FPS Test: Check Screen Refresh Rate (Hz) & Motion Blur
Measure your exact monitor refresh rate in Hertz (Hz), detect real-time FPS, evaluate motion blur across multi-frame-rate UFO targets, and monitor frame pacing consistency in your browser.
How to Test Your Screen Refresh Rate in 3 Steps
Keep Tab in Foreground
Keep this window focused. Operating systems throttle background tabs down to 30Hz or 60Hz to conserve energy, distorting true refresh rate measurements.
Observe Multi-Lane Motion
Watch the moving UFO targets. The top lane renders at your monitor's native refresh rate, demonstrating the motion clarity advantage over 60Hz and 30Hz.
Enter Fullscreen Mode
Press Fullscreen. This bypasses OS desktop window manager composition, letting your browser lock into raw hardware VSync timing.
The Complete Guide to Monitor Refresh Rates, FPS & Motion Blur
Refresh rate (measured in Hertz, Hz) represents how many times per second your monitor panel updates its physical display pixels. Pairing high refresh rates with matching frame rates creates fluid motion and minimizes input lag.
How High-Precision Hz Detection Works in Browsers
Our benchmark synchronizes directly with the display controller's vertical blanking interval (VBLANK) via the browser's requestAnimationFrame loop:
- Sub-Millisecond Timing: Each frame interval ($\Delta t$) is recorded using
performance.now(), providing microsecond accuracy. - Rolling Statistical Window: By tracking the last 120 frame intervals and applying trimmed mean algorithms to discard garbage collection pauses, the engine identifies standard nominal hardware refresh rates (such as 59.94Hz, 60Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz, 165Hz, 240Hz, or 360Hz).
- Frame Pacing Jitter: Measures the standard deviation between frame intervals. True hardware VSync displays minimal variance ($\pm 0.1\text{ ms}$).
Why Do Fast Moving Objects Blur on LCD & OLED Screens?
Modern flat-panel monitors use sample-and-hold display technology. Instead of strobing black between frames like vintage CRT monitors, modern pixels stay illuminated constantly until the next refresh cycle.
When your eyes track a moving object across the screen, your retina smoothly tracks motion while the display holds static frames for several milliseconds, causing visual blur across your retina. Doubling your refresh rate from 60Hz to 120Hz cuts hold-time in half (from 16.67ms to 8.33ms), delivering dramatically clearer motion tracking.
VSync, G-Sync, and FreeSync Synchronization
Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) technologies like NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync dynamically synchronize your monitor's refresh cycles with your GPU's rendered output. This eliminates screen tearing without introducing the heavy input latency of traditional double-buffered VSync.
Display Refresh Rate & Frame Interval Reference Matrix
Reference guide comparing standard monitor refresh rates, frame display times, and motion clarity benchmarks:
| Refresh Rate (Hz) | Frame Time ($\Delta t$) | Hold-Time Motion Blur | Common Hardware Category | Esports Viability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 Hz | 16.67 ms | High retinal blur | Standard office monitors, smartphones, budget TVs | Baseline casual |
| 75 Hz | 13.33 ms | Noticeable improvement | Entry-level productivity monitors | Entry casual |
| 120 Hz | 8.33 ms | 50% blur reduction | Flagship mobile phones (ProMotion), PS5/Xbox Series X TVs | Good |
| 144 Hz | 6.94 ms | Very clear tracking | Standard PC gaming monitors | Competitive standard |
| 165 Hz / 180 Hz | 6.06 ms / 5.56 ms | Ultra-smooth fluidity | Modern fast IPS gaming panels | High competitive |
| 240 Hz | 4.17 ms | Superior motion clarity | Esports tournament monitors, OLED gaming displays | Tournament grade |
| 360 Hz – 540 Hz | 2.78 ms – 1.85 ms | Near-CRT motion sharpness | Ultra-high-speed TN & Fast-IPS pro gaming gear | Extreme pro tier |
Frequently Asked Questions
Right-click your desktop, select Display settings > Advanced display, and locate the Choose a refresh rate dropdown. Ensure it is set to your monitor's maximum rated Hertz (e.g. 144Hz, 165Hz, or 240Hz). By default, Windows often sets new monitors to 60Hz until manually configured.
If you connect a 144Hz gaming monitor alongside a secondary 60Hz display, hardware video acceleration or animated content playing on the 60Hz screen can cause the OS desktop window manager to temporarily clock the browser down to 60Hz. Testing in fullscreen eliminates this conflict.
Yes, absolutely. The human visual system does not operate in discrete frames; optical nerve receptors process continuous light variations. Scientific studies prove humans readily distinguish motion clarity differences well past 240Hz and up to 1,000Hz, particularly during rapid eye saccades and high-speed motion tracking.
Yes. The benchmark runs smoothly on iPhone (Apple 120Hz ProMotion), iPad, Android 90Hz/120Hz/144Hz phones, and laptops with zero downloads required.