Android phones with high refresh rate screens have become commonplace. Even some of our favorite cheap phones now come with 90Hz or 120Hz displays. And some of the best gaming phones It comes with screens with 144Hz refresh rate. So what exactly is the refresh rate of a display? And how does it benefit you in daily use? Is a screen with a 120Hz refresh rate better than a screen with 90Hz?
Refresh rate is the most obvious change a manufacturer can make to a device’s display, but it may not be exactly what manufacturers say it is. It’s important to know when and why so you know whether spending extra on a device with a high refresh rate display is worth it.
Screen refresh rate affects every aspect of a device’s user interface, from messaging and general productivity to games and the camera interface. Since many people may not need a 120Hz or higher display, it’s important to know what these numbers are and when they matter.
Renewal rates: The basics
Before you can understand the benefits of a display with a high refresh rate, you need to understand how a display works. Electronic screens do not work in the same way as the human eye. The image on a screen never moves. Instead, they show a series of images at different points of action. This simulates smooth motion by tricking our brains into filling in the microscopic gaps between still images.
For reference, most film productions use 24 frames per second (FPS), while TV productions use 30 FPS in the US and 25 FPS in the UK.
Although most movies are shot in 24p (aka 24 frames per second), this standard was initially adopted due to cost constraints. Still, 24p was thought to be the lowest refresh rate that offered smooth motion. Many filmmakers continue to use the 24p standard for its cinematic look and feel. Television programs are usually shot in 30p, and for 60HZ televisions the frames are doubled (a technique known as pull-down). The same applies to displaying 25p content on a 50Hz screen. The conversion process is more complicated for 24p content. A technique called 3:2 pull-down is used to stretch frames to fit the 25 or 30 FPS target.
Shooting videos in 50p or 60p has become more common on video streaming platforms like YouTube. As a result, you won’t need anything above 60 FPS unless you’re watching or editing high refresh rate content. However, as high refresh rate displays enter the mainstream, high refresh rate content will also become more popular. They are especially useful for sports broadcasts because in some scenarios, split-second movements are of interest to viewers.
Refresh rate is measured in Hertz (Hz), which specifies how many times per second a new image is displayed. Movies are usually recorded at 24 FPS because this is the minimum frame rate to convey fluid motion. However, updating the image more often makes fast motion look smoother. The difference is best demonstrated with the Blur Busters UFO Test.
However, there is a downside to recording content with a high refresh rate. You will need more light when recording videos at 60 FPS or higher. That’s why slow motion videos shot at 120 FPS or higher look relatively dark than a regular 30 FPS video. This is not a big problem in a studio or production environment where large cameras are used. However, you may want to keep this in mind when recording video from your smartphone, especially in low light conditions.
The more frames a video contains, the larger the file size will be. Therefore, before recording 4K 60 FPS videos Free up storage space on your Android phone.
What is the screen refresh rate of a smartphone?
Smartphone refresh rates range from 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz and, less frequently, 240Hz. The most common high refresh option is 120Hz, while 60Hz has been the standard for a long time. 60Hz display panels are mostly found on low-end Android phones. iPhone 13 And iPhone 14 series are the only significant phones priced above $500 to ship with 60Hz panels. (The point we need to pay attention to here is that Apple still uses 60 Hz in non-pro models).
On most phones with high refresh rate displays, you can adjust the screen smoothness in the Settings menu. On some older phones, switching to 120Hz mode will reduce the screen resolution from 1440p to 1080p. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra And Google Pixel 7 Pro This is no longer the case, as phones such as can use their screens at WQHD + resolution at 120Hz.
You can find phones with 144Hz, 165Hz or higher refresh rate panels. However, after 120Hz the returns diminish and you’re unlikely to notice the benefit.
When high refresh rate displays were first introduced on smartphones, they constantly refreshed at 90Hz or 120Hz. This was undesirable and caused the battery life of these phones to be poor, as the GPU constantly refreshed the screen even when it was not needed. However, this is no longer the case.
What is Adaptive refresh rate?
A high refresh rate is useful when navigating lists, playing games optimized for such refresh rates, and watching HFR (high frame rate) content. Otherwise, it doesn’t make much sense to constantly refresh a display at 120Hz as it puts additional strain on the system and drains battery. Thanks to LTPO (low temperature polycrystalline oxide) and other technological advances, high refresh rate smartphone screens instantly adjust refresh rates depending on the content you’re viewing.
The first benefit of this is better battery life, as it can lower the refresh rate to 10Hz when displaying static content to reduce the screen’s power draw. But the list of phones that can drop the refresh rate of their displays to 10Hz is small. Samsung Galaxy S23+, Google Pixel 7 Pro And OnePlus 11 Phones such as can go down to 10Hz.
Adaptive refresh rate is useful because everyone uses their devices differently. Some users mostly play games, while others use their devices to text, browse the web, or watch videos. These different use cases have different demands. High refresh rates reduce system latency, giving you a competitive advantage in games.
Videos, on the other hand, have a static frame rate and text can remain static for long periods of time. It would be pointless to use a high refresh rate mode when watching 30FPS video because the video cannot display anything above 30Hz. You cannot add information that does not exist.
What are the advantages of high refresh rate screens on phones?
There are many benefits to using a high refresh rate display, even for general use. Animations like scrolling or opening and closing windows look smoother, and apps are faster to use. Enhanced fluidity of animations and UI elements makes interacting with your phone feel more natural.
When it comes to gaming, the benefits are even more important. They can provide a competitive advantage by enabling you to react quickly to events. You’ll get updated information about the game more often than with a regular 60Hz display.
Once you use a smartphone with a high refresh rate display, there is no going back. On a regular 60Hz phone, you’ll find animations choppy and unnatural. This is one of the end user upgrades that improves the experience.
What are the disadvantages of high refresh rate screens on phones?
High refresh rate displays are not without problems. The biggest problem is that they cause additional battery drain, which can reduce your phone’s battery life by several hours. A screen uses power when displaying an image. Each time it updates the image, a little more power is used. This increase in power draw means that displays with constant high refresh rates can suffer from poor battery life.
This is no longer such a big issue due to variable refresh rates and other efficiency improvements in OLED panels. They are now as power efficient as (or even more than) a 60Hz OLED panel. While a display consumes more power at 120Hz, the time it takes for the display to refresh content 120 times per second is relatively low. Additionally, the panel can reduce the refresh rate below 60Hz whenever possible to reduce power consumption.
High refresh rates put more stress on your device’s processor hardware. This is less of an issue as the chips powering the latest smartphones have become more powerful. More importantly, a display with a high refresh rate requires device manufacturers to optimize their phones and UI animations. Otherwise, flickering may occur while navigating the user interface.
The higher the refresh rate, the less time a display has to refresh the content on the screen. On a 60Hz display, content refreshes in 16.6ms. At 120Hz, this time drops to 8.3 ms.
The first set of Android phones to come with high refresh rate panels allowed users to choose between 120Hz at 1080p and 60Hz at 1440p. This was done in software, and users could switch between the two and decide if they wanted a higher resolution or refresh rate. Companies have adopted this approach to strike a balance between performance and battery life. This is no longer a problem and you can change the refresh rate as you wish.
A screen with a high refresh rate is a great feature on a phone, but it’s not the only feature to consider. Even a 120Hz display may have poor brightness, color reproduction or response speed. These can negatively impact the user experience, so it’s important to look at the display panels as a whole rather than focusing on a single feature.
As the technology behind high refresh rate displays matures, many of the problems of the past are no longer a concern. New generation panels have almost completely eliminated the problems of high power consumption, poor brightness and jelly scrolling. These types of panels are primarily used in premium and flagship Android phones, but it should only be a matter of time before they make their way into mid-range Android phones.
Should you care about high refresh rate screens on phones?
Screens with higher refresh rates on phones offer a visible improvement that you can’t ignore. in recent years android phone No wonder they were quickly adopted by manufacturers. But this doesn’t mean that 60Hz displays are bad or have become irrelevant. They still have the capacity to deliver a fluid experience.
If you play Android games with high frame rate support or are a power user, buy a phone with a high refresh rate display because you will notice the benefits immediately. Even otherwise, it may be difficult to buy an Android phone with a 60Hz refresh rate since almost all device manufacturers are moving to 60Hz refresh rate.