Gaming
Screen Tearing, V-Sync and Adaptive Sync: What Actually Fixes Stutter in Games
A plain-language guide to why games tear or stutter, and which display and driver settings genuinely solve it versus just adding input lag.
Best gaming monitors
Measured response times, real refresh behaviour and panel uniformity — not the numbers on the box.
Research in progressPublished rankings appear only after testing is complete.
When you buy through links on THRYV we may earn a commission. This never affects our testing or rankings. How this works.
Our picks
Nothing published until testing is finished.
Advertised response times are the best-case figure from one transition at one overdrive setting. We measure across the grey-to-grey range, check overshoot, and test variable-refresh behaviour at the low end of the range, where most panels actually struggle.
No picks published yet
This guide is in the research stage. We will not list a "best" product before the testing round behind it is complete — an unranked page is more useful than a ranked guess. When picks go live, each one will state what we tested, how long for, what it is good at, and who should buy something else instead.
What we score, and why
Written down before any product is considered.
- Measured response times across the full transition range
- Overshoot and inverse ghosting at each overdrive mode
- Variable refresh performance at low frame rates
- Brightness, contrast and panel uniformity
- Input lag measured end to end
- Stand ergonomics, ports and warranty on dead pixels
How we will decide
- 01
Criteria before candidates
We write down what would make a product the right pick — and how each criterion is measured — before we look at what is on sale.
- 02
Documented specifications only
Anything we state about a product comes from our own testing or from the manufacturer's published documentation, linked on the page.
- 03
Real-world testing
Where a category can be tested, we test it over weeks rather than an unboxing session, and we publish the conditions we tested under.
- 04
Pricing checked, not quoted
We do not print a price we have not verified, and we do not treat an RRP as evidence of a discount.
- 05
Commercial relationships disclosed
Affiliate links, if present, are labelled on the page. No partner can buy a placement, a rank or a verdict.
The full process is documented in our review methodology and testing process.
Related Gaming coverage
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