Video Sync - The Devils Option?

[Apotheos]

Hey Guys,

 

I'm new to having a computer that kicks ass, so please excuse this question.

 

I did not notice this problem before I reached the Bespin levels. What happens is that certain lines of the display seem to get out of sync with one another. When I wiggle from side to side, the effect is like the top half and bottom half of a structure becomming slightly misaligned.

 

Turning on Video Sync solves this problem, however it causes the frame rate to basically cut in half. (The max refresh rate of my monitor at 1280x1024 is 85Hz)

 

I have a ViewSonic 19" Monitor (A90), and a GeForce 4 Ti 4600. Since I spent a fortune on the video card, I wasn't expecting to have any issues, and am somewhat dismayed that I need to place this sort of limitation on my framerates.

 

So, can someone kindly explain what is happening, and if there is some problem in my setup that I should be addressing?

 

Thanks,

 

Apotheos

[thesavage]

vsync sets the maximum fps at the refresh rate so as to prevent image tearing... so thus u get a drop in fps

 

i'd recommend you leave vsync on (to stop image tearing) but bump up ur refresh rate to as far as u can go

[Chiles4]

With a refresh rate of 85Hz, you'll be capping your fps at 85fps. But who needs more than that? And with a rig like yours you probably don't have to worry about any huge drops in fps (like the Swamp).

 

I noticed some jitteriness and some waves rolling thru my display when I spin around so I decided to turn Vsync on and that got rid of all that. The effect was great.

 

With a rig like yours you can afford to turn Vsync on and enjoy the benefits of a better looking display. Go for it. I was greatly impressed by the effect. I'll probably try it in some other games as well.

 

And like TheSavage said, use the highest refresh rate you can (90,100?) so that your "cap" is as high as possible.

[bar-bar mandrel]

Here's what vsynch does:

 

The monitor has a "blank state" where it clears the screen for then next frame. With vsynch on, the video card waits for this blank state signal to swap an image from the drawing board to the screen.

 

When vsynch is off, the video card makes the swap whenever it's done drawing the image, and since the screen is being DRAWN by the monitor one pixel at a time, the map of the image it's tracing onto the screen gets switched before its finished. So the "tearing" you see is actually 2, 3, or 4 (etc.) different images cut up and pasted together. How much tearing essentially depends on how much faster the video is than the refresh rate of the monitor.

 

If you want to experiment, you can try fussing with

 

com_maxfps

 

to bring the maxfps down closer to the refresh rate to see if it reduces the AMOUNT of tearing to an acceptable medium.

 

(p.s. com_maxfps works with most q3 games, so I *ASSUME* it's in JK2)