G-Sync Reviewed

[the54thvoid]

Two sites (that I know of) have released (p)reviews of G-Sync and both are impressed by what it brings.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/64586-week-nvidias-g-sync-monitor.html

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7582/nvidia-gsync-review

I'm sure this thread will bring the haters but I don't care, I'm neither promoting or detracting from it but the only factors I see holding it back are price and proprietary tech.

It'd be good to know if W1zzard has been giving it a run through?

 

[Rowsol]

Okay, but what about adaptive v-sync? Is that any where as good as g-sync?

 

[FX-GMC]

OP yes... you called so many haters who recently buyed r9 gpu`s... they will be forced to buy Nvidia soon lol) "whats with my 290? - on trash! 760 or... 660? yes okay take my money i wanna g-sync and faster faster...." as always amd lovers pay twice for their savings.

I can't follow this post at all. My faux English isn't so good.


Wish i hadn't just bought a monitor recently. No G-sync for me anytime soon.

 

[Sasqui]

I can't follow this post at all. My faux English isn't so good.

Yea, that was weird.

So next question... and I already know the answer based on NV's history of shutting out others, but will NV license this tech to AMD?

 

[Kaynar]

I watched the youtube videos to see the difference. Very simply: there is no difference between V-sync and G-sync. MAYBE, I say, MAYBE you will be able to have very slightly lower frame times with GSync which can help with online shooters. Other than that, if you carefully watch the v-sync vs g-sync videos you will notice on the v-sync side some minor frame inconsistencies in the first scene and one frame spike as well. On the g-sync side you will notice towards the end of the video, after going up the stairs and nearing the bridge that the scene stutters while on the v-sync side there is no stutter. Bottom line: nothing properly fixed, just a small expensive improvement that may help if a few situations.

Now, I would gladly buy an external device that would be between the GPU output and screen input if the price was reasonable IF G-sync was actually worth it but, if you watched the videos carefully, stuttering occurs in both vsync and gsync, although it seemed to happen less often while using gsync. There is just no way I will pay 500 for a new monitor for a PR stunt though.

 

[BiggieShady]

There is also an article on pcper:
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA-G-Sync-Tech-Preview-and-First-Impressions

On the g-sync side you will notice towards the end of the video, after going up the stairs and nearing the bridge that the scene stutters while on the v-sync side there is no stutter.

Yeah, texture streaming stutters have nothing to do with g-sync and can be different from one test run to another. I hope they have tested the games from SSD.

 

[Steevo]

Why were there differences in the bench mark lighting and path.


It did smooth out some of the stuttering, but there were still a few big jumps instead of smaller ones. and the corners of the display were still stuttering about the same, I watched the videos at 1080.

 

[BiggieShady]

Okay, but what about adaptive v-sync? Is that any where as good as g-sync?

Adaptive VSync is great for eliminating input lag and some horizontal tearing (when fps is 60 and higher)

No VSync: No Lag, Tearing when FPS>60, Tearing when FPS<60
Adaptive VSync: No Lag, No Tearing when FPS>60, Tearing when FPS<60
VSync: Lag, No Tearing
GSync: No Lag (unless FPS0), No Tearing

 

[Zakin]

I find it strange to think of watching a video for G-Sync considering how it works, you're capturing video from the computer, not the monitor. How G-Sync works is supposedly from the monitors side it is smoothing out the frames that are coming in, meaning that in essence both of those videos should be looking relatively the same and you would never actually see how it would appear unless you saw it. It's just like a gimmick video of TN vs IPS on youtube, it makes absolutely no sense because you cannot see it on the panel you're viewing on. From what Hardware Canucks said it does make a lot of sense, and if you could get a panel on a good deal with one of these it wouldn't be bad. But Nvidia is definitely going to have to make it not so overpriced.

 

[Fluffmeister]

I find it strange to think of watching a video for G-Sync considering how it works, you're capturing video from the computer, not the monitor. How G-Sync works is supposedly from the monitors side it is smoothing out the frames that are coming in, meaning that in essence both of those videos should be looking relatively the same and you would never actually see how it would appear unless you saw it. It's just like a gimmick video of TN vs IPS on youtube, it makes absolutely no sense because you cannot see it on the panel you're viewing on. From what Hardware Canucks said it does make a lot of sense, and if you could get a panel on a good deal with one of these it wouldn't be bad. But Nvidia is definitely going to have to make it not so overpriced.

Yeah it's definitely something that needs to be seen and used first hand to truly appreciate the benefits, the YouTube videos don't seem to echo what the articles are [largely] raving about.

For me it's about the tech finding it's way into higher end 1440P IPS/VA panels that excites me.

And the onus isn't just on nV when it comes to price, the monitor manufacturers will no doubt milk it a bit regardless of what nV want.

 

[BiggieShady]

I find it strange to think of watching a video for G-Sync considering how it works, you're capturing video from the computer, not the monitor. How G-Sync works is supposedly from the monitors side it is smoothing out the frames that are coming in, meaning that in essence both of those videos should be looking relatively the same and you would never actually see how it would appear unless you saw it. It's just like a gimmick video of TN vs IPS on youtube, it makes absolutely no sense because you cannot see it on the panel you're viewing on. From what Hardware Canucks said it does make a lot of sense, and if you could get a panel on a good deal with one of these it wouldn't be bad. But Nvidia is definitely going to have to make it not so overpriced.

Good point, but ... you forget video is captured at DVI out exactly the same way as frame buffers are scanned - that's why you see exact same tearing on video as on screen ... for YouTube video is slowed down that much so the difference in stuttering can be seen. Without slowing down the video, it would be pointless, I agree.

 

[Zakin]

Good point, but ... you forget video is captured at DVI out exactly the same way as frame buffers are scanned - that's why you see exact same tearing on video as on screen ... for YouTube video is slowed down that much so the difference in stuttering can be seen. Without slowing down the video, it would be pointless, I agree.

That's very true, but if G-Sync worked exactly that way, there would be absolutely no reason for putting a board in the monitor itself to do any calculations. I could be wrong, I just don't see it personally. The basis of how G-Sync works makes a lot of sense, it just has to actually work in practice.

 

[Steevo]

I understand how and why it works to fool the brain by displaying the same frame for a longer time, but that doesn't eliminate input lag or display lag, it hides it.

I agree that it will help with frame pacing, and with lower end GPU's. But if you could buy a monitor that cost $140 more, why not buy a card that is powerful enough to run it without the stuttering anyway? I will have to setup my HD camcorder or camera and record my TV playing skyrim with the frame interleaving and vectoring filers on and see what it looks like when it drops down to the 30's in FPS.

 

[BiggieShady]

I just don't see it personally.

The tech goes like this: you capture variable frame rate (VFR - individual timecode for each frame) video of a variable frame rate display output (for g-sync monitor) and then slow the video down so the frame rates are always less than refresh rate of the panel you are watching the video on. That way stuttering differences can be observed but too bad that there's no way getting the real time experience in video.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Okay, but what about adaptive v-sync? Is that any where as good as g-sync?

What v-sync and g-sync do are a bit different.

 

[LightningJR]

Yeah, g-sync dynamically adjusts the monitors refresh rate to the FPS. Some people can't imagine how this will look. Do this, run a game (that can get more than 60fps) but cap the FPS at 60FPS NOT using vsync, play it for a little and then try again with vsync on with no FPS cap. Notice how there's no tearing and it's silky smooth compared to just the FPS cap? Try and imagine that silkyness at a lower framerate. I have never experienced g-sync but I can imagine how much better the experience would be with it on, especially with games that the FPS ranges alot. They also say there is no input lag, I don't know how that is but maybe it has to do with the hardware that NVidia is putting in the monitors, idk.

 

[Castiel]

I like the idea and hardware, though I think that I wouldn't invest in this technology for another half year to even more.