several years ago we did an episode explaining refresh rates for monitors
and tvs but things have changed quite a bit
these days with displays featuring super high refresh rates adaptive sync
technology and ultra high resolutions so
it's time for round two of what you should know before committing to just
one display for a hopefully fulfilling long-term relationship and this video is
sponsored by Intel now the first thing it would probably
help to know is why a high refresh rate monitor is
good so a higher refresh rate measured in
hertz will not only make many kinds of motion on your screen look smoother it
can also be quite important for gaming you see contrary to popular belief the
human eye is actually really really good
at detecting changes in motion that is to say that no it is not limited to 24
frames per second so a higher refresh rate display coupled
with a powerful graphics card and processor will make animations appear
more realistic by reducing choppiness and blur and increasing immersion
another benefit is that not only is the action smoother but you're actually
seeing more frames in other words you're
catching visual elements that you might be missing with a more run-of-the-mill
display in a fast-paced game this is actually more than just an aesthetic
advantage and can even give you a competitive edge
in fact many competitive gamers and esports teams value high refresh rate
monitors because they allow the player to see things just a little more clearly
or quickly than their opponent now as i alluded to before however to
reap these benefits you need powerful hardware to spit out frames quickly
enough to keep your monitor fed if you drop extra money on a 144hz monitor for
example but your graphics card can only muster 30 or 60 frames per second in the
games you play most often many of those screen refreshes that you
see won't actually contain new frames of
information so your experience isn't going to be any better another thing to
consider is exactly how high of a refresh rate you need these days it's
quite common to see one tier of high-end monitors that offer a 120 or 144hz
refresh rate and then another tier of displays that can push out 165 200 or
even 240 refreshes per second
unsurprisingly the monitors tend to get more expensive as the refresh rates get
higher while offering diminishing returns for many people
now the vast majority of us can easily tell the difference between a 30 and 60
frame per second video or game but it's a bit harder for some folks to
tell the difference between 60 and 120 and harder still once you get up above
200 so if it's at all possible to try
before you buy then by all means do that so you're not plunking down money for
something that you won't even get maximum enjoyment from
this is especially true if you're not gaming as applications for frame rates
beyond 60 are very limited i mean even ultra smooth
online video typically maxes out at around 60 frames per second so don't
pick up an expensive monitor thinking that it's going to make your entire
computing experience that much better
furthermore it's important to remember that there are often trade-offs if you
go for the very top end of the monitor stack
very high refresh rate models often use tn panels as it's more difficult to
incorporate high refresh rate tech into ips displays
tn panels which you can learn more about up here offer fast response but
typically they have noticeably worse color and viewing angles compared to
other display types and that's not to mention even that most
of the 240 hertz monitors out there are currently limited to 1080p resolution
now it should be noted that more advanced solutions such as one
millisecond ips panels ultra wide 200 hertz and even 4k at 144
hertz have just made their way to the market and they promise incredibly
awesome experiences with even HDR at those resolutions and refresh rates
but that assumes you've got very
very deep pockets so whatever you go with just make sure
that you're leaving some room in your budget for the games themselves or
you're not really gonna enjoy it that is unless
maybe we could just start shooting Techquickie at 240 FPS so i'll look just as
smooth as i do on the dance floor
yeah we all know that's not what i look like on it well we all
know that is what i look like on the dance floor it's not smooth speaking of smooth this segue to our sponsor if
you're interested in what Intel thinks you should be looking for in a gaming monitor head over to
www.Intel.com gaming where you'll find an assortment of educational resources
for pc gaming and hardware not only can you shop for the latest gaming laptops
and desktops but you can also get tips mods and information on esports so be
sure to check out their article on how to buy a gaming monitor which we've
linked in the video description so thanks for watching guys like dislike
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