Refresh rate test. The Hz the screen is really at.
Five seconds of frames are timed to find the rate your screen runs at, snapped to the rates panels are sold at. The most common finding: a high refresh monitor set to 60.
One check
- Refresh rate
Runs like the stress test: one check after another, with the progress along the top. Nothing you show the camera or say into the microphone leaves this page.
What it measures
Measured here, not assumed.
Refresh rate
The median time between frames, converted to hertz and snapped to the nearest rate panels are made in.
Dropped frames
Frames that arrived late, which show as stutter. Caused by the browser or the machine, not the panel.
Unevenness
How much the frame timing varied, in milliseconds.
If it fails
The usual failures, and what fixes each.
- 60 Hz on a high refresh monitor
- Set the refresh rate in Windows or macOS display settings and in the graphics driver's panel. Use DisplayPort or an HDMI cable rated for the rate.
- Frames dropped
- Close other tabs and programs. On a laptop, plug in; battery mode caps the graphics chip.
- Too few frames counted
- Keep the tab in front and the window still while it runs.
Where a browser stops
What it cannot tell you.
- Variable refresh rate. G-Sync and FreeSync change the rate with content; this measures the fixed rate the browser sees.
- The panel's true maximum if the system is set lower. It measures what is running, which is the point.
- Response time and ghosting.
Privacy
Nothing leaves this page.
The camera and microphone are read on this page and stopped as soon as they have been measured. The clip you can play back lives in the browser's memory and is discarded when you leave. The location check discards the position. The internet test sends random bytes to this site and nothing else. The result is stored nowhere unless you ask for it by email, and then only the fact that an email was sent is kept.
Questions
Refresh rate test, answered
- How do I check what refresh rate my monitor is running at?
- Run the test above with the tab in front. It counts frames for five seconds and reports the rate, such as 60, 120 or 144 Hz.
- Why does my 144 Hz monitor show 60 Hz?
- Because the system is set to 60. Change it in the display settings and the graphics driver's control panel, and check the cable supports the rate.
- Does the browser limit the reading?
- Browsers draw at the screen's rate, so the reading matches the panel. A browser that cannot keep up shows as dropped frames rather than a lower rate.
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