Often gamers talk about the performance issues faced while playing the game. It could be due to poor graphics or internet issues but two terms are often confused with one another. A low frame rate can make your game slow as if there is some internet issue but that is not true. FPS and lag are two different problems caused by different reasons. Professional Game Testers and playtesters are often asked by developers to setup a test environment while using machines ranging from low hardware configuration to highly configured gaming machines or devices.
In this blog, we are going to see the basics of FPS (Frame Per Second), what is lagging and the issues related to them.
WHAT IS FPS (FRAME PER SECOND) & WHY FRAME RATE MATTERS?
Frame Rate can be termed as a frequency in which the images or visuals appear on your screen. It applies to all the capturing systems like video games, films, motion graphics, etc. This frequency is then measured as Frame Per Second OR FPS but a low FPS can appear jerky.
Frame rate issues are potentially system issues i.e your computer is not able to keep up the desired potential for the game. Your system may need an updated RAM, memory card, or a better CPU. It could be due to the hard drive slowing down the process.
It impacts the style and viewing experience of a video game. Different frame rates yield different results. At 24 fps distinct images look like one, the more the fps the smoother and faster is the video quality and experience.
LOW FRAMERATE ISSUES IN-GAME
The following could be the reason for the low frame per second
- Your device drivers are outdated.
- Outdated graphics card.
- Heavy programs running simultaneously on the computer.
- Running your game on a much higher resolution than necessary.
HOW TO ENHANCE FPS?
Here are a few things you can do to increase the Frame Per Second on your system.
- Update your system and graphics driver
Graphics card manufacturers like NVIDIA, Intel regularly update and release software compatible drivers with performance improvements on their cards. To increase the graphics card performance, you should download and install the latest drivers for your card and system.
- Lower your Screen Resolutions:
If your system has a higher resolution then the number of pixels that are rendered by your graphics card is increased which may lower the fps value. In the video settings menu, you can adjust your system resolution which does not distort the FPS.
- Changing the Graphics Card Setting:
Big card companies provide control panels in their cards to change the performance settings. You can change your power mode to the maximum that means your graphics card will not try to save electricity and will efficiently reduce the processing power.
- FPS Booster Software:
You can also take help from booster software that helps to increase the frame second for your games. These software’s are available in the market and you can avail of their services to enhance your visual experience.
WHY GAMES LAG?
Lag is sometimes misinterpreted with fps but it is related to the processing power of your gaming machine, network connection, and internet issues. Your game’s servers might experience trouble connecting with your computer system particularly when the server is located in a far place. It is likely that you might have a high FPS but still experience a lagging effect on the game.
To improve lagging in online games, you may try a different server or upgrade your internet connectivity options to premium ones with good speed. While you are playing a multiplayer game massively, there could be many things happening simultaneously in that game and due to a large pool of players, you may experience performance problems and internet connectivity issues as well.
CONCLUSION:
FPS is everything a game requires. A low fps may kill the realism and fun element in video games making it boring. Players can install the latest graphics card and drivers to increase the fps rate but the developers need to acknowledge and recommend the required hardware device and drivers for a smooth game. Testing games for fps bugs thoroughly can help to identify the issues and increase the graphics performance of the card.
