What Is Vertical Sync (Vsync)?

If you're a gamer, you probably know what vertical sync is. Yet, if you're not, here's the scoop. It's a rendering option for your video card that prevents it from altering the display memory until the monitor is done with its current cycle. In other words, it prevents the frame rate from rendering faster than the monitor can display. Vertical sync is excellent because it helps prevent screen tearing and choppy gameplay—but it can also lock you into a specific frame rate depending on your monitor's refresh rate. If you're running a game at 60 fps on an LCD monitor with a 60 Hz refresh rate, vertical sync will ensure you never get more than 60 frames per second. It is vital if the game requires high graphics settings or if you have extra hardware like an overclocked processor or graphics card. When you're playing a video game, there are two things to keep in mind frame rate and refresh rate. Frame rate is how often your graphics card restores the image on your screen. It's measured in frames per second (fps). The refresh rate tells you how often your monitor refreshes itself per second. It's measured in hertz (Hz). So let's say you've got a great gaming rig with a high fps. You're playing Overwatch on ultra settings, but the game's fps is only 60. If you enable vertical sync, it will only display each frame once every other frame of your monitor, so it'll only be said twice per second instead of four times per second. It means that although your graphics card can display 60+ fps, your monitor will only show 30 fps because it won't keep up with the number of frames sent by the graphics card. Since Overwatch is a fast-paced game where smooth gameplay is crucial for victory, this lag could affect how well you play—and even cause motion sickness.