"The human eye can't see over 24fps" - Let this myth die, whilst new science reveals some people can identify high framerates

[Cern]

The eyes and brain do very strange things in this respect for example https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/68129970

I couldn't see that illusion until I squinted, then it became very clear.

It is amazing how our brains can fill in the gaps and interpolate / interpret what we see in order to present us with a more coherent view of things.

But some optical illusions work better for some people than others, so it's no surprise that some people will be better than others with framerates (although the two things don't necessarily correlate).

 

[theone8181]

I think the test is basically flawed for one simple reason... It assumes that a single light source flickering represents how the brain interprets data when it comes to frame rate.

The brain is highly interpretive.. I would happily say a 50hz incandescent lightbulb was not flickering if just staring at it, yet if I game at 120hz then drop the frame rate to 60hz it feels stuttery and awful...

Many studies have been done that show all the mechanisms the brain uses to interpret the raw data so I don't understand the crass over simplification on this test..

A good recent example would be our Samsung fridge/freezer has a filter status light, just staring at it normally you'd think it was orange but blink /move your head around and you will suddenly see its red/green alternating for a couple of iterations then your brain goes back to interpreting it as solid orange.. DLP projectors show how hit and miss people are with the rainbows and again, blinking/moving your head around will suddenly show the raw information (i.e. 'rainbows') which then settles back down to what you think is a stable picture..

On top of that you have the different response/processing rate/focus around peripheral vision and also moving/changing information and how that is processed and how acutely aware of it you are etc..

However, the conclusion of some people are more able to differentiate higher frame rates is obviously true.. but when it comes to how this plays in to gaming or sports then it's only one factor, nerve conduction and response times are made up of many parts of a chain.

Incandescent bulbs still glow after they turn off so it's not surprising you don't notice. Look at an led light out of the corner of your eye and you might see it flicker.

 

[Demon]

Incandescent bulbs still glow after they turn off so it's not surprising you don't notice. Look at an led light out of the corner of your eye and you might see it flicker.

A good point about incandescents. With LEDs, most should be driven by PWM, but generally that should be a few Khz (ours are 2.5Khz in our products), however if mixing Red/Green as described in my scenario, those may be blended at a lower frequency and maybe I should get a photo diode and see if I can measure it, because the red/green alternating seems very low (60fps or lower!)..

I also don't suffer from 120Hz flourescent flicker, it's not noticeable to me and I'd probably say in most scenarious that it was stable, yet I can certainly see a difference between 60/90/120/144hz if I game for a period of time at that frequency then switch to a lower FPS it stands out as suddenly being less smooth..

 

[RBImGuy]

The Ability to See the World at a Higher 'Frame Rate' Could Give Some Gamers an Edge - IGN

Some lucky humans are capable of seeing the world at a higher "frame rate" than others, according to the results of a new study, and the authors believe that the trait could even give those people an edge when it comes to competitive gaming and sports.

www.ign.com

The actual study article is deep linked but for ease:

Keep winning at tennis? You may see more images each second, scientists say

Elite athletes and professional gamers may have higher than average visual temporal resolution, research suggests

www.theguardian.com

Actual hard science, brilliant. I'm on the higher framerate boat, 30 fps on consoles just feels slow and sluggish, if it's not 100fps on PC or 60fps constant on console then it's not even worth playing in modern times

Just like there is a night and day difference to my eyes between 30 and 60fps, the same applies from 60 to 100 fps. Beyond 100fps I find it's just an additional bonus depending on the game, like in HZFW quick reactions with the mouse feel faster/smoother at 139fps than they do at a locked 100fps, technically speaking that makes sense since the frame times are lower at the higher fps, but after 120fps it's mostly diminishing returns in this specific area.

Oled 4k 48i and 120hz and gaming never been better smooth and alongside the 7800x3d its just works