Just enter the televisions in some section of the electronics store to come across equipment that promise refresh rates of 60 Hz, 120 Hz and even 480 Hz. However, beside the label provided by the manufacturers, there is rarely any additional information that helps to understand what that data means in reality.
Although logic tells us that a higher value represents something better in practice is not quite what happens. Aware of the psychological effect that large numbers of consumers have in mind, many companies use this aspect as a way to "trick" the public and convince them to take home a product that is not necessarily the best.
In this article, we clarify the advantages of owning a TV with a good refresh rate of images which show the tactics that manufacturers use to "handle" this data. Check out our clarification below:
The issue of refresh rate
Usually measured in Hertz (Hz), the refresh rate of a television relates to the amount of frames it shows every second. Virtually all materials coming into your home are produced at 60 Hz, they are programs made available through networks of cable TV, DVDs or Blu-rays.
The reason manufacturers try to increase this amount of frames is a typical limitation of LCD panels related to their response time - the speed at which each individual pixel switches between an active and an inactive state. With large screens often have trouble in this direction, which results in the appearance of "blurry" images or displaying artifacts that seem to follow the movements made by some person or object.
To avoid this problem, companies have created a technique in which each of the 60 frames sent by the source of the content is played twice - which produces an effective frequency of 120 Hz Although the benefits of this practice is questioned by some experts, the theory is it forces the brain of the viewers the best record the difference between frames in succession, ending the feeling that there is "unfocused" or "blurred" elements.
Take into account that, when introduced, this technology has been accompanied by new techniques of image processing which also helped to improve the experience offered by LCD panels. So it was not just the increased refresh rate that could reduce the artifacts that appeared on the screens.
The beginning of the "farce"
The use of higher frequencies as "strategy" of marketing can be connected to 2009, when they started the first panels that promised a refresh rate of 240 Hz arise while some manufacturers actually delivered what they promised - and effectively update 240 pictures times every second - while others used an "alternative method" to achieve this effect.
This "middle option" involves manipulating the way the rear panel LED lighting behaves. Typically, this piece of hardware is always on, however you can make it "flashing", which makes your eyes see images followed by a totally black panel in quick succession.
How this switching happens extremely quickly, you don’t notice what is happening and, technically, comes to see two images per second - even if one is only a black screen. This common practice, which usually also reduces smudges, is sold by companies such as whether the product actually offer a refresh rate doubled.
In practice, what happens is that instead of observing the double-frame images, the consumer is seeing the same picture twice - and there are displaying a completely black panel between this repetition. The method is considered a "liar" by some, brings benefit to the fact that this results in products with a reduced price of production in relation to those who bet on real rates of update.
Another method used to reduce "smearing" is to increase the processing capabilities of a product video - technique called by some manufacturers of "motion smoothing" (smoothing movements, in a free translation). How many TVs have mixtures of these three techniques, most manufacturers adopt generic values in order to "hide" the consumer the actual refresh rate of your products.
What are the advantages of a higher frequency?
Even if you have a product that actually has a higher refresh rate is not always a good idea to use their abilities to the fullest. Frequencies above 60 Hz can produce a surreal effect during playback of movies and television programs, since the additional tables may cause some of them seem too fast - plus details of the background earn in detail, which can deliver use of low quality and poorly planned special effects materials.
The advantages offered by a greater refresh rate occur when accessing content that involve fast movements - like sports or video games. In such cases, it is worth investing in a product that has a markedly effective rate update, since this helps make it easier to follow the action.
As a general rule, if what you're watching involves the focus on the faces of real people talking, it is better to reduce the frequency used to prevent them seem "creepy dolls". But when it involves watching a lot of action or fictional characters interacting in a virtual environment, it pays to bet on a steeper rate update - fortunately, many of televisions available on the market allow you to perform this switch easy way through some control commands remote.
How to escape unrealistic values?
Unfortunately, hardly the manufacturers display the actual value update their products in time to convince the public to buy them. However, there is one factor that makes it quite clear that a TV suffers from a case of "false advertising": the price.
How to use a higher refresh rate requires more powerful hardware, you will hardly find a device with a frequency of 240 Hz being sold by a real "cheap" value. This explains why products specialist brands like Benq, usually more expensive than devices made for a wider audience.
In practice, most of the big names in the market like Sony, LG and Samsung, usually bet on a "blended" approach, adopting both techniques effectively increase the rate of frames per second as appealing to the use of different lighting techniques.
Although the solutions that they do not move directly with the refresh rate of a device to help stop the occurrence of "smearing" the methods used for this vary. To make sure you're not bringing home a "misleading" product, please find information about it on the internet and checking the presence of such terms as "motion smoothing / motion interpolation", which increases the chance that we're dealing with a panel 120 Hz (or more) real.
If the device under examination does not contain the processing power associated with such characteristics, the chances are great that it has a panel of 60 Hz using a special illumination technique.
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