If you play a lot of video games or otherwise keep them in your sphere of stuff you pay attention to, it’s very likely you’ve at least heard the term “screen tearing” before, though this isn’t a problem that affects only games. It always pops up in the context of complaints, unless someone’s expressing relief that there isn’t any screen tearing. What even is this phenomenon?
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The broad strokes way to understand screen tearing is that it’s a graphical glitch that distorts what you’re seeing on screen — except rather than in-game oddities like textures that fail to load, the screen itself is what’s affected. Sort of like viewing something through a cracked window, where everything on the other side looks fine, but what you see on either side of the crack doesn’t line up like it should.
Screen tears come in different degrees of severity, and can appear anywhere from a fraction of a second to until the affected software or entire system is reset. At best, it’s occasionally noticeable and sometimes irritating, but at worst it can significantly reduce your ability to play or work — and possibly hurt your eyes.
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