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TV refresh rates: How to see through the TV industry’s biggest lie

This is the biggest prevarication told to TV shoppers — and how to see through it

People watching an LG ZX OLED 88-inch 8K TV
(Image credit: LG)

Tv set manufacturers honey jargon. Whether it'due south adopting new technical features like HDR or adaptive effulgence, or only slapping a branded proper noun onto a standard feature, trying to parse what'south what on a given TV can exist a pain, even for the best TVs.

Simply at that place'due south one area where details aren't but cloudy, they're sometimes downright dishonest, and that's refresh rates. This simple specification should be an hands understood number, but for several reasons it's non. Information technology's not even information that's easily constitute, in many cases.

Hither's the low down on what refresh rates are and why they're important, why Boob tube makers curve the truth, and how you lot can spot the lie and go the straight info to make a more informed TV purchase.

Refresh rates explained

Expressed in Hertz (Hz), a TV's bodily refresh rate tells you lot how many times per second a new frame or image can be put upwards on screen. The human eye starts stitching these images together to create the illusion of smooth movement at rates as depression equally 24 frames per second, the frame rate traditionally used in film and movies.

Most TVs today offer one of two refresh rates: 60 Hz, which refreshes the display image 60 times per second, and 120 Hz, which refreshes 120 times per second. That 120Hz is actually the better of the two, since fast moving objects, like a slap shot in hockey, or a laissez passer thrown in football, may wait a little blurry or choppy, depending upon how the TV handles motion smoothing.

Refresh rates compared: 60Hz versus 120Hz

(Image credit: Sony)

But there's a difference between the display's refresh rate (measured in Hz) and the source content frame rate (measured in frames per 2d or fps). When the refresh rate and the betoken charge per unit lucifer, it's perfect, and you'll exist seeing exactly what the creator intended. If there'southward a mismatch, still, the Tv will need to use some video processing techniques to brandish content properly.

For a very long time, 30fps was the standard, and it's however a common refresh charge per unit for circulate TV and older media similar DVD and 1080p Blu-ray. But newer media often takes reward of the newer capabilities to offering higher frame rates better suited to your TV. Gaming in detail has adopted higher frame rates, with the latest consoles offering 60Hz and 120Hz gameplay.

The higher frame rate is likewise i of the few TV specs that can hands communicate that i Boob tube is better than another, at least for this 1 feature. Information technology's easy to look at the frame charge per unit and understand that 60 is good, 120 is meliorate, and leave information technology at that.

LG ZX OLED 8K

(Image credit: LG)

Tv refresh rates: How the truth gets blurry

That's groovy if you're selling 120Hz TVs, but less so if you lot desire to compete confronting those models with a 60Hz brandish. However, with the processing the TVs already take to do to match source frame rates to brandish refresh rates, TV manufacturers saw an opportunity to dirty the waters.

At that place are some very sophisticated approaches to this, merely here's the uncomplicated version: TV makers have figured out that they can mimic higher frame rates by adding an extra flicker. By pulsing the backlight on and off in between those 60 refreshes, the alternating design of new frames and blinked lite provides the illusion of a college frame rate… sort of.

As a result, y'all'll often see TV specs list something called the "effective" refresh rate, which is double what the TV's panel can actually practice. Some brands volition utilize different terminology, just the underlying reality is the same – at that place's a difference between the actual refresh rate of the Telly display panel and what you're told in the product specs and marketing materials.

What that really means is that manufacturers can employ that light pulsing flim-flam to claim a higher number than the TV actually supports. If y'all play 120Hz content on a 60Hz display, but crash-land the constructive rate up past flickering the backlight, it won't magically display all 120 frames of content each second. Instead it will brandish 60, dropping half of the frames to friction match the actual refresh rate that the brandish tin can handle.

TVs volition as well use heavy handed motion smoothing techniques to give the illusion of smoothness that a higher frame charge per unit would impart. It is also sometimes called the Soap Opera Event, considering it makes everything expect a little blurry or smeared. (Acquire how to plow it off in our guide to the 5 TV settings you should modify now.)

How to spot the refresh rate prevarication

Samsung Q70T QLED TV specifications with motion rate

(Prototype credit: Samsung)

Equally with seemingly every other feature on modern TVs, different brands use different terms for this artificially boosted frame rate claim.

The first cerise flag to watch for is "effective rate" when discussing frame rates. As a rule, the effective rate volition exist double what the panel can physically display, so the actual refresh rate is half that number: an effective rate of 240Hz is really 120Hz, and effective rate of 120Hz is really 60Hz, and then on.

Sometimes it's fifty-fifty higher, as companies will double downwards on the trickery to merits a 240Hz refresh charge per unit on a 60Hz panel.

Here are what the unlike Telly makers phone call their ain "constructive refresh rate" technologies.

  • LG - TruMotion
  • Hisense - Motion Rate
  • Samsung - Clear Motion Rate
  • Sony - Move Menses XR, X-Motion Clarity
  • TCL - Clear Motion Alphabetize (CMI)
  • Vizio - Clear Activity

The easy style to spot the existent number is to wait for the words "native" or "actual". These terms have legal definitions, and fudging these numbers can land Telly makers in legal trouble.

Vizio MQ7 specifications missing refresh rate

(Image credit: Vizio)

Unfortunately, that particular spec may not always be easy to notice. In improver to hiding behind the terms listed above, many times a Television set's refresh won't even be listed on the manufacturer's product folio. Some will omit that specification altogether, while others will simply leave it blank.

The good news is that we're watching out for y'all. We include the real refresh rate in the specs of every Television we review – whether it's dug upwards from less accessible textile, confirmed by a customer service tech or PR rep, or tested ourselves – so that you have the correct information for any TV nosotros recommend.

Brian Westover is an Editor at Tom's Guide, covering everything from TVs to the latest PCs. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he wrote for TopTenReviews and PCMag.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/tv-refresh-rates-how-to-see-through-the-tv-industrys-biggest-lie

Posted by: barnettankining.blogspot.com

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