# Refresh Rate on new LED/LCD Flatscreeens



## Smoke (Dec 2, 2010)

I will first admit that I am no guru on TV's, Stereo equipment, etc. But I was recently shopping for a new flat screen for my Living room. I (thought) I did an in-depth research on them (Plasma vs. LCD, 1080p, 60Hz or 120Hz or 240Hz Refresh rate)....Which brings me to my pet peeve, the Refresh Rate. All the articles and store Salesmen leads you to believe that the higher refresh rate is better and fast moving objects (Footballs, pucks, bullets, etc) won't have shadowing. Which is true. So I buy the 60" LG LCD/LED with 3D and 240Hz refresh rate and 1080p.....my cable company (Comcast) only broadcasts in 60Hz refresh rate!!!!!:hissyfit: Unbelievable!?!


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Smoke said:


> I will first admit that I am no guru on TV's, Stereo equipment, etc. But I was recently shopping for a new flat screen for my Living room. I (thought) I did an in-depth research on them (Plasma vs. LCD, 1080p, 60Hz or 120Hz or 240Hz Refresh rate)....Which brings me to my pet peeve, the Refresh Rate. All the articles and store Salesmen leads you to believe that the higher refresh rate is better and fast moving objects (Footballs, pucks, bullets, etc) won't have shadowing. Which is true. So I buy the 60" LG LCD/LED with 3D and 240Hz refresh rate and 1080p.....my cable company (Comcast) only broadcasts in 60Hz refresh rate!!!!!:hissyfit: Unbelievable!?!


You should return it and purchase a Plasma. Especially if concerned about screen refresh, Plasmas are outstanding in this respect and offer fantastic black level and when talking about an upper tier panel like you appear to have just purchased, a Panasonic ST50 or Samsung Plasma might save you a significant amount of money.


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## Smoke (Dec 2, 2010)

I understand that plasmas have higher refresh rates but if your cable provider is only offering 60Hz, it doesn't matter does it?


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

Boy that's a can of worms! LCDs will take the 60Hz signal and convert it to 120 or 240Hz through interpolation. The discussion should probably be more about how your set handles the conversion. 120 and 240Hz refresh rates came about at the birth of flat panel sets to combat something known as motion blur. They would use some mathematical algorithm to add frames to the content. The frames were nothing new, just copied source frames

It is a common misconception that this problem still exists today in every flat panel on the market. Most of the newer flat panels, LCD and plasma, have no issues with a 60Hz signal at all. And refresh rate is simply a leftover from a couple years ago. But don't worry, I'm sure the marketing folks will come up with something new in the not to distant future for us to grumble about! :T


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Smoke said:


> I understand that plasmas have higher refresh rates but if your cable provider is only offering 60Hz, it doesn't matter does it?


You also can hook up an Antenna and get OTA HD. The difference in PQ is staggering as the compression that is required to provide 2 billion channels and On Demand is not there. Also, there of course is Blu-rays you can view. While I too watch TV more often than not, I do use an Antenna for network shows and football games whenever possible.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Jungle Jack said:


> You also can hook up an Antenna and get OTA HD. The difference in PQ is staggering as the compression that is required to provide 2 billion channels and On Demand is not there. Also, there of course is Blu-rays you can view. While I too watch TV more often than not, I do use an Antenna for network shows and football games whenever possible.


That is a very good point Jack and one that I hadn't ever thought of. I have Time Warner and sometimes deal with this when watching sporting events. I'll have to give OTA HD a try and see if that makes a difference for me.


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## WooferHound (Dec 8, 2010)

From what I understand . . . There is noone that broadcasts Television at any framerate higher than 30 hz. Even blu-ray is normally a 24 hz framerate and I'm fairly sure that it's max rate is 30 hz. Your TV does all the framerate increases through software and is just using the original 24/30 hz to generate the inbetween frames that did not exist in the first place.
My opinion is that High Framerate TVs are overrated.


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