59Hz-60Hz refresh rate madness

i have come across a strange behavior on my VAIO SA2 regarding the LCD's refresh rate.

a right-click on the desktop and selecting Screen Resolution > Advanced Settings brings up a dialog box with multiple tabs, among which the following two are the subject of this post:



the refresh rate in the Monitor tab is 60Hz whereas it is 59Hz in Intel's tab. changing it to 60Hz in the latter and clicking Apply does nothing, and it reverts back to 59Hz automatically. what i should do to change it is to click on Graphics Properties in the Intel tab which opens Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel application:



here, the refresh rate is set to 59Hz as well. changing it to 60Hz and clicking Apply sets it to 60Hz instantaneously but the value of refresh rate in the Intel tab in the first picture above remains unchanged at 59Hz. also, during this change, the screen does not go blank at all like it should. on the other hand, if i choose 50Hz and click Apply (in the second picture above), the screen does go blank for a second while the refresh rate is set, and then its value in both the Intel tab and in the Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel application change simultaneously to 50Hz. now, if i choose 60Hz and click Apply (in the second picture above), the screen goes blank again, and i get a 60Hz refresh rate in both windows. this is the only way i have found to set the refresh rate to 60Hz.

the annoying thing is that putting the laptop to sleep (powering it down) and waking it up (turning it on) reverts the refresh rate to 59Hz, and i have to do all the above to set it back to 60Hz.

it seems to me that since changing the refresh rate from 59Hz to 60Hz does not work in the Intel tab and also does not force a blank screen in Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel, these two refresh rates are treated as equal, all the while the refresh rate in the Monitor tab being 60Hz. there is an inconsistency between these three values! however, if i first change it from 59Hz to any value other 60Hz and click Apply then change it to 60Hz and click Apply, it will stay at 60Hz until a sleep or a restart.

i am aware of the issue of Windows 7 treating 59.94Hz and 60Hz equally while showing the former as 59Hz, but it looks a bit different to me as the value in my Monitor tab is always 60Hz whereas Microsoft's article describes a scenario where that particular value is always 59Hz. moreover, i don't remember having this issue before; i am currently using SONY drivers (8.862.4.1000 released on 08/26/2011) but had done an update to newer AMD drivers > clean with Driver Sweeper > install old SONY drivers back.

any ideas, tips, comments will be greatly appreciated.

 

You want 59hz. It's actually 59.94, but intel calls it 59. It's the alternating rate of US alternating current, and not coincidentally the exact refresh rate of "60P" content and also 60i. It also happens to be the speed that HDTV's look for, as well as most LCD monitors.

Why is this bothering you exactly?

 

i actually want 60Hz. i have super sensitive eyes, and i can see the flicker of a CRT monitor (i am serious). i know that LCDs do not refresh like CRTs, but the faster the refresh rate is, the less stressed my eyes are. i have been having a weird headache/dizziness recently in the last three weeks, exactly when i started to notice this issue with my monitor (they might not be related at all, but i didn't have this condition and my monitor's refresh rate used to be 60Hz; just saying).

it's bothering me because i don't understand why my laptop has started to behave like this all of a sudden (and also because i am OCD ).

as far as i know, the alternating current frequency in the US is 60Hz exactly, not 59.94Hz. also, what i don't understand is why Intel's programs reports both 59Hz and 60Hz separately when they're treated equally by Windows 7 (see the article by Microsoft i linked to in my first post). moreover, i'm not talking about an HDTV and "most" LCD monitors here; it's happening on my laptop's internal LCD panel.

this is an insightful post about this whole mess.

EDIT: i'm not mad/pissed at you, and i thank you for replying to my post; just wanted to make sure there is no misunderstanding.

 

^Right, and if you get to the end of that article you see that 59.94 is where it's at - and you are getting 59.94.

And if that article you linked is correct, then I stand corrected about A/C rates. Learn something new every day

Regardless, things are encoded at 59.94 (or 29.97 interlaced) and if you run video contant at 60.0 you get frame stutter a couple times per minute (I'm an HTPC guy).

Does your CRT truly not flicker when plugged in to a true 60.0hz source? I find that surprising that 6/100 would contribute to that. But anything's possible.

 

i don't have a CRT, but when i did many years ago, i could see its flicker (or any other CRT's flicker, for that matter). and i just wanted to see if there is any way to set the refresh rate to 60Hz permanently. now if 59.94Hz is the true frequency (and is being shown as 59Hz), then i think all is okay.

 

^Promise, it's 59.94. I use GMA HD for media center applications....