jerkinjohn said:
Ok thank you, and is screen tearing just a thing that PC gamers have come to except? It doesn't really bother me to much I just thought that once I got a higher res. monitor that the screen tearing issue would be resolved. Is it just a personal preference to have vsync off with more FPS and screen tearing or vsync on with less FPS and no screen tearing?
Screen tearing is just something that can happen with any PC, though it can almost always be resolved with vsync. As for your second question, I don't think you understand why screen tearing occurs.
A computer monitor (or in this case, TV) displays its image by drawing many still pictures very quickly to simulate motion - these still images are known as "frames." Most LCD screens operate at 60 hz, meaning they draw 60 frames per second onto the screen surface. When you're playing games, your graphics card draws frames as fast as it possibly can, and throws each new frame at the TV once it's done. What if your video card was throwing 70 frames per second at the TV, yet your TV can only draw 60 per second? Every so often, you would get an exchange like this...
GPU: "Hey, I finished drawing the next frame, here it is!"
TV: "Uh...thanks, but I'm not done displaying the last one you gave me..."
GPU "I don't care, I'm sending the new one!"
TV: "Great...this new frame deleted the one I was in the middle of drawing. I guess I'll just finish the rest of the frame with the new one I got, even though it doesn't match up"
When that happens, you get screen tearing. It's when part of the screen is showing frame A and another part is showing frame B because your GPU is going too fast. The two images don't match up right and you get a tearing effect. Vsync eliminates tearing by instructing your GPU to not go faster than the monitor or TV can go, so you never get two half frames displaying at the same time. While this may seem that you get less FPS, it ultimately doesn't affect anything. Your TV is running at 60 hz, so the most you'll ever see is 60 FPS, regardless of how many frames your GPU is drawing. Vsync just stops your GPU from drawing unnecessary frames (which, as mentioned above, eliminates screen tearing.)