Nvidia G Sync module kills gaming monitor tearing

via- Engadget

NVIDIA has revealed G-Sync, a new module for gaming monitors that, when used with a GeForce GPU, helps avoid tearing and skipping. The new hardware, shown off by NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang at the company’s Editor’s Day in Montreal, works around the limitations of V-Sync, the system by which monitors currently deal with changing refresh rates, by setting up a path of direct communication between display and graphics card and synchronizing the refresh rate of both together.

As gamers know, frame rates during play can change considerably, and that can leave monitors looking blurry or tearing. V-Sync currently works by effectively locking the graphics card to a single refresh rate depending on the capabilities of the display itself: so, if the display is running at 30Hz, and the frame rate is 30fps, then the GPU won’t push any new data to the panel until it knows it has cleared the old cycle.

This, though, can lead to judder or input lag, and also means gaming monitors and GPUs are limited to a small number of refresh rates. NVIDIA’s new G-Sync module, however, works around that by dynamically adjusting the refresh based on the capabilities of both screen and GPU, doing so in real-time to effectively remove any stutter and significantly reduce lag.

The new module will be added to monitors by ASUS, BenQ, Philips, and ViewSonic initially, with NVIDIA name-checking all four brands during its event. However, the company is hoping that it becomes more commonplace in general, though of course you’ll need an NVIDIA GeForce GPU – based on a Kepler chip – in order to actually take advantage of it. SlashGear

Read More..

Gaming exoskeleton to pair with Oculus Rift headset at CES 2014

PrioVR, the full-body tracking suit, rebounds from its failed Kickstarter with a fully-functional prototype at CES 2014 that will pair with the Oculus Rift headset.

 

The PrioVR full-body tracking suit will be paired with the Oculus Rifts immersive headset at CES 2014 for an unprecedented virtual reality experience.

(Credit: Nick Statt/CNET) 

 

  LAS VEGAS -- The future of gaming, at least to those banking on the rise of virtual reality, lies not just with better graphics or voice control, but with sensor suits and headsets that bring our real-world movements to life onscreen. At CES 2014, the PrioVR full-body tracking suit is on display and the company behind it, YEI Technology, is partnering with VR headset maker Oculus Rift to showoff a fully immersive gaming experience later this week.

Sailing toward the far-off sci-fi future of those powered exoskeletons in "The Matrix" or the video game series Crysis, the PrioVR hardware is a string of strap-on sensors extensive enough to make anyone look like an actor in a motion capture studio. Its half-body system includes sensors for a users head, elbows, and wrists that can be expanded into a full-body suit that tracks ones shoulder, waist and leg movements.

"That allows you to drop on the ground, roll around, shoot under your leg, curl up into a fetal position," said Paul Yost, YEIs chief of R&D. "We have this collection of inertial sensors that combines with a software that ties all that together into this skeletal model. All that happens on the system itself, so theres no computational load on the PC other than the communication."

 

(Credit: Nick Statt/CNET) 

 

Combined with that software are API plug-ins, Yost pointed out, that are compatible with all major gaming engines, allowing developers to drop the suit support into into any application with relative ease. PCs are the starting point, but YEI hopes to expand to consoles as well.

As far as movement goes, players wield a nunchuk-like controller similar to that of the original Wii to navigate the game environment and utilize both hands and his or her upper body to make more nuanced movements. On the floor at CES, a user strapped into the half-body PrioVR prototype played a first-person shooter demo, shifting in his chair to peek out of corners and furiously angling a virtual weapon with his hands.

While this iteration of the PrioVR is new, YEIs attempts to jump into the VR market trace back to last fall. PrioVR originally launched on Kickstarter last September, where it racked up an impressive $111,000 but failed to meet its $225,000 goal.

Read the rest of this post --->

Read More..