Let's talk about LCD refresh rates...

The other day I bought a new LCD TV, it is supposed to be 120Hz. When I read the TV manual the screen was described as 60Hz yet the TV is definitely advertised as 120Hz. This discrepancy got me to thinking about a thread I read somewhere on here about the new 1920 x 1080 panels coming out that would be at 120Hz. I am going to make the assumption that in the laptop computer world a 120Hz panel means a true refresh rate of 120 times a second.

In the TV world I am now thinking that many of the 120Hz and 240Hz claims are a case of creative marketing. The 120 or 240 is actually referring to the insertion of extra frames to enhance the 60Hz max that gets delivered to the TV via the HDMI cable. Having said all this I do think for some reason the picture generated by the 120Hz process does look better even if it is being delivered to a 60Hz panel. I don’t understand why it does, but it does.

In the past the panels for computers have always been ahead of panels for TV... haven’t they. Is there truly such a thing as a 1920 x 1080 240Hz panel? Has TV technology jumped ahead of the laptop computer? There are many knowledgeable people on this forum and I look froward to some clarification on this topic. Hopefully it is not deemed to be to far off topic...

Cheers

 

As far as 120 and 240hz TV's in general. If the source is in 60Hz then 120hz modes for example are interpolating frames. I think its a bunch of crap BUT the examples I have seen as you say DO look better.

Also remember on the 240Hz end that there is a limitation to what resolutions are supported by the current hdmi spec. That only affects a native 240hz source though anything done internally by the tv is not a problem. I forget what the resolution limitation is though.

As far as TV screens jumping ahead of laptops? Why wouldn't they have, they support a broader size range lol. As far as LCD computer screens in general no. While some things have evolved and changed due to the TV market. The computer market was way ahead of TV's in terms of resolution and resolution for a given size. At this point developments for reasons from both sides collide and the main difference is a Tuner if that seeing how you usually only need HDCP support.

 

My tv came before this whole craze of 120hz, mine was advertised as 2X60hz processor, it was a way to get a frame of complete black turn to complete white faster, so there would be less ghosting on the screen. Your tv may be the same way, it may have an option called "smooth motion" or something of the like.

Id only be worrying if you have these symptoms
A: distracting ghosting, thats like lets say a black figure walking across the screen and he looks like he is leaving a shadow or trail behind him.
B: Screen tearing, were the screen looks like half the screen shifts over all of a sudden, like the screen is being ripped in half. If this is on your pc, things like VSYNC will fix this issue.

If you don't get any of these problems, you shouldn't worry, my 52 inch sharp has no ghosting despite it only being 60hz and I used to get screen tearing from my G73jh lappy, I've updated the drivers since then and force VSYNC and I have no slow downs or screen tearing issues, and I play lots of fast action FPS games.

 

As far as screen tearing on the laptop. Yeah just enable VSYNC. I am not sure if 120hz laptop screens will fix that or not but I have had that problem before and I VSYNC on laptops anyways to keep the heat down.