Refresh rate
How many times per second a display redraws the image on screen, measured in Hertz (Hz). Higher numbers mean smoother motion and lower perceived input latency.
Refresh rate is one of the most visible spec upgrades you can make to a display. The number tells you how many discrete frames per second the panel is capable of showing. 60 Hz redraws 60 times a second; 120 Hz, 120 times; 240 Hz, 240 times.
Why it matters
Higher refresh rates produce three effects that humans notice immediately:
- Smoother motion. Scrolling, dragging, cursor movement, and gameplay all look fluid instead of stepped.
- Lower perceived input latency. Each frame brings new information sooner, so the gap between your action and the screen's response shrinks.
- Reduced motion blur. Each frame is on screen for a shorter time, which reduces persistence-blur even without other tricks like black frame insertion.
What's the right number?
For most general-purpose phones and laptops, 120 Hz is the current sweet spot. Going above it has diminishing returns for non-gaming use. For competitive gaming, 240 Hz and beyond is meaningful — see the OLED glossary entry on why that's now achievable without IPS-era response-time tradeoffs.
For TVs, 120 Hz with HDMI 2.1 covers all current console output. 144–165 Hz exists on a handful of high-end OLEDs but you need a PC source to use it.
When higher isn't better
If your content is locked to a fixed framerate (24 fps cinema, 60 fps sports), a higher-refresh panel doesn't make those sources smoother. Variable refresh rate (VRR) helps games but doesn't help passive video playback.