Gamers frustrated by sluggish graphics could welcome new nano technology from the Australian National University (ANU) that promises ultra-fast rendering on gaming consoles.

An international team of scientists, based in Australia and Germany, designed a tiny antenna — 100 times thinner than a human hair — which could improve the speed at which data is processed for games.

Senior ANU researcher Professor Dragomir Neshev said faster speeds would mean improved graphics, animations and special effects.

"The hardcore gamers would really like to have a much smoother experience and the graphics are currently a bit pixilated even in the best games," Professor Neshev said.

"This nano device allows the data to be transmitted in optical wires between the processors in the gaming consol.

"This means the data can be transmitted at a very high speed and the rendering and the gaming experience can be a lot smoother."

Professor Neshev and the team was the first to create "a tiny optical nanoantenna device", which can transmit information thousands of times faster than metal wires

He said currently graphics on games were being "bottlenecked" by the copper wires used to transmit the data.

Like the NBN but on a miniature scale

Professor Neshev described the benefits of the invention as "pretty much like the National Broadband Network".

"It is similar to the NBN, but this is happening on a computer chip rather than large distances," he said.

"In a similar way as the NBN, one can increase the data transmissions to improve the communication between the different chips on the computer, so we can see better high-resolution rendering and in general a better gaming experience."

And while the invention could have wider implications in improving transmission speeds on a silicon chip, Professor Neshev said the benefits for gaming were the most exciting and relevant.

"Gaming consoles represent practically the most powerful computing that is happening for everyday people apart from the super computers," he said.

Professor Neshev said he hoped the technology would be on the market soon for gamers to enjoy.

"The bigger companies like Intel and IBM are looking into optical solutions for transmitting data," he said.

"There are examples where they've released products like this.

"I believe what we can give these companies is a new type of technology that can be integrated within their current plans and that can probably speed up the development of that technology."