Screen refresh rate: 60Hz vs 120Hz

[Mike Busutil]

I have Awesome performance with DCS using Max setting's, I noticed my current screen refresh rate is set to 60Hz. Could I expect better or worse setting's if I moved it up to 120Hz? Or would it not improve because it is based off of my FPS?

 

Thank's for any info : Thumbup:

Edited May 21, 2013 by Mike Busutil

[louisv]

FPS and the screen refresh rate of your screen are two independent things, one does not drive the other.

 

But if your are running the screen at 120 Hz, this could mean one of two things: your screen is a true 120 Hz screen, that can take 120 different frames per second, generally those are 3D ready screens. I don't know that you can run them at 120 Hz on non-3D data.

 

More likely your screen can get to a 120 Hz refresh rate, but on 60 images per second, much more common. In this case the high refresh rate may help, but if my TV is any indication (it has a 120 Hz refresh rate), it won't make a difference unless you carefully study the images, and even then... Not worth it. It is used in TV sales pitches...120 Hz...240 Hz...etc. and its almost pure BS.

 

If your FPS is between 60Hz and 120 Hz, and our screen is 60 Hz (and 120 Hz refresh rate or not), then the screen will not show all the frames. At a real 120Hz it would, but I guarantee you you will not see the difference, it is simply too fast for human eyes.

 

In any case your eyes dont go much farther than 30 Hz. Depending on the lighting conditions this will vary of course. This is when the sim starts to feel smooth.

 

60 Hz FPS and 60 Hz screen refresh rate is optimum for all devices involved, including you eyes.

 

 

Lou

Edited May 21, 2013 by louisv

[Darkwolf187]

Not _entirely_ true. It's quite easy to tell the difference between a game projecting 60 FPS onto a 60 Hz flatpanel versus 120 FPS on a 120 Hz flatpanel, particularly in areas of high motion.

 

The reason is that games typically lack motion blur. You can't see the difference easily on video footage because video footage has motion blur to make up for movement of objects between frames. When you lack motion blur, its much more obvious when the refresh rate is lower (objects move too far in steps).

 

Then again, back in the days of CRTs I could tell the difference between a 75Hz and a 100Hz monitor just by looking at it. LCDs have dramatically improved that because they don't flash like a strobe all the time. So a LCD at 60Hz is quite comfortable for me, whereas a CRT at 60Hz gives me a headache in no time flat.

[louisv]

You are right, I did not take motion blur into ccount...still 60 Hz is excellent for a flight sim, maybe not as much for a shooter, when taking very fast movements into account.

[Maximus_G]

Back in the days of il-2 gaming we aimed to have about 80 FPS as this was the point where the game would flow silky smooth. 60 FPS was still a bit choppy and more than 80 FPS was useless.

[TX-EcoDragon]

Only if your system is churning out a minimum average frame rate of 120 will there be much benefit from a 120Hz display. Given that such high frame rates are pretty uncommon in the flight sim genre you are probably better off getting a higher quality 60hz display, at least for flight sims.

[Mike Busutil]

Louis, you are right. I have a 3D Vision Pro display. Here are my specs, I spent a little over $6000 for this computer.

 

 

Specs:

 

Base Unit: Dell Mobile Precision M6700

Processor: 3rd Gen Intel Core i7-3920XM(Extreme 2.9GHz, 8M cache,

Memory: 32.0GB, DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM, 4 DIMM, Dell Mobile Precision

Keyboard: Internal Backlit English Keyboard, Dell Mobile Precision

Video Card: NVIDIA Quadro K5000M with 4GB GDDR5, Dell Mobile Precision M6700

Hard Drive: 512GB 2.5" (SATA3) Mobility Solid State Drive, Dell Mobile Precision M6700

Display: 17.3" UltraSharp FHD (1920x1080) 3D Vision Pro, Premium Panel Guarantee, Mobile Precision M6700

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit, No Media, Mobile Precision, English

Operating System: Windows 7 Label, Latitude, Vostro and Mobile Precision Notebooks

NIC: Dell Wireless 380 Bluetooth 4.0 LE Module, Dell Latitude E4/Mobile Precision

NIC: Bluetooth Cable, Dell Mobile Precision M6700

TBU: 240W 3P, A/C Adapter, Mobile Precision M6700

TBU: 6-Foot, 3-Pin Power Cord,Mobile Precision, US

CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive: Slot Load DVD+/-RW Drive, Dell Mobile Precision

CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive: Bracket, Optical Drive, Dell Mobile Precision M4700/M6700

Sound Card: Dell Webcam Central Software Dell Latitude/Mobile Precision

Sound Card: Integrated HD video webcam and noise reducing array microphones , Dell Mobile Precision M6700

Processor Cable: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 802.11n 3x3 Half Mini-card, Dell Mobile Precision

Feature 9-cell (97Wh) Primary Lithium Ion Battery, (3.0Ah) ExpressCharge Capable, Dell Mobile Precision P4

 

So far I am very happy with it. I have my setting's set to max it run's perfect with no issues. I was just wondering it changing from 60Hz to 120Hz would make a difference or if it would go unnoticed if not make a poor difference.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Mike Busutil

[JG27_Arklight]

Actually, you don't have to be running at 120 or 144 fps to see the benefits of a true 120hz or 144hz display. That is a misconception. It is true you won't see as much of the benefit of a higher Hz display but it IS noticable. I purchased the 144hz Asus and used it for a week. After that week I went back to a standard 60hz display and after about 10 minutes my eyes literally began to water. The technology we have on our PC displays is not the same as that gimmicky garbage that TVs boast about.

 

As was already stated, 60hz displays do have more inherent motion blur, the use of one of these displays eliminates a LOT OF THAT. If your frame rate us silky smooth at 60hz than you would more than likely see a much more noticable difference with one of these quicker displays. An additional benefit of these displays is you can turn vsync off and not get tearing (unless you exceed the 120 or 144 frame rate.

 

I have a 60hz 23", a 60hz 30", and a 144hz 23" and there IS A difference in what you see/feel while playing. I play simulations predominantly and if there wasn't a noticable difference I would have returned the 144hz in a heartbeat. Do keep in mind though that outside of a few Korean displays, 120hz and 144hz panels are pretty much restricted to YN technology rather than IPS or PLS so color and viewing angles will not be as good. Its a tradeoff.

 

Hope this helps! :)

[BTTW-DratsaB]

I too have a 120hz 3d vision capable monitor and the difference, even on the windows desktop, between 60Hz and 120hz is pretty dramatic. 120hz is far smoother. You can even notice the difference with mouse movement on the desktop. I find the the blurring you get with 60hz LCDs distracting in game. I think I will always try to get another 120hz monitor if I have to replace this one. Even if I never use 3D again.

[SkateZilla]

I'd like to know what hardware you'd be running if you plan on having DCS Run and Maintain 120 Fps........

(Edit: didnt see the specs above)

 

I've seen people with beefier rigs not able to maintain 60 Fps in combat and over populated areas,

 

But, If you can do it, and it works for you, and you like it, why not give it a shot.....

 

 

I too have a 120hz 3d vision capable monitor and the difference, even on the windows desktop, between 60Hz and 120hz is pretty dramatic. 120hz is far smoother. You can even notice the difference with mouse movement on the desktop. I find the the blurring you get with 60hz LCDs distracting in game. I think I will always try to get another 120hz monitor if I have to replace this one. Even if I never use 3D again.

 

Blurring is usually a result of slow response time, but doubling the refresh rate frequency can definitely make things better

Edited May 21, 2013 by SkateZilla

[Scoggs]

I want to know what settings you are running to get 60+ Fps (which would be optimal for having 120hz). On mid high when I was on 1080p I has 60 without mavs or my tgp running. Only asking since I have a i7@ 4.6GHz and a 580.

 

 

Unfortunately(not really :p) I went the other way. I went for more resolution over FPS(i.e. greater than 60Hz). Now on medium settings I get mid 40's at 1440p(WQHD). But now I can easily read everything in the cockpit. I need a new gfx card with more ram :(

Edited May 25, 2013 by Scoggs

[Mike Busutil]

I'm not sure what my FPS are but I have all settings set to high and can run my MAV display or TGP display with no hesitation at all. It's completely smooth. I just made a video the other day of my start up and takeoff with my settings on max. This was recorded with FRAPS and with 60Hz set on my screen. I have since moved it up to 120Hz. The quality of this video even on 1080P is not as nice as I see it on my computer....

 

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

i have a question in this regard....

i have a 60hz ips screen at 1920x1080

however, if i change the resolution to 1440x900 it can run at 75Hz....

so whats recommended?

will i see benefits of running it at 75hz instead of 60?

 

i dont run DCS at 1920x1080 anyway, cause my rig is a pretty old and weak one, so i reduced the resolution to gain fps...

[winz]

Native resolution (max) is allways better on LCDs