Hardware Benchmark
Monitor Refresh Rate (Hz) & FPS Tester
Accurately measure your monitor's actual vertical refresh rate (60Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz, 240Hz), frame stability, and browser render performance in real time.
The Comprehensive Engineering Guide to Monitor Refresh Rates & Motion Clarity
Computer display refresh rate, expressed in Hertz (Hz), represents the exact number of times per second your monitor hardware completely scans and redraws the optical image on screen. A traditional 60Hz office monitor refreshes the display every 16.67 milliseconds. Modern esports displays operating at 144Hz, 240Hz, or 360Hz refresh every 6.94ms, 4.16ms, and 2.78ms respectively. This rapid refresh cycle dramatically decreases human perceived motion blur, reduces input latency, and delivers a significant competitive advantage in fast-paced gaming environments.
Hertz (Hz) vs. Frames Per Second (FPS) vs. Frametime: What Is the Difference?
Many PC users conflate monitor refresh rate with graphics card frame output. Understanding the distinction is vital for optimizing gaming performance:
- Refresh Rate (Hz): A physical hardware constraint of your display panel and scalar. Regardless of whether your computer is idle on the desktop or rendering a complex 3D scene, a 144Hz display scans exactly 144 times every second.
- Frames Per Second (FPS): The computational rendering rate of your graphics processing unit (GPU) and CPU. This metric fluctuates dynamically based on scene complexity, shader load, and system bottlenecks.
- Frametime (Latency in Milliseconds): The precise duration required to render an individual frame ($1000 \div \text{FPS} = \text{Frametime in ms}$). While average FPS can appear high, inconsistent frametimes cause perceptible micro-stutters and frame pacing jitter.
Display Interface Bandwidth Comparison: HDMI vs. DisplayPort vs. USB-C
A primary cause of monitors failing to operate at their rated refresh rate is inadequate cable bandwidth. Below is an empirical breakdown of standard display interfaces and their maximum refresh rate ceilings:
| Connection Interface |
Max Raw Bandwidth |
1080p Max Hz |
1440p Max Hz |
4K UHD Max Hz |
| HDMI 1.4 |
10.2 Gbps |
144Hz (Limited) |
60Hz Max |
30Hz Max |
| HDMI 2.0 |
18.0 Gbps |
240Hz |
144Hz |
60Hz |
| HDMI 2.1 |
48.0 Gbps |
360Hz+ |
240Hz |
144Hz (Uncompressed) |
| DisplayPort 1.2 |
21.6 Gbps |
240Hz |
165Hz |
60Hz |
| DisplayPort 1.4 (with DSC) |
32.4 Gbps |
360Hz+ |
240Hz |
144Hz / 240Hz (DSC) |
| DisplayPort 2.1 (UHBR20) |
80.0 Gbps |
500Hz+ |
360Hz+ |
240Hz (Native HDR 10-bit) |
Why Is My 144Hz / 240Hz Display Stuck at 60Hz? (Step-by-Step Fixes)
If this benchmark indicates 60Hz on a high-refresh monitor, execute these proven hardware and software adjustments:
- Configure Windows Advanced Display Properties: Windows routinely defaults newly attached monitors to 60Hz. Right-click your desktop > Display Settings > Advanced Display > select your gaming monitor > navigate to Choose a refresh rate and select 144Hz, 165Hz, or 240Hz.
- Inspect GPU Control Panel Overrides: In the NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Radeon Adrenalin Software, ensure the resolution is selected under the PC section rather than the Ultra HD, HD, SD (TV) section. TV timings frequently cap output at 60Hz.
- Verify Cable Standard and Port Capabilities: Many monitors only support maximum refresh rates over DisplayPort. Check your monitor documentation; older HDMI ports on 144Hz monitors are often limited to 60Hz or 120Hz.
- Disable Windows Multi-Monitor Cloned Mode: If you are duplicating your display across a 144Hz gaming screen and a 60Hz secondary display or capture card, Windows Desktop Window Manager (DWM) enforces the lowest common refresh rate (60Hz). Switch your projection mode to Extend these displays (Windows Key + P).
- Enable Browser Hardware Acceleration: If your browser benchmark is locked to 60Hz while Windows is set to 144Hz, open Chrome/Edge settings, search for Hardware Acceleration, toggle Use graphics acceleration when available to ON, and restart the browser.
Adaptive Sync: Understanding NVIDIA G-Sync, AMD FreeSync, and VESA VRR
When gaming, GPU frame output fluctuates rapidly based on graphical intensity. When the GPU output framerate does not synchronize with the fixed refresh intervals of your display, visual artifacts occur:
- Screen Tearing: Occurs when the GPU sends a new frame mid-scan, resulting in two split frames appearing simultaneously on screen.
- Stuttering: Occurs when traditional V-Sync forces the GPU to hold back completed frames until the next monitor refresh cycle.
- Variable Refresh Rate (VRR): Technologies such as FreeSync and G-Sync dynamically align your monitor's physical refresh timing to match GPU output on a frame-by-frame basis, providing fluid motion clarity without tearing.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How does this browser test calculate refresh rate accurately?
Our benchmark hooks directly into the browser's hardware-accelerated requestAnimationFrame loop and evaluates high-resolution timing via the W3C performance.now() API. By measuring microsecond intervals across multiple vertical blanking intervals (VBI), the physical scan frequency is derived with laboratory-grade precision.
Can a monitor run at 144Hz over HDMI?
Yes, provided both the monitor's input port and your graphics card support HDMI 2.0 or higher. However, older monitors with HDMI 1.4 ports cap resolution at 1080p 120Hz or 1440p 60Hz. For guaranteed 144Hz or higher with adaptive sync, DisplayPort is the industry standard.
Does high refresh rate increase electrical power consumption?
Yes, but marginally. Running a monitor at 144Hz or 240Hz consumes approximately 3W to 8W more power than running at 60Hz, due to higher clock speeds in the display scalar and timing controller (T-CON).
Why does the benchmark jitter or stutter in windowed mode?
In windowed mode, browser animation frames must pass through the Windows Desktop Window Manager compositor, which can be interrupted by background tasks or secondary monitors. Clicking our "Test in Fullscreen Mode" button bypasses the desktop compositor for pure direct-to-screen synchronization.
Does this tool work on 120Hz iPads, iPhones, and Android phones?
Yes! The benchmark dynamically measures 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz ProMotion/High-Refresh displays on modern mobile operating systems when running inside Safari, Chrome, or Firefox.