Displays aren’t static. Content and motion appears smooth on your phone’s screen because every pixel updates to display the latest content from your handset’s processor. But this doesn’t happen randomly. Panels update their content at regular intervals, known as the refresh rate.
The refresh rate measures how quickly the phone’s display updates. In other words, how often and quickly the content on the screen refreshes. Measured in Hertz (Hz), the refresh rate counts the number of times the display refreshes every second it is on. A 60Hz display refreshes 60 times per second, 90Hz is 90 times per second, and 120Hz is 120 times per second. So a 120Hz display refreshes twice as fast as a 60Hz panel, and 4x faster than an old 30Hz TV.
Faster update times also mean lower latency, because the pixels are being refreshed more often. For example, it takes 16.6 ms to fully refresh a 60Hz display, 11.1ms for 90Hz, and just 8.3ms for a 120Hz rate. Refresh rate isn’t the only factor in round-trip display latency, but it’s the largest contributor.
Your smartphone’s screen doesn’t refresh all at once each cycle though. Instead, each horizontal row of pixels refreshes in turn until the whole display updates at the required rate. You can see this in action if you film a display in slow motion and it’s the reason why displays flicker if you view them through your smartphone camera’s viewfinder. In other words, your display is constantly updating and refreshing, but it takes the cycle time to complete one full refresh.
A quick note on touch sample rate, a related but different metric. Also measured in Hz, the sample rate tells you how many times per second the touchscreen looks for input from the user’s finger. A higher touch sample rate means less lag between input (touch or swipe) and action, which is especially important for fast-paced games.
Higher refresh rate displays make moving content look and feel smoother and snappier. Although most content, such as swiping through your emails and interacting with Facebook’s UI don’t really benefit from anything above the standard 60Hz rate. Remember, lots of video content plays back at the industry standard 24 frames per second, or 24Hz. Yet apps and content with lots of graphical motion appear smoother with a higher refresh rate display.
Faster displays make the most noticeable difference when it comes to gaming. Higher frame rates and faster display response times can have a noticeable impact because visual latency is lower and gameplay appears smoother. PC gamers regularly swear by 120Hz and even 144Hz displays. Now mobile gamers can benefit too, albeit on a much smaller screen. However, high frame rate gaming requires a beefy, energy-hungry processor too. This ensures that the graphics frame rate keeps up with the high display refresh rate.
The refresh rate measures how quickly the phone’s display updates. In other words, how often and quickly the content on the screen refreshes. Measured in Hertz (Hz), the refresh rate counts the number of times the display refreshes every second it is on. A 60Hz display refreshes 60 times per second, 90Hz is 90 times per second, and 120Hz is 120 times per second. So a 120Hz display refreshes twice as fast as a 60Hz panel, and 4x faster than an old 30Hz TV.
Faster update times also mean lower latency, because the pixels are being refreshed more often. For example, it takes 16.6 ms to fully refresh a 60Hz display, 11.1ms for 90Hz, and just 8.3ms for a 120Hz rate. Refresh rate isn’t the only factor in round-trip display latency, but it’s the largest contributor.
Your smartphone’s screen doesn’t refresh all at once each cycle though. Instead, each horizontal row of pixels refreshes in turn until the whole display updates at the required rate. You can see this in action if you film a display in slow motion and it’s the reason why displays flicker if you view them through your smartphone camera’s viewfinder. In other words, your display is constantly updating and refreshing, but it takes the cycle time to complete one full refresh.
A quick note on touch sample rate, a related but different metric. Also measured in Hz, the sample rate tells you how many times per second the touchscreen looks for input from the user’s finger. A higher touch sample rate means less lag between input (touch or swipe) and action, which is especially important for fast-paced games.
What 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz means for my phone?
Higher refresh rate displays make moving content look and feel smoother and snappier. Although most content, such as swiping through your emails and interacting with Facebook’s UI don’t really benefit from anything above the standard 60Hz rate. Remember, lots of video content plays back at the industry standard 24 frames per second, or 24Hz. Yet apps and content with lots of graphical motion appear smoother with a higher refresh rate display.
Faster displays make the most noticeable difference when it comes to gaming. Higher frame rates and faster display response times can have a noticeable impact because visual latency is lower and gameplay appears smoother. PC gamers regularly swear by 120Hz and even 144Hz displays. Now mobile gamers can benefit too, albeit on a much smaller screen. However, high frame rate gaming requires a beefy, energy-hungry processor too. This ensures that the graphics frame rate keeps up with the high display refresh rate.
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