What Is Refresh Rate and How Important Is It?
In order for your monitor or TV to show moving images, these displays need to change the pixels shown on the screen. That’s called refreshing the image. The faster that display refreshes the image, the faster the refresh rate it will have.
The standard refresh rate in the case of most TVs and monitors is 60 Hz. That means the screen will display an image 60 times per second. You will rarely notice the difference between refresh rates because they are way too fast for our eyes to detect them.
However, some types of content like very fast games or action movies, even sporting events started to bring in a sense of blur when intense movement popped on the screen. LCD sets started to have this problem, with plasma screens encountering this as well.
The solution for any problems like this is to increase the refresh rate. And that’s why you can find units with 120Hz or more. Currently, 240 Hz monitors are available, which are great for gaming.
The higher the refresh rate is, the faster the TV or monitor will refresh the screen per second. While you can see the difference from 60 Hz to 144 Hz, the difference is not that noticeable once you get past that. Sure, things may be a bit smoother, but in the end it’s something that you do need to pay a lot of money for. And considering how much you get for that small speed increase, it may not be a major advantage.
A TV with the 120 Hz refresh rate isn’t really worth it because there aren’t major differences between them. In fact, you will just end up being frustrated that the content you get here is not that amazing to begin with. You will see improvements if the refresh rate is higher and you play videogames on them. But unless you find a way to monetize video games for you, then the investment may not be worth it in this case either.
Does it matter if you play at a lower refresh rate? Yes, it does. It’s not a huge difference, you will just have more blur when compared to the person that has a higher refresh rate. But these differences may very well matter in the long run, especially if you are the type of player that puts a lot of hard work and commitment into his gameplay. It’s always a very good idea to take your time as you figure out what refresh rate works for you.
Testing multiple refresh rates on various monitors is a very good idea. However, this comes with a cost. You really have to find a sweet spot between your budget and the overall quality that you can obtain from something like this. Once you do that, you will find no problem enjoying the experience!
