What is refresh rate?
Refresh rate (measured in Hz) is how many times per second your display updates the image. 60Hz means 60 updates per second. 144Hz means 144 updates per second.
Does refresh rate matter?
For gaming: Yes. Higher refresh rates make motion smoother and reduce input lag. The jump from 60Hz to 144Hz is immediately noticeable to most people in fast-paced games.
For office work and browsing: The jump from 60Hz to 120Hz makes scrolling smoother and the interface feel more responsive. Beyond 120Hz, the difference is marginal for non-gaming tasks.
For video playback: Most video is filmed at 24 to 60 frames per second, so a 60Hz display is sufficient. Higher refresh rates do not improve video quality.
Diminishing returns
- 60Hz to 120Hz: Major improvement. Almost everyone notices immediately.
- 120Hz to 144Hz: Noticeable to enthusiasts and gamers.
- 144Hz to 240Hz: Only visible in fast-paced competitive gaming with trained eyes.
- 240Hz to 360Hz and above: Marginal difference. Only relevant for professional esports.
How to check your actual refresh rate
Use our Refresh Rate Test to verify your monitor is running at its advertised rate. Many monitors default to 60Hz even when they support higher rates. You may need to change the setting in your display preferences under Windows Settings or System Preferences on macOS.
The relationship with frame rate
Your refresh rate only matters if your GPU can produce enough frames to match it. A 144Hz monitor showing 60fps content looks the same as a 60Hz monitor showing 60fps. For the full benefit, you need your games running at frame rates equal to or above your refresh rate.
What does 60Hz actually mean?
A 60Hz display redraws the entire screen 60 times every second, which means each frame stays on screen for about 16.7 milliseconds. At 120Hz that drops to 8.3ms, at 144Hz to 6.9ms, and at 240Hz to 4.2ms.
That frame duration matters more than most people expect. While a frame is held static, your eyes keep moving to track objects on screen, which smears the image across your retina. This is called persistence blur, and it is why a 144Hz monitor looks sharper in motion even when pixel response time is identical.
How many Hz do you need for a given frame rate?
Your monitor can never show more unique frames per second than its refresh rate allows. The rule is simple: you need at least as many Hz as the frame rate you want to see.
| Target frame rate | Minimum refresh rate |
|---|---|
| 60 fps | 60Hz |
| 120 fps | 120Hz |
| 144 fps | 144Hz |
| 240 fps | 240Hz |
Rendering above your refresh rate is not entirely wasted. Extra frames slightly reduce input latency because the most recent frame is newer when the display refreshes. But without variable refresh rate or V-Sync, those excess frames arrive mid-refresh and cause screen tearing.
60Hz vs 120Hz vs 144Hz vs 240Hz
60Hz is the baseline. Perfectly fine for documents, browsing, and video, which is mostly shot at 24 to 30fps anyway. In fast games it feels noticeably less responsive.
120Hz is the biggest single upgrade you can make. Frame time halves, motion clarity roughly doubles, and even scrolling a web page feels different. Almost everyone notices this jump without being told what changed.
144Hz adds a smaller but real improvement over 120Hz, and has been the mainstream gaming standard for years because it is affordable and most mid-range GPUs can actually feed it.
240Hz and above is territory for competitive shooters. The gains are genuine but small, and they only materialize if your GPU can sustain those frame rates, which usually means lowering settings.
What is a good refresh rate for a monitor?
- Office work, browsing, writing: 60Hz is adequate, 120Hz is a pleasant luxury.
- General use and casual gaming: 120Hz to 144Hz is the sweet spot for price versus benefit.
- Competitive FPS: 240Hz or higher, paired with a GPU that can hold those frame rates.
- Video and film: 60Hz is enough, since higher rates add nothing to 24fps content.
- Creative and color work: refresh rate barely matters; prioritize panel accuracy instead.
Refresh rate on LCD versus OLED
Refresh rate is a signal timing property, so a 144Hz LCD and a 144Hz OLED both redraw 144 times per second. The difference is what happens during each refresh.
OLED pixels switch in under 0.1ms, so almost all remaining blur is persistence blur. LCD pixels take between 1ms and 20ms depending on panel type, so an LCD adds pixel transition blur on top. This is why a 120Hz OLED often looks cleaner in motion than a 144Hz VA LCD, despite the lower number on the box.
Why your monitor may not be running at its advertised rate
This is more common than people realize. Windows and macOS frequently default to 60Hz even on a high refresh rate panel, and several things can silently cap it:
- The display setting was never changed from the 60Hz default.
- The cable does not have the bandwidth for that resolution and refresh rate combination.
- The cable is plugged into a port that runs at a lower spec, such as an older HDMI input.
- A GPU driver update reset the display configuration.
On Windows, open Settings, then System, then Display, then Advanced display, and select the highest rate in the refresh rate dropdown. On macOS, open System Settings, then Displays, and check the refresh rate selector. Then verify the result with an actual measurement rather than trusting the setting.