The faster the refresh rate, the better the picture

What are refresh rates? I’ve heard of a 120Hz refresh rate being pretty good but I don’t really understand why – what difference does a higher refresh rate make to one’s HD viewing?

The refresh rate is the number of times per second that a display draws picture data. It is measured in Hertz (Hz), a measurement of cycles per second. So 60 Hz means 60 times in a second. The faster the refresh rate, the less the picture flickers, which reduces eye strain, and provides a better watching experience.

The 120 Hz discussion comes from the LCD TV
world. LCD TVs have a history of causing blur (or ghosting) during fast action like sports or video games. So manufacturers have increased the refresh rates on the picture to 120 cycles per second to provide a crisper viewing experience.

By the way, on LCD TVs
, I usually skip the Hz number and look for the response rate measured in milliseconds (ms). Response rate is the time it takes for an LCD pixel to change from a white pixel to a black pixel. The lower that number, the better. For example, the newer Sharp Aquos TVs have a 4 ms response rate. Older LCD TVs
had a response rate of up to 15 ms.

There is a deeper discussion of LCD and refresh rates here.