Curiousity about Refresh Rates

[Maximus1]

Just a stupid little curiousity question....
I can't seem to remember what the optimal refresh rate is for a 17" monitor. I heard that anything past a certain number is overkill (think it's 85Hz). If I let my TNT2 set it to optimal it sets it to 100Hz which I think might be unnecessary. If someone wouldn't mind please "refresh" my memory. (I know that was a terrible pun but it's been a long day and I couldn't resist.

 

[thorin]

Well first of all there's no such thing as overkill in this case. You should always aim for 85Hz or better to avoid headaches, eye strain, etc... It makes no difference to the video card what it's set to, it will still process graphic data and the max rate possible, and then the RAMDAC will output it to the screen as often as your refresh allows. ie: Q3 can report that you are getting 120fps and the card is calculating and doing the work for 120fps, but at 85Hz the only thing you really output to the screen is 85fps.

Thorin

 

[RSI]

Optimal refresh rate for a 17" monitor? It entirely depends on the resolution.

Let's just assume that the system you're using can max out the monitor.

Most 17" monitors can refresh at insane rates in 640x480 (150Hz and up - but this is off the top of my head)

If you are using 1024x768, 85Hz sounds fine.. but if you can use 100Hz or higher and not lose any visual quality (as the refresh rate increases, the image may get blurrier and less readable, due to the dot pitch of the monitor). For me, I get 72Hz at 1024x768 on my 15".. I'm limitted by my built-in 1MB Cirrus Logic.. I could do flicker-free refreshes in this resolution, but then again the image would be blurry.

-RSI

 

[Maximus1]

Getting 100Hz at 1024x728, so from what you guys have said, this should be fine. Thanks for the input.

 

[FatAlbo]

Here's a quote from Tweak3d's Monitor/Visual tweak guide:


<< The optimal refresh rate for any given resolution on any monitor is 75Hz. Anything higher than this can be overly taxing on your monitor and can cause its overall image quality to degrade. >>



I have no idea whether it's true or not; just quoting something.

[edit]
Forgot to put a link to the guide if anyone is interested.
http://www.tweak3d.net/tweak/monitor/
[/edit]

 

[Ulysses]

That Tweak3D info is crap.

You should look at your monitor's manual to see what the max settings are for your resolution and apply that.

 

[Kill_Phil]

this is weird, when i set my monitor higher than 60hz, ithe corners look like they are wiggleing back and forth really fast, but at 60hz, this goes away??
my res is 1280x960 on a kds vs 195

 

[Pariah]

If you increase your refresh rate too high (120+hz) your picture will begin to get fuzzy. If you look at monitor manufacturer's website, they often list optimal refresh rates, and they are never over 85 hz. There is no reason why you would need anything higher than that anyway.

 

[IonBlade]

Kill_phil: Try to look on your monitor to see if there are settings for horizontal and vertical moire anywhere; if so, turn them on and fiddle with them. When I first moved from a small monitor that could only do 75hz at 800 to my 21&quot; (1280X1024X85), I also noticed that phenomenon. I don't know why it does this, but the horizontal/vertical moire settings fixed it for me. Hope I've been of help.

 

[Kill_Phil]

yes, i have these moire controls, but they either dont do what they are supposted to do, or are broken. because all they seem to do is make it more fuzzy everywhere when i turn them up. the best setting is when they are zeroed out and that is where they vibrate back and forth =\
like i said, 60hz works perfectly tho??!!?!

 

[Burn]

I run my Samsung 900NF at no less then 100Hz. I don't put my screen resolution at 1600x1200 because my monitor won't do 100Hz at that high of a setting. For me refresh rate is an issue, I can't stand anything less than 100Hz when I am typing something like I am right now. I don't know how any one can stand 75Hz. That is my 2 cents...