Refresh Rate vs. FPS? What are the differences?
|
Table of Contents [Hide] |
Today's gaming monitors offer better image quality and colors and can display image content more smoothly when gaming. The two words we most often mention when choosing a gaming monitor are refresh rate and frame rate. As important parameters of a gaming monitor, refresh rate and frame rate are especially important for the gaming experience. These are also two concepts that can be easily confused. Knowledge of refresh rate and frame rate can also help us choose a gaming monitor.
What is Refresh Rate?
The refresh rate indicates how many times per second the electron beam repeatedly scans the image on the screen. The higher the refresh rate, the more stable the displayed image. The refresh rate directly determines the price, but since refresh rate and resolution restrict each other, only a display with a high refresh rate at high resolution can be described as excellent performance. Just like our high refresh rate monitor provides a fantastic gaming experience.
The refresh rate is divided into vertical and horizontal refresh rates, and the generally mentioned refresh rate usually refers to the vertical refresh rate. The vertical refresh rate indicates how many times the screen image is redrawn per second, i.e., how many times the screen is updated per second, in Hz (Hertz). The higher the refresh rate, the better, the more stable the image, the more natural and clear the image display, and the less impact on the eyes. The lower the refresh rate, the more flickering and jerky the image will be, and the faster your eyes will tire. In general, the flickering and jerky image can be completely eliminated if the refresh rate can reach more than 80 Hz, and the eyes will not tire too much.
You can understand that the refresh rate is the number of screen updates per second. When we watch a movie, we actually see a series of still images, just like a slideshow. Why do we feel that the image is moving? This is because the human eye has a visual memory effect. The impression of the previous image in the brain has not disappeared, and then the next image follows, and the difference between the two images is very small. An action requires many images to display. We feel that the screen is moving, and each screen change is updated. Suppose an action is completed with 20 images. We look a bit like a cartoon. This action is increased to 30 images. If it is higher, it looks more natural. This is the refresh rate.
What is FPS (Frames Per Second)?
FPS is the definition in the field of images and refers to the number of frames per second that the image transmits. In general, it refers to the number of frames of an animation or a video. FPS is a measure of the amount of information used to store and display dynamic videos. The more frames per second, the smoother the displayed movement. Usually, the minimum is 30 to avoid jerky movements.
In the gaming world, FPS can mean two things: First-Person Shooter or Frames Per Second. In this article, we refer to the latter. Essentially, FPS indicates how many frames your GPU renders and outputs to the monitor per second. Each frame is a static image. But when they change fast enough, they create the illusion of motion. The number of frames refers to the image quality transmitted in 1 second and can also be understood as the frequency with which a graphics processing unit (GPU) can render a new image per second, usually expressed in FPS. Each frame is a still image rendered by the graphics card, and the rapid sequence of playback shows that the frame changes to create the illusion of a moving image. In other words, the frame rate is the speed at which the image changes. As long as the graphics card is powerful, the image becomes smoother and smoother.
What is the Difference Between Refresh Rate and FPS?
1. Fundamentally Different
The number of frames (FPS) generally refers to the speed at which the screen is updated within one second, and 60 fps means that 60 frames appear in one second.
The refresh rate is generally displayed on the monitor/screen. For example, a monitor with a high refresh rate of 144 Hz means that the upper limit of the physical refresh rate of the monitor is 144 frames per second.
2. Different Determinants
Frame rate (FPS): The graphics card in the computer plays a crucial role in the frame rate. The more powerful the graphics card, the higher the frame rate and the smoother the image.
Refresh rate: It is determined by the monitor, which requires the support of the monitor panel and the driver computer, and this data comes from the output of the graphics card.
If the frame rate is 1/2 of the refresh rate, the graphics card outputs the same image to the monitor each time. If the frame rate is twice the refresh rate, each time the image changes twice, only one of them is sent to the monitor. Therefore, a frame rate higher than the refresh rate is invalid. The vertical synchronization option of many games is to force the game's frame rate not to exceed the refresh rate.
Does Refresh Rate Affect FPS?
The answer is yes. If the "resolution" of the display remains unchanged, the higher the FPS, the higher the computational power requirement of the graphics card. The images displayed on the computer are all output by the graphics card, so the filling of each pixel on the screen must be calculated and output by the graphics card. If the resolution of the image is 1024 × 768, and the refresh rate of the image needs to reach 24 frames per second, then the number of pixels that the graphics card needs to process in one second reaches "1024 × 768 × 24 = 18874368". If the screen refresh rate needs to reach 50 frames per second, the amount of data suddenly increases to "1024 × 768 × 50 = 39321600". The relationship between FPS, resolution, and the computational power of the graphics card is as follows: computational power = resolution × refresh rate. That's why when playing games, the higher the resolution set, the more uneven the image will be.
Using vertical synchronization technology, the frame rate can be better adapted to the refresh rate. Usually, the number of frames without vertical synchronization can be infinitely high, but since the refresh rate is limited by the monitor's hardware, the 200-frame image can be displayed on a 60Hz monitor, and the smoothness of the 200-frame image is actually comparable to that of 60 frames, and the remaining 140 frames are all invalid frames. Our 120Hz Gaming Monitor with FreeSync is perfectly suited for Xbox PS5 games.
The dynamic image of a complete action that we see on the monitor is rendered every second by the image processor in the graphics card. The video signal of 60 frames with near motion is called 60 frames. After that, the electron beam in the display scans the images on the screen 60 times per second to achieve a clear and fluid display effect. If the frame rate is lower than the refresh rate, the image displayed on the LCD monitor freezes. In contrast, the LCD monitor only displays the effective frame rate under the refresh rate limitation. So, the refresh rate determines the number of effective frames.
Leave a comment