Screen tearing

Screen tearing occurs when display memory and the screen are not updated synchronously. The updates to display memory and the screen might not be synchronized because the rate at which display memory is updated is either slower or faster than the rate at which the screen is refreshed. Alternatively, the updates might occur at the same rate but are not in phase with each other. The non-synchronous update causes two images to temporarily appear simultaneously. For example:

With Windows Aero (available with Windows 7 and 8), screen tearing is no longer common. Display composition is now completely managed by the operating system and display updates are performed without tearing.

If you are using Windows XP or if you have disabled Windows Aero in Windows 7, you might see screen tearing occur. With MIL's DirectX-based display service installed, you can activate the MIL no-tearing mechanism, using MdispControl() with M_NO_TEARING.

To determine if the MIL no-tearing mechanism is currently active on the specified display, use MdispInquire() with M_NO_TEARING_ACTIVE.

Note that the MIL no-tearing mechanism is not available for network displays.