Response times, refresh rates and their effect on 'Tearing' in games...

Duff-Man

Duff-Man

Duff-Man

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I'm hoping you guys can clear up something which has been bugging me about TFTs in general:

I've been using a CRT monitor since the beginning of time, as I've always considered them better for gaming. I've been considering moving on to a nice high-quality 24" TFT, but I'm still pretty concerned about 'tearing'.

I've got a 19" Iiyama VM pro 454 at the moment. I like it because it will do 100Hz at 1600*1200 (which is the resolution I game at). The refresh rate is so important because that that frequency the effects of 'tearing' in games are barely noticable, whereas at 85Hz or 75Hz the tearing is much more prominent.

So this is what's been holding me back. I see lots of TFTs with quoted response times <10ms (which would effectively be >100hz), but it seems they're only rated to operate with the graphics card set at 60 or 75Hz.

Basically I want to know WHY we can only run at these refresh rates, rather than going higher, on TFTs. Also how does the tearing of a CRT monitor of given refresh rate compare to that with a high quality 24" TFT (like the 2407WFP)? How does the response time factor into all this, and what effect does it have on tearing?


Thanks to anyone who can help me clear this up. Also, I know I could enable v-sync to reduce tearing, but I hate the poor performance and the sudden step changes in framerate. Triple buffering is great - if and when it works...
 
High refresh rates on CRTs are important to minimise eyestrain and headaches ...TFTs give a more stable picture (constantly lit pixels should the image remain stationary) making refresh rate less of a concern. Not many TFT manufacturers consider gamer's peak framerates I'd bet, and their screens will sell at 60Hz in any case (no need to fund extra research and development). Also, the quoted response rates are only in G2G or white/black/white and do not consider the rest of the colour spectrum, which is often significantly worse...making a higher refresh rate pointless.
 
I understand the traditional benefits of high refresh rates in CRTs, but I've always been more interested in the secondary benefit of reducing tearing effects. I understand that isn't a high priority for TFT manufacturers, but I really want to know whether it has the same effect as with CRTs?



Take two TFTs, both running at 60Hz, one with a very high response time and the other with a much much lower response time.

Would the tearing be any less noticable with the low response time monitor, or is it entirely dependent on refresh rate?


Also, have people tried running their screens at higher refresh rates? Can they be reliably run at 75 / 85Hz? On CRTs at least 85Hz is a big improvement over 60...
 
This is just one of those things you've got to put up with if you want the space/energy saving of a TFT. As you've said yourself, the lower the refresh rate, the more and more noticeable tearing you get, so at 60 Hz with v-sync off on a TFT you will get some nasty tearing. And in my experience things don't improve by running at 75 Hz which is probably because the screen still runs at 60 Hz internally.
 
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