Getting weird "heat ripples" when moving????

[ShadyJ21]

Hey there,

Im getting what would look like heat ripples (distortion) that comes across my screen when Im moving around, its not the same as the heat that you see when you look at the exhaust of pipes in the game. These look hardware related. Can anyone help me figure out how to fix this. I wouldnt think with my system I would have any type of bad performance, so Im thinking its a settings problem. Also, the game seems a tad bit glitchy. I havent made it out of the beginning sequences yet because Im trying to test the issue without getting into real gameplay.
Thanks in advance.

[ShadyJ21]

Also, I have a dell 20.1 Flat panel LCD.

[boris]

It could be:

• Slow monitor
  
• VSync
  

[ShadyJ21]

Slow monitor, or vsync, I appreciate the info, but that really doesn't help me. I would hate to think that the monitor I have is too slow, being as its one of the top monitors being sold right now for gaming pc's.

Any more info on Vsync, what is it?

[boris]

Vertical synchronisation. I'm not sure if that even matters to TFTs. For CRTs, if it's on, then the screen (video memory) will be updated while the cathode ray moves from the bottom of the monitor back up (i.e. while nothing is being drawn to the monitor). If vsync is off, the screen (video memory) will be updated as soon as the scene is rendered, which will/might cause tearing. You can usually see the tearing when you're turning around, usually you will notice horizontal "fractures" on the screen.

How fast is you TFT update rate? AFAIK it should have an average of 16ms if you want to play fast games.

[ShadyJ21]

Where do I check to find out?

[boris]

ShadyJ21 said:

Where do I check to find out?

I don't know. But it's certainly not in the monitor's manual!

[Verdale]

No, tearing in the graphics apply to CRTs and LCD (Flatpanels) as well. However, LCD's, along with tearing, can "ghost" images. This mean, when you move, it would be almost like you see part of the last image due to your monitor not able to redraw the new textures/graphics change. Kind of like when you stare at one thing, then look away and you still see the shape of it.

As for finding it out (your update rate), you could probably search on-line or call Dell's tech support, they are supposed to have some really good tech's there.

[KLittle123]

if you overclocked your graphics card that could be why.

[Azreal_X]

What is the refresh rate of your monitor? If it isn't synced correctly, you could notice that things on screen update at the wrong time and could cause visual anomalies. I think the best refresh rate for Doom3 should be 60 hertz, seeing as the game is synced to 60 frames per second. You can find out your monitors refresh rate by right clicking your desktop, selecting properties, moving to the settings tab, clicking the advanced button, then clicking the monitor tab.