Advantages Of A High Refresh Rate Monitor
Almost everybody has played a video game at one point in their lives and gaming has certainly come a long way since Pong entered the stage. If you can remember playing Pong, you’ve definitely put a few decades behind you. With each new decades came new advancements in video games and as digital equipment evolved, so did the games. Over the years we’ve seen quite a few different game consoles and, more recently, online games have taken the world by storm.
The beauty of online gaming is that you can use a gaming laptop or a standard computer but the real magic is having the right monitor. Shopping for good gaming monitors means navigating through a minefield of different types of monitors, all with some pretty flashy features. One such monitor is a High Refresh Rate Monitor.
The refresh rate of this monitor basically indicates the amount of times per second the monitor’s image is refreshed. The faster the monitor refreshes, the faster the image updates and this means you have a smoother image. This is the type of thing serious gamers look for as it limits lagging.
While some gamers will tell you that you don’t necessarily need a high refresh rate monitor, others swear by them claiming a high refresh rate monitor can help you be a better gamer. Here are some of the main reasons you should get a high refresh rate monitor to enhance your gaming experience.
1. Faster Is Better
A good monitor has a refresh rate of about 60Hz which is perfectly fine for surfing the internet, working or chatting with friends. When it comes to gaming, however, you want the best refresh rates which can now reach a fantastic 240Hz. This is crucial for gamers who want a super-fast refresh rate to keep the game smooth and maintain high reaction times. Even if you are not a gamer, you will see the benefits of having a higher refresh rate.
2. It Makes A Huge Difference In Competitive Games
There are a number of competitive online games out there and the competition is fast and fierce. It’s no longer good enough to be the gaming boss in your neighborhood because online, you came come across experienced and enthusiastic gamers from all over the world. You can bet that they have all the state of the art equipment and won’t care one bit if your gaming equipment is slower. Plain and simple, they will wipe the floor with you.
If you have a high refresh rate monitor, it makes objects easier to see and you see any changes in the blink of an eye without the blur or fogginess you would get from a slower refresh rate. This is exactly what you want when you are playing games like Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds or Fortnite, to name a few. The higher refresh rate allows you to notice sharper visuals when the action is at full speed.
3. Different Monitors For Different Gamers
If you’re a serious gamer you know your monitor options are extensive and choosing one may be a problem. Fortunately, most monitors can serve more than one purpose so whether you also need a monitor for your studies or your career, it’s easy to get one monitor to suit all of your needs. A touch screen monitor is preferred by many because it often does away with the need for controllers so you can just go directly to the monitor or screen. This is great when you travel or if you want to play while you watch TV.
If you really want to immerse yourself in your gaming then you need to consider ultrawide monitors with high refresh rates. This is when you’ll really appreciate the higher refresh rate because everything in the game becomes larger than life and it’s noticeable. Of course, you can take this a step further and get a curved monitor that gives you total immersion. Playing on a curved monitor is almost like being completely wrapped in the game. Team it with the right sound system and you will definitely have an amazing gaming experience.
4. Better Response Time
When we talk about the response time, we are referring to the time it takes for pixels to change from one color to another. This is measured in milliseconds and this works in conjunction with the refresh rates. In short, the monitor can only refresh the image as quickly as the pixels can respond to the required image change.
5. Less Blurred Images
One thing no gamer can live with is blurred images and this blurring usually occurs when there is a slow response time, and a slow refresh rate. This can result in a ghost image of the previous frame hanging around while you try to play in the next one. Blurred images can also result in missing important scenes, tasks and items in a game. This can spell disaster when the game you are playing is a particularly fast paced one, and even worse, if it’s a competitive or multiplayer game, you stand to lose against your opponents who most likely have a high refresh rate monitor.
Do You Really Need A High Refresh Rate Monitor?
If all you need your monitor for is watching videos and doing everyday tasks on, then the answer is no. A standard 60Hz is perfectly fine. However, if you’re a gamer a monitor with a higher refresh rate can give you the winning edge against the multitude of gamers you compete with in online games. Depending on the games you play, a monitor with a refresh rate of 120Hz may be fine if you play casual games. But if you really love the fast paced combat style multi-player games then you really should look at a monitor with a refresh rate of 240Hz. Even without one, you’ll still be able to play almost any games out there in cyberspace, but a slower rate may make all the difference in reaching the higher levels.
