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Basic Office Monitor
There is only basic technology available, with no g-sync, freesync, or variable refresh rate (VRR) options. We are stuck at 60Hz refresh rate.
Enabling Vsync is the easiest choice, but it is also not recommended due to the significant input lag it causes, which I find unbearable.
If you are unfamiliar with input lag, in the context of gaming, it refers to the time delay between when a user enters a command or action and when it is displayed on the screen.
For gaming, input lag is the delay between:
- Pressing a key on your keyboard
- Moving/clicking a button on your mouse
- Moving your controller
and seeing the corresponding action happen on your monitor.
From my experience with my old 60Hz basic monitor, the input lag from enabling Vsync was just too much even for a casual game.
However, with my new budget 'gaming' monitor, I noticed an improvement in input lag from Vsync at 75Hz. Perhaps, Vsync isn't so bad after all at higher refresh rates.
How to Reduce the Visibility of Screen Tearing without Vsync
1. Using RTSS Scanline Sync
What I would recommend is using RTSS Scanline sync. This tool locks the tear line at a specific position and you can move it away from the middle where it is most noticeable, to the top or bottom of the screen, or can even outside the visible area.
From my experience there's a very small input lag when comparing it to just limiting framerates to 60 with screen tear, but most people wouldn't probably notice.
2. Maximizing FPS
Another way to minimize screen tearing is by maximizing FPS. When FPS is at least twice the refresh rate, tearing becomes much less noticeable. It’s still there, but not as distracting. For example, at 60Hz, maintaining 120 FPS or higher helps.
If you have a powerful PC than can maintain high FPS, you can try using Nvidia's Fast sync.
Fast Sync works best when the FPS is at least double or triple the refresh rate. Unlike V-Sync, which shows every frame in order even if it adds delay, Fast Sync simply shows the newest frame at each refresh of the screen and skips the rest.
This helps reduce tearing and keeps the input lag lower than regular V-Sync, but still higher than having no sync.
3. Getting Used to It
The last thing I would say on how to handle screen tearing is by accepting it (sorry). It is what it is, unless you spend some money buying a better monitor with VRR technology. Train the eyes and brain to eventually get used to the tearing that it becomes bearable.
Microstutters from limiting the FPS close to the refresh rate Hz
If you look closely, when using fps limiter to cap the fps near the refresh rate, for example 59fps on a 60Hz monitor, you might notice a small stutter happening at the same interval.
You can test this by moving you game character to the side.
The fps cap is very close to the refresh rate so our brain and eyes notice the smoothness and get used to it most of the time causing the sudden hiccup or microstutter stand out and very obvious.
When FPS and Hz are far apart, such as 75 FPS on 60 Hz, the refreshes and frames rarely align. The motion is consistently uneven, so the brain no longer expects smoothness. The microstutters blend into the general choppiness—you’re not seeing rare interruptions, you’re seeing a constantly uneven frame flow.
So the advice would be to stay far from the refresh rate preferrably higher FPS as the consistent interval stutters are more distracting than choppines in my opinion.
Why not cap the fps at the same as refresh rate?
Is it not recommended to limit the fps at 60FPS on a 60hz monitor?
This can make the motion smooth but does not remove the tearing. In addition, it makes the tearline move slow accross the screen or stay at the same position. The tearline becomes too visible and distracting to ignore for some people.