Should I Turn Bloom On or Off in Valorant? Pro Answer (2023)

When you play a game for a while, especially FPS games, you automatically start to look at the settings, mostly because you need more performance or just want to know what’s behind the settings options.

We’ve already covered various settings options on our blog, and you can find our previous articles on these topics here.

In Valorant, there is the Bloom effect in the video settings. But what is it, and how does it affect my system?

Bloom effects are not only used in Valorant. If you want to learn more about the Bloom effect in general, check out this article:

But today, we want to talk specifically about the Bloom effect in Valorant.

Let’s go!

Note: This article was written in English. Translations into other languages may not provide the same linguistic quality. We apologize for grammatical and semantic errors.

What Does Bloom Mean in Gaming?

Bloom is a post-processing effect, which means that after rendering the image, the Bloom effect is applied before the image appears on your screen.

If you are interested in other post-processing effects, check out this article:

Bloom creates a special effect where light escapes from the brighter parts of an image. This creates the impression that an extremely bright light is overpowering the camera, creating a sophisticated look.

Here you can see the Bloom effect in the lamp at the head of the bot.

How Do You Activate Bloom in Valorant?

To activate the Bloom effect, you can simply set Bloom to “On” in the video settings of Valorant, and the effect will be activated immediately in the game.

Does Bloom Lower FPS in Valorant?

Bloom is a post-processing operation that needs to be handled by your system in addition to the standard rendering, and unless you have a high-end system, Bloom can be noticeable in the FPS.

It depends a lot on your system. When I tested Bloom a bit more closely for this article, I didn’t notice any FPS drops, nor did I get the impression that Valorant uses a lot of Bloom effects at all.

Since Valorant was developed to create a particularly Esports-ready game, they generally skimped on graphical effects to increase performance and make the game playable even on weaker systems.

Therefore, it is logical to me that they did not use a lot of Bloom effects.

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Does Bloom Increase Input Lag in Valorant?

As with the FPS, an additional post-processing process makes more work for your system, so it should typically also lead to an input lag. Still, I could not detect any noticeable input lag in my tests, so I assume that the input lag is only minimally increased.

Of course, again, it depends on your system. I did my tests with a high-end system, so I can’t judge whether weaker systems might experience more input lag issues.

Comparison Bloom On or Off in Valorant

Pro:

• more beautiful light effects

Contra:

• minimally less FPS
• minimally more input lag

Final Thoughts – Turning Bloom On or Off in Valorant?

With my history as a pro gamer in CS 1.6 and a competitive gamer in PUBG and Valorant, you can certainly imagine that I’m not a fan of the Bloom effect in shooters because with, for example, over 6,000 hours of PUBG, I’m no longer happy about the great light effect, but only annoyed when, for example, I see worse than my opponent due to the high sun in the game and therefore lose. Every setting that increases such effects is then deactivated, of course.

Even though I have the impression that Bloom-effects are rare in Valorant anyway and therefore play a significant role, neither in enemy detection nor in performance, I would never activate an effect like Bloom. This is because I would still always worry that it would cost a few FPS at the crucial moment or lead to input lag. However, I am also very perfectionist, probably because of my past, because at the pro gamer level, it depends on every ms 😀 .

Overall, I would say that the Bloom effect in Valorant is more a matter of taste. If you find it more comfortable to play with, then go ahead and do that, and if not, then don’t. 🙂

Masakari out – moep, moep.