies dedicated to the design and manufacture of video cards, such as AMD and Nvidia, have set out to develop the required technology.
Nvidia has designed a generation of monitors with G-Sync technology and AMD for its part a line called FreeSync. This technology is capable of auto-synchronizing the FPS generated by the video card. So we recommend updating the graphics card from Intel or Nvidia or the one your computer is using.
This technology, in addition to correcting tearing, also eliminates another problem of sudden drop in FPS , known as Stuttering. We hope this article has been your solution regarding tearing.