When this happens, those lines will quite clearly not line up correctly, which can break immersion and make a beautiful game look rather ugly. It is particularly noticeable during fast-paced games with vertical image elements, such as trees, entrances, or buildings. Screen tearing can occur at any time, though it is most prevalent during fast motion, particularly when a game runs at a higher frame rate than the monitor can handle or when the frame rate changes dramatically and the monitor can’t keep up. Tearing occurs when the monitor’s refresh rate (how many times it updates per second) is not in sync with the frames per second. That can result in something like the image above, where the display appears split along a line, usually horizontally.
First developed by GPU manufacturers, this tech was a way to deal with screen tearing, which is when your screen displays portions of multiple frames in one go. VSync, or vertical sync, is a graphics technology that synchronizes the frame rate of a game with a gaming monitor’s refresh rate. Let’s dig deep into what VSync is and why it matters. But what does it do, and is it still worth using? Despite new options like G-Sync or FreeSync, VSync remains an essential option for many gamers. VSync was the original syncing technology for GPUs, video games, and monitors.