Cursor smoother at 60Hz than 75Hz?

[hidispenser]

I have a 19" CRT monitor (Gateway VX900, driven by a BFG 6600 GT OC) and after some experimenting just became conscious of the fact that when I have Windows XP set to the god-awful refresh rate of 60Hz, the mouse cursor's movement actually appears SMOOTHER than when it is at 75, 85, and 100Hz.

By mouse cursor movement, I mean simply moving the cursor 4-5 inches across the desktop's wallpaper using low to moderate speed. Try it. At Hz above 60, there appears to be a double image (i.e. choppiness) when looking at the very tip of the arrow or at the bottom of the stem. But at 60Hz the arrow itself appears more consistently solid. The one caveat is that although the cursor is more solid at 60Hz, there are also times when it seems to "jump" an extra 5mm or so, as though a frame was dropped. But even with this ocassional dropped frame, the cursor movement appears smoother overall.

This effect seems present at all resolutions, more or less, but particularly pronounced at 16x12. I even tried 56Hz for the hell of it and it looks choppy.

Is this just my equipment? Is this just an illusion? If not, why does this happen at the magic number of 60? Could it have something to do with how Windows spits out its 2-D graphics?

 

[xtknight]

You probably need to increase your mouse rate.

 

[jiffylube1024]

For god's sakes, don't use anything less than 75 Hz in Windows on a CRT, preferrably 85Hz or 100Hz if your monitor can do it!

 

[hidispenser]

I use the Logitech MX1000, which has a set rate of 125 Hz.

But, the mystery deepens:

At 60 Hz, moving the mouse arrow over the desktop's wallpaper and within Windows Explorer produced a smooth cursor, however, if you move it over a blank Firefox or Internet Explorer page it suddenly gets jerky!

But at 75Hz, moving the mouse arrow over the desktop's wallpaper and within Windows Explorer produced a jerky cursor, however, if you move it over a blank Firefox or I E page it suddenly gets smooth!

Try this out for yourself! Run Firefox or IE in a smallish window and move the cursor off the page. As the arrow transitions from Firefox to whatever your desktop wallpaper is, the mouse suddenly gets jerkier (or smoother, as the case may be) as though a car has just left the highway and is now on a dirt road. Tell me you don't see this.

What is going on here?

 

[xtknight]

I sort of see what you're saying, but it's an illusion I'm pretty sure. 75 Hz is still all around smoother.

 

[hidispenser]

Definitely -- 75 Hz is easier on the eyes, and is what I use for 1600X1200 Windows. The 60 Hz starts to make my head hurt after only a few seconds. But I just thought it weird that the cursor is smoother in some applications than in others.

It really makese no sense that the cursor moves smoother over an all-white IE window, than an all-white desktop wallpaper background. What's the difference; it's both just white space? At first I thought it was a video issue, hence this forum, but maybe it's due to how Windows allocates memory or CPU to the mouse or something (sorry, I'm only semi-technically literate) based on what application it's hovering over.

Anybody know?