Monitor Refresh Rate
Detect your monitor's refresh rate in your browser.
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What Is a Monitor Refresh Rate Test?
A monitor refresh rate test detects how many times per second your display redraws the image, measured in hertz (Hz). The tool uses the browser's requestAnimationFrame API to count rendered frames over a sampling window and estimates your true refresh rate. Typical results are 60 Hz for office monitors, 120/144 Hz for mid-range gaming panels, and 240 Hz or 360 Hz (now even 540 Hz) for competitive esports displays. It also reports a confidence level showing how consistent the frame timing was. Refresh rate is not the same as frame rate (FPS): refresh rate is how often the monitor can show a new image, FPS is how many the GPU produces, and the smoothness you get is capped by whichever is lower. A crucial subtlety is frame time — a steady 144 Hz means a new frame every 6.9 ms; uneven frame times (stutter) feel worse than a lower-but-consistent rate, which is why this test reports timing consistency, not just an average. Knowing your real refresh rate confirms your display runs at its advertised speed and that your OS has not silently defaulted it to 60 Hz.
How to Use the Monitor Refresh Rate Test
Click start to begin detection. The tool measures frame intervals over several seconds, so keep the browser tab in the foreground and avoid scrolling or switching windows during the test. When it finishes you see your refresh rate in Hz, the matching FPS value, and a confidence rating; high confidence means the timing was consistent and the result is trustworthy. If the number is lower than expected, the usual culprit is your OS: many monitors ship set to 60 Hz even when they support more, so check Windows Display Settings or macOS Displays and pick the highest rate. Also confirm the cable — HDMI 1.4 caps 1080p at 144 Hz and 4K at only 30 Hz, while DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.1 are needed for high-refresh 4K. If your monitor supports variable refresh rate (G-Sync / FreeSync / HDMI-VRR), the reading may fluctuate because the panel is deliberately matching its refresh to the GPU's output to eliminate tearing — that is expected. Re-run the test after changing any setting to confirm it took effect.
Why Your Monitor's Refresh Rate Matters
A higher refresh rate delivers smoother motion, lower input lag, and less perceived motion blur — real advantages in fast games. The jump from 60 Hz to 144 Hz is instantly obvious when you pan the camera, and aiming feels far more responsive because a 144 Hz screen shows a fresh image every 6.9 ms versus 16.7 ms at 60 Hz, cutting the worst-case delay before you see an enemy. But the benefit only lands if your GPU can push enough frames: a 240 Hz monitor fed 80 FPS looks no smoother than a 144 Hz panel at 80 FPS — the extra Hz are wasted refreshes of an unchanged image. There are diminishing returns, too: 60 to 144 Hz is dramatic, 144 to 240 Hz is subtle, and 240 to 360 Hz is measurable mainly to trained competitive players. Panel technology matters alongside Hz — a 240 Hz TN or OLED panel with 1 ms response clears each frame cleanly, while a slow IPS or VA panel at the same Hz smears, because pixels cannot change colour fast enough to keep up. Verifying your real refresh rate ensures you get the performance you paid for and that no software setting is quietly capping it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the test show 59 or 143 instead of a round 60 or 144?
Small gaps are normal. The tool counts the frames the browser actually paints, and that pipeline drops the odd frame to background tabs, the OS compositor, or browser-imposed timing limits, so a true 60 Hz panel often reads as 59-60 and a 144 Hz one as 142-144. A result within a couple of Hz of a standard rate almost always means your monitor is running correctly — trust the confidence rating, not the last decimal.
Can a browser test under-report my real refresh rate?
Yes, it can — so read it as an estimate, not a lab measurement. Browsers can cap animation timing, throttle background or battery-saver tabs, and some setups sync the page to a lower rate than the panel's maximum. For the truest reading, run it full-screen on mains power with other tabs closed, and cross-check against your OS display settings, which report the rate the monitor is actually set to.
Is a high refresh rate worth it if I don't play games?
Many people notice it outside games too: scrolling text, dragging windows, and the mouse cursor all look smoother at 120 Hz or more, and some find it easier on the eyes over a long day. The gains are subtler than in fast shooters and depend on the panel and your own sensitivity, so it's a nice-to-have for general desktop use rather than a must-have — try a side-by-side if you can before paying a premium.
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