Understanding Vertical Sync in Unity on Android
Screen tearing occurs when the refresh rate of your display and the frame output rate of your graphics card are not synchronized. Vertical Sync (V-Sync) can help mitigate this issue by synchronizing the GPU render rate and the monitor’s refresh rate, thus reducing visual artifacts like tearing.
Implementing V-Sync in Unity
In Unity, enabling V-Sync is straightforward:
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- Navigate to Edit > Project Settings > Quality.
- Under the Quality settings, you can control V-Sync by adjusting the VSync Count. Setting it to
1will enable V-Sync, allowing one frame per display refresh.
Considerations on Android
On Android, disabling V-Sync may not always be feasible due to platform limitations. Make sure to test on various Android devices, as not all support disabling V-Sync, and forcing an option might have undesired side effects.
Alternative Techniques to Mitigate Screen Tearing
- Frame Capping: Limit the frame rate of your game to match the display refresh rate, typically 60Hz on mobile devices.
- Adaptive Sync: Utilize synchronization techniques that dynamically adjust the frame rate, such as Adaptive V-Sync or G-Sync/FreeSync if supported by the platform.
- Optimize Rendering Pipeline: Review and optimize your rendering pipeline to ensure that your game maintains a steady frame rate, reducing the chance of tearing.
Conclusion
V-Sync offers a simple solution to screen tearing but can introduce latency issues. Balancing visual quality and performance requires careful testing and adjustment across different devices, especially on Android where hardware and display characteristics can vary widely.