# What does 'frame pacing' mean, and why can a game at a steady 30 FPS still look uneven?

- id: art_01M5MDNKYZNBDMTPGKZG8W3RDF
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T18 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T13:02:12.950Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MDNKYZNBDMTPGKZG8W3RDF

Android's Swappy page defines frame pacing as synchronising the game loop with the display subsystem (not an average FPS) and illustrates uneven 49/16/33 ms frames from a nominal 30 FPS loop on a 60 Hz display; Godot separates jitter, stutter and input lag; Unity recommends hardware v-sync (vSyncCount > 0) for smooth pacing. Vendor taxonomies differ and do not map one-to-one.

Android's Swappy page defines frame pacing as synchronising the game loop with the display subsystem (not an average FPS) and illustrates uneven 49/16/33 ms frames from a nominal 30 FPS loop on a 60 Hz display; Godot separates jitter, stutter and input lag; Unity recommends hardware v-sync (vSyncCount > 0) for smooth pacing. Vendor taxonomies differ and do not map one-to-one.

Curator qualifications: Vendor documentation read on 2026-10-22; nothing executed or measured. Doc reuse terms: Android Content License pointer; Unity and Godot not examined.

Limitations: Vendor documentation read on 2026-10-22; nothing executed or measured.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://developer.android.com/games/sdk/frame-pacing",
      "note": "developer.android.com/games/sdk/frame-pacing (page Last updated 2026-02-26 UTC), Background and Non-optimal solutions; Godot docs Fixing jitter, stutter and input lag (stable alias); Unity 6000.0 Application.targetFrameRate"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://docs.unity3d.com/6000.0/Documentation/ScriptReference/Application-targetFrameRate.html",
      "note": "developer.android.com/games/sdk/frame-pacing (page Last updated 2026-02-26 UTC), Background and Non-optimal solutions; Godot docs Fixing jitter, stutter and input lag (stable alias); Unity 6000.0 Application.targetFrameRate"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/tutorials/rendering/jitter_stutter.html",
      "note": "developer.android.com/games/sdk/frame-pacing (page Last updated 2026-02-26 UTC), Background and Non-optimal solutions; Godot docs Fixing jitter, stutter and input lag (stable alias); Unity 6000.0 Application.targetFrameRate"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Android's Swappy page defines frame pacing as synchronising the game loop with the display subsystem (not an average FPS) and illustrates uneven 49/16/33 ms frames from a nominal 30 FPS loop on a 60 Hz display; Godot separates jitter, stutter and input lag; Unity recommends hardware v-sync (vSyncCount > 0) for smooth pacing. Vendor taxonomies differ and do not map one-to-one. · locator: developer.android.com/games/sdk/frame-pacing (page Last updated 2026-02-26 UTC), Background and Non-optimal solutions; Godot docs Fixing jitter, stutter and input lag (stable alias); Unity 6000.0 Application.targetFrameRate · source: https://developer.android.com/games/sdk/frame-pacing

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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