Screen tearing easily spoils the immersive experience of gamers and always has been a headache for those who enjoy high-resolution fast games. Many gamers playing Elden Ring and Modern Warfare have reported screen tearing issues. How can we fix it? Let’s find out in this post.

What Causes Screen Tearing?

Screen tearing appears when your graphic card of the host machine falls out of sync with the monitor connected. Simply put, this happens because of the mismatch frame rate. What does screen tearing look like? It’s when different portions of the image are showing different frames. This is more often seen in fast-moving scenes with multiple objects, for example, racer games, or explosion scenes where the motion requires higher FPS for a smooth presentation.

How to Fix Screen Tearing?

Fixing the screen tearing issue means that you shall help match the graphic card output with the monitor frame rate so that one can keep up with the other. Here are 5 tips listed below to troubleshoot and you may try them and find the one that helps.

#Check your hardware

More and more games are produced with higher frame rates from 60hz to even 240hz. Ask yourself these questions:

If you are playing that high-refresh-rate games, what refresh rate does your monitor support?
If you are playing PC games, how’s your graphic card performance?
And does your KVM switch supports rich resolutions and refresh rates so that it won’t hinder the FPS match between your game and the monitor?

Play with a monitor that supports higher refresh rates, and if you are using any intermediary devices such as a KVM switch, use one that supports not just high enough for an excellent gaming experience but also rich resolutions and refresh rates types so that it won’t hinder the match between your game and the monitor.

#Cap the refresh rate

If your monitor does not support the refresh rate coming out from the game, cap the refresh rate so that the image won’t exceed the limit that your monitor can handle. You may find the settings in your game console, the game app, or your computer settings.

Use third-party software: There are many third-party software applications available that can cap your refresh rate, such as Nvidia Inspector, and AMD Radeon Software. These tools allow you to cap your refresh rate to a specific value.
Use in-game settings: Many modern games have built-in options to cap your refresh rate. Check the video settings of your game to see if this option is available.
Set up V-sync: V-sync (Vertical Synchronization) is a setting that synchronizes your GPU’s frame rate with your monitor’s refresh rate, preventing screen tearing. Enabling V-sync will cap your frame rate to your monitor’s refresh rate.

#Enable Variable Refresh Rate (VRR)

VRR stands for variable refresh rate, which is a feature that supports changing the refresh rate in image rendering. There is some advanced VRR feature embedded in the graphic card and monitor to adapt your monitor’s refresh rate as the maximum refresh rate. For example:

Make sure your setup supports the VRR feature. And if you are using G-sync from Nvidia or Free-sync from AMD, toggle it on and off from the driver settings to see if the change of settings helps.

In order to keep the frame rate at the same pace, features like G-sync could cause input lag so use it carefully if you are playing highly competitive multi-player games.

You may be interested: AV Access 10K@120hz KVM switch (with VRR)

#Toggle your game settings

It was proved by some gamers that changing your system settings of “game” and switching off “game mode” would help. Windows Game Mode is a feature introduced in Windows 10. This can help to provide a better gaming experience by reducing stuttering, improving frame rates, and reducing input lag. It does affect the frame rates so sometimes unable it may help. Fullscreen Optimization can sometimes interfere with certain games and cause issues like screen tearing, so disabling “full screen optimization” may help solve the problem as well.

#Reinstall your GPU display adapter

If you are using Nvidia G-sync graphic card and monitor, try to download the Nvidia driver and reinstall it. Reboot your computer. Reinstallation of your GPU driver may help solve the problem. (You shall download the driver from their website, for example, AMD and Nvidia)

More Resources

Original copy: https://www.avaccess.com/blogs/guides/5-tips-to-fix-screen-tearing-for-gamers/

For Gamers: 5 Tips to Fix Your Screen Tearing Issues