Refresh rates/60 Hz
60 Hz Each frame up for 16.67 ms.
The rate a high refresh monitor falls back to when a cable, a setting or a driver is wrong, and a rate some makers choose on purpose for a desktop panel.
Frame interval and motion blur
- Frame interval
- 16.67 ms
- 1000 / 60
- Pattern speed
- 960 px/s
- 16 px a frame
- Blur of a moving edge
- 16 px
- 16.67 ms x 960 px/s / 1000
The speed is the one the motion tests use at this rate: 960 pixels a second below 240 Hz and 1920 from 240 Hz, so each frame moves at least four pixels. The blur is what an unstrobed panel shows when your eye follows the edge. Pixel response time, overdrive and backlight strobing change what you see, and no browser test can measure them. The motion blur explainer has every rate at one speed.
Check yours
The refresh rate test times frames for ten seconds and reports the rate your screen is running at. A reading of 60 Hz means the screen is running at 60 Hz now. A monitor sold at a higher rate that reads 60 Hz is usually held back by a setting, a cable, battery power or a second monitor: see is my monitor really 144 Hz and laptop stuck at 60 Hz on battery.
The frame pacing test shows whether frames arrive evenly at that rate, and the monitor motion test moves a pattern at 960 px/s so you can see the blur for yourself.
What applies at 60 Hz
Apple's Studio Display is specified at "60Hz refresh rate". 60 Hz is a choice a maker makes for a desktop panel, not a fault.
Source: Apple, checked 29 October 2026On Windows 11 the rate is chosen in Settings > System > Display > Advanced display settings, next to Choose a refresh rate.
Source: Microsoft Support, checked 29 October 2026
What a browser cannot tell you
Response time, input lag, the panel type and the range of a variable refresh rate are not visible to a web page. The refresh rate test measures the fixed rate the browser sees. The variable refresh rate explainer covers what that leaves out.
Questions
- How long is one frame at 60 Hz?
- 16.67 ms: 1000 ms divided by 60. Each frame stays on screen that long before the next replaces it.
- How much motion blur does 60 Hz give?
- On an unstrobed panel, an edge moving at 960 pixels a second smears about 16 px: 16.67 ms times 960 px/s divided by 1000. At 960 pixels a second it is 16 px. Pixel response and strobing change what you see, and a browser cannot measure them.
- How do I check that my screen is really running at 60 Hz?
- Run the refresh rate test. It times frames for ten seconds in the browser and reports the rate the screen is running at and the panel rate it matches.
The next rate down and up
More reference pages