Refresh rates on a CRT with Vsync.

OzZie · 8 Mar 2006 at 17:55

Hi all,

I've just swapped my dads 17" CRT with my crappy 3 year old TFT and apart from being able to go to higher resolutions, i can also go to higher refresh rates. Now, as i understand it, the higher the refresh rate, the less chance of getting headaches from gaming/working etc. Does this apply to CRT's and not TFT screens?

If the higher refresh rate the better, then is it wise to use say 120Hz and then use Vsync to stop "tearing" (even though i havent a clue what tearing is)

Thanks

Chris1712 · 8 Mar 2006 at 17:58

tearing is when the fps is more than the refresh rate, so it sorta skips frames and looks like tearing of the picture! Very noticeable when you actually see it.

The difference is that TFT/LCD screens, although yes theyre lower refresh, the bits that arent changing dont refresh, so right now all that blue of these forums isnt refreshing, just the things that are actually changing, hence it can get away with lower res because the whole screen doesnt flicker which is what hurts your eyes!! *BREATH*

sorry about that long whinded explanation hopefully you kinda get it!

monkeypants · 8 Mar 2006 at 17:59

The refresh rate thing only affects CRTs because of the way they work. Use the highest refresh rate you can with Vsync on, tearing is where, say, if you span around really fast on an FPS, lamposts, walls and other suff you can see the edges of appear stepped.

fish99 · 8 Mar 2006 at 19:19

You don't necessarily have to use the highest refresh rate available on a CRT. As long as you use at least 85 HZ the picture should look solid and you shouldn't get headaches. Your video card drivers should have a refresh rate override facility to force games to use a high refresh rate, because under XP some games can default to 60 Hz, which is really horrible.

Gregeff · 8 Mar 2006 at 19:41

It really depends on the person. To me a CRT flikers at anything under 100Hz, but some people don't even see a 60Hz screen flicker!!! Most say about 85Hz is flicker free. Just use a refreshrate that doesn't flicker to you.

Also often, as you increase the refresh rate on a CRT, the image gets less sharp, as the monitors electronics are getting pushed to their limit. So using 120Hz is over the top as it's probably making the monitor less sharp. Try 100Hz or 85Hz if it's flicker free to you