Could someone please explain the difference between the 60Hz and 75Hz settings on monitor resolution? I had to reset my Westinghouse 17" widescreen monitor to 1280 x whatever, and these were the two choices. I chose the 60Hz, thinking this would at least match the house current. Is the higher setting for European homes? Thanks in advance.
The refresh rate is what is referred to by these 60 / 75 Hz settings, not the frequency of the current being supplied by the local utility. Where I live, utility frequency is 50Hz. An earthing problem in my main supply cost me the transformers on several household items a few years back, including a 17" CRT. The refresh rate setting on that monitor would have not have prevented the damage no matter how closely I matched it the the household supply.
The 60/75 being spoke of here is the rate at which the photon guns in the CRT will fire (dunno how it relates to LCD though). In CRTs, the faster the better - it causes less flicker. Someone else will have to advise regarding LCD but I would suspect that similar rules would apply...
The frequency is the refresh rate, the rate at which the image data is sent to the monitor and drawn on the monitor. For CRT monitors, the higher the better, as higher means the image is re-drawn more frequently and you see less flicker. For LCDs, generally 60Hz is the best, and flicker is not an issue.
Thanks to both of you! Yes, my widescreen is an LCD. I wonder why it's even an option, why they put CRT settings on it, if 60Hz is good enough. I take it I wouldn't notice anything different if I set it at 75Hz, but would any damage occur to the monitor if I set it that high? The manual really doesn't address these questions...
Thanks for getting back to me so soon! That transformer problem would fry me...the city would be buying me some new equipment! But it is food for thought even for me...I plan to have the monitor plugged into a surge protector so maybe it won't be vulnerable to power fluctuations such as those you experienced.
For LCDs, I need to correct this with information I have gotten form LCD manufacturers I have spoken too:
This is a common mistake, when people say LCDs don't need refresh rates. The truth, they do, but not in the same words though. A refresh rate to an LCD is how many times a second, the panel updates the content on the screen. A lot of LCDs use 60 Hz as it's just basic and just works. However, better LCDs (and oddly enough, Apple LCDs do NOT count), ones made for gaming, use 75 Hz refresh rate, to update the LCD panel 75 times a second to show more of the frame rates in the games.
Generally, if your LCD shows 75, and it works, use it, this means your LCD is updating at 75 times a second, and you would notice smoother motion if you have the eyes to notice it. For example, in the Display properties, select 60 Hz. Move the window around, notice how it's motion is. Now set it to 75 Hz, notice the window now moves around the LCD smoother, as the panel is actually updating the contents faster.
It's sad that Apples own LCDs only use 60 Hz, as they are quite expensive, and my cheap Jetway LCD, can do 75 Hz.
What you're saying assumes that the LCD has no response time and no ghosting, which is not the case even with today's best LCD with 8ms response time. A response time of 16ms, if the measurement is completely true, would only require a refresh rate of 1/0.016s = 62.5Hz. Besides, high quality LCDs use DVI which is fixed as 60Hz.
Response time and update time (refresh) are not related.
Response time, is how long the LCD takes to take that signal, and put it into an image. Refresh rate (or update), is how many times the LCD updates in a second.
The two are related, but not the same. Think of it like this, refresh (or update), is like the fps, but response time, is the delay.
Now, quite some amount of high quality LCDs do in fact use 75 Hz, though they are rare, and is why a lot of people still think LCDs use only 60 Hz.
EDIT: Let me try and make this easier. Response time: Move you mouse, how long did it take for the image to respond. Refresh rate (or LCDs update rate), how smooth did it move.
"Response time and update time (refresh) are not related...The two are related..."
Uh huh?
You need to do some more reading. Response time is how fast a pixel can change. Given that response times are high relative to refresh rates, having a high refresh rate doesn't provide any benefit because images can be sent to the display faster than the display can physically change (disregarding any of whatever processing you're referring to) the image it's showing.
Response has NOTHING to do with how long it takes for your actions/inputs to go through all the necessary processing and appear on the screen.
Well, I certainly don't know what it means, so I asked!
Thanks for such an informative response! My monitor is DVI-capable, but it's hooked up with a $10 VGA cable and seems to be fine with that. I'll experiment with the Hz setting like you suggest and see what difference that makes, now that I know what it's supposed to do!
