Refresh Rates: Understanding the 60Hz, 144Hz, and 240Hz Gaming Displays

If you are an avid PC gamer, you?ve probably heard a lot about 60Hz, 144Hz as well as 240Hz monitors. For a person who has used a 60Hz panel for a long time, it would be quite challenging to decide whether to upgrade to a 144 Hz or a 240Hz display. All monitors have information describing refresh rates somewhere on the chassis. The ?Hz? term is what tells you about the magnitude of the refresh rates. The higher it is, the more times the monitor screen refreshes in a second. For instance, a 60 Hz panel will refresh images on display 60 times in one second while a 144Hz panel does this 144 times in a second.

When the refresh rate is higher, images on the screen are going to be updated faster, which is highly advantageous when playing action-themed games where every moment is critical. Refresh rates are quite similar to the analogy behind frame rates in a video game title with minor differences. Frames measured per second represent the number of frames that your graphics unit renders in a second during a refresh rate test.?

It means that for a 60Hz panel displaying 300 frames per second (FPS) game, whatever images are displayed on the screen are five times less in frame updates than is possible. Here, we?ve made it easier to understand the fundamental differences between these refresh rates and what you should expect in terms of performance and image quality, considering your ability to afford the different panels.

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Why do Refresh Rates Matter?

Refresh rates determine the maximum rate that your display can update the image, and the frame rate dictates whether the program is changing its output at that same speed. These are the number of video frames that are being transferred to your screen in a second. For your computer to take full advantage of refresh rates, it needs to move data to the screen quicker.

However, less demanding tasks like watching movies or productivity tasks are not dependent on the refresh rate. A monitor refresh rate test proved that Movies run at 24 fps and can be adequately handled by the basic 60Hz panels with ease. Having higher refresh rates won?t make the videos look any different. These refresh rates only matter most while gaming. Games process the data sent to the screen of the GPU, so if your card is powerful enough, time taken for sending data to the display is much shorter, and that enables you to enjoy high frame rates upwards of 100fps.?

Advantages of High Refresh Rates

Gamers who get the most out of high refresh rate panels are the eSports players and competitive first-person shooter games such as Overwatch and Counter-Strike Go. Having a high refresh rate means that you get a smoother picture that helps you track quick-paced action. It is also easier to aim down your sights since now, and target movements are more fluid. There is also less blurring effects with high refresh rates since the human brain registers changes from one frame to the next as a continuous video instead of the collection of still images that are there. This filling effect often comes off as blurring, and if more data is relayed to the brain in more persistent frames, the movement now seems smoother and sharper.?

The 240Hz panel has lower input lag compared to the 60Hz and 144Hz panels. The input lag refers to the delay between making input and the input being registered in the game. This input could be a sudden mouse displacement or a key pressed on the keyboard. The high refresh rates significantly lower the input lag as there is a short time between the input and the resultant change on the screen. The time difference could be minimal, but this could mean a massive boost in combat scenarios. For hardcore gamers, every little advantage goes a long way, and if money isn?t a concern, going for the monitors with the highest refresh rates, you can get your hands on give you a significant edge.??

144Hz vs. 240Hz

Most gamers believe that the leap from 144Hz to 240Hz isn?t as significant as that from 60Hz to 144Hz. The 240Hz panel is currently available on 1920×1080 displays only, which is a limit for 4K gamers. 240Hz monitors also don?t come cheap compared to the 144Hz displays. The performance shift between these refresh rates is significant but not anywhere close to that you get from the jump from 60 to 144Hz. The 144Hz is currently the standard competitive minimum, and as GPUs get more powerful and cheaper, it is expected that the 240Hz will take over the markets. The high refresh rates are advantageous as they are future-proof as well.?

For gamers with a focus on competitive or combat multiplayer games, high-performance GPUs and refresh rates of over 144Hz for gaming monitors are crucial. As games revolutionize and get more intensified, we can only expect them to demand more firepower from our gaming units.