Frames per second

Frames per second (FPS or frame rate) is the measure of how many times a display surface is updated and redrawn. The frame rate may or may not be synchronized with the game or application's update loop. A low frame rate makes the display appear choppy or jittery; a rate of 60FPS is generally considered the point where the image appears to animate smoothly.

Fangames are often seen to offer 30FPS and 60FPS options; the latter looks smoother, but the former puts less load on the processor and video card, and can improve performance of a game that runs poorly at 60FPS.

V-synchronization or V-sync attempts to match the game's frame rate to that of the user's monitor, in order to prevent "tearing". However, this can sometimes reduce overall performance, as the computer must now wait until a frame has been drawn completely before it starts drawing the next one.