How much Hertz should my TV have?
Why 100Hz?
A 50Hz TV is able to show 50 frames per second. A 100Hz TV can show double the amount. When you're watching a talk show, you won't notice the difference. A 100Hz TV is especially suitable when it comes to fast moving images, like soccer or tennis matches and races or action movies. Each quick action is displayed smoothly.
50Hz or 100Hz for gaming?
For gaming, it doesn't matter whether your choose a 50Hz or 100Hz TV because current consoles aren't able to display images in 100Hz. Yet, there is a chance that a 100Hz TV needs a little more time to create extra frames. In turn, this can cause a delay between the moment you press a button and when it's shown on the screen. This delay is also called input lag. You can still safely choose a 100Hz TV, as modern TV's have a setting called Game Mode that disables the creation of extra frames.
Brand-specific vs native
TV brands always have their own names and calculations for refresh rates. That's why, for every TV, we communicate a general rating that's equal for every device. This is called the native Hertz rating. This way, you can easily compare TVs made by different brands.
Brand | Refresh rate terminology | |
---|---|---|
LG | Picture Mastering Index (PMI) | |
Panasonic | Black Light Motion Rate (BMR) | |
Philips | Perfect Motion Rate (PMR) | |
Samsung | Picture Quality Index (PQI) | |
Sony | MotionFlow XR |