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 Vignette option in the video settings. But what is it, and how does it affect my system?
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 Vignette Mean in Gaming?
Vignette is a post-processing effect, which means that after rendering the image, Vignette is applied before the image appears on your screen.
If you are interested in other post-processing effects, check out this article:
Vignette in Valorant adds a darker/less saturated area around the edges of your screen to make the game look a bit more cinematic.
This automatically focuses more on the center of the screen, at least in theory.
In Valorant, I could only notice a minimal effect.
If you look really closely, you can see a slight shadow around the edges of the screen, but only minimal. However, I suspect that this is also due to my screen, as I use a high value in the Black Equalizer setting on my BenQ XL2546.
Black eQualizer brightens darker areas without overexposing lighter areas.
I would imagine that this reduces the vignette effect.
How Do You Activate Vignette in Valorant?
To activate Vignette, you can set Vignette to “On” in the video settings of Valorant, and the effect will be activated immediately in the game.
Does Vignette Lower FPS in Valorant?
Vignette is a post-processing operation that needs to be handled by your system in addition to the standard rendering.
Unless you have a high-end system, Vignette can be noticeable in the FPS.
It depends a lot on your system. When I tested Vignette a bit more closely for this article, I didn’t notice any FPS drops.
Does Vignette 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, but again, I could not detect any noticeable input lag in my tests, so I can 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.
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Comparison Vignette On or Off in Valorant
Pro:
- more focus on the center of the screen
Contra:
- minimally less FPS
- minimally more input lag
- less clarity at the edges of the screen
Final Thoughts – Turning Vignette On or Off in Valorant?
I have to be frank.
I don’t see why anyone would use the vignette effect in a shooter.
The only application I can think of where it might make sense would be in a horror game, to intentionally restrict vision there to create more tension with less vision.
In Valorant, however, it makes no sense at all; in the worst case, it costs performance.
Therefore, you should always leave the Vignette option set to “Off” in Valorant but also in any other shooter.
Especially in the competitive game Valorant, which was developed especially for Esports, I’m surprised about such an option. But maybe the developers thought, “nice to have”. 😀
To be clear, you won’t find any competitive or pro gamer in the world who uses the vignette effect in Valorant.
Masakari out – moep, moep.
Former pro gamer Andreas "Masakari" Mamerow has been an active gamer for over 35 years, more than 20 of them in the competitive scene (Esports). In CS 1.5/1.6, PUBG and Valorant, he has led and coached teams at the highest level. Old dogs bite better...
