Does refresh rate matter?

[Zoinks]

I don't mean for games or movies or other motion intense tasks. But for, say, typing an email? An old CRT monitor will flicker as the phosphor decays. But wouldn't a modern LCD just keep those pixels on until it gets a refresh?

 

[ShintaiDK]

In that case it doesnt matter much. And yes, LCD is always on.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

LCD is always on and so doesn't flicker, refresh rate only matters when images are continuously moving.

 

[lehtv]

It matters little in your case. However 144hz is actually still nice to use on the desktop. The mouse cursor moves more smoothly and scrolling PDF's is more fluid, for instance. But overall, 60hz IPS is preferable to 144hz TN.

 

[know of fence]

It also matters for power efficiency, notebooks can lower their refresh rates to save battery (phones probably as well). We should hope that at some point we will have TVs and monitors with variable refresh rates which can match the frame rate of not just games but also video.

Monitor LCDs can't actually go below 30 Hz, they decay, too. To match a movie framerate of 24 a sync'ed monitor would have to refresh at 48 Hz, or any multiple of 24.

 

[xorbe]

Note, use 120Hz (or less) desktop for nvidia, otherwise it keeps the hardware in a power-eating state. Then choose "max gaming refresh" in 3D settings.

Monitor LCDs can't actually go below 30 Hz, they decay, too.

I consider this a defect of LCD screens, no reason they can't just hold (refresh) the last frame if nothing shows up within the minimum refresh time. Might drop a frame when the gsync restarts, but better than glitching black frames. A 5K frame is only about 43MB buffer at worst, 11MB for typical 1440.

 

[Madpacket]

Yes refresh rate matters. Even while not playing games. Unless you live in an area with prohibitable energy costs 120 or 144hz makes everything better. More accurate mouse movements. Easier to drag and drop. Easier to navigate GUI's in general. Just make sure you have a good mouse to match.

 

[imaheadcase]

Yes refresh rate matters. Even while not playing games. Unless you live in an area with prohibitable energy costs 120 or 144hz makes everything better. More accurate mouse movements. Easier to drag and drop. Easier to navigate GUI's in general. Just make sure you have a good mouse to match.

Not for majority of the people.

 

[Madpacket]

Not for majority of the people.

What's not? Energy costs?

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Not for majority of the people.

Smoother is better, some people can't fully appreciate that, but most people can at least tell the difference. It tends to be one of those things you don't notice when you're using it but when you remove the benefit it's extremely noticeable.

 

[lehtv]

Note, use 120Hz (or less) desktop for nvidia, otherwise it keeps the hardware in a power-eating state. Then choose "max gaming refresh" in 3D settings.

I'm actually running 144hz and my GTX 970 downclocks fine on the desktop :thumbsup: