There’s no need for a better monitor; your eyes can’t see more than 60 frames per second (FPS) anyway. You may have heard this misconception or a variation of it on gaming forums or while talking to your friends about movies and displays. However, it’s nothing but a myth.
For starters, the human eye doesn’t actually see in frames per second. That’s a measurement we devised to track how quickly images appear on a screen. Each “frame” is, in fact, a still image, and 60 FPS simply means 60 still images appear on the screen each second. Think of it like a flip book, with each page fitted to a frame. The quicker you flip it, the more frames you see per second. But instead of frames, human vision uses a continuous stream of information from our eyes, which is delivered to the brain as electric signals.
As an extension of FPS, hertz (Hz) is the hardware limit at which a display can refresh its images on the screen. So, a 45 Hz monitor, for instance, could lead to tearing and frame skipping if it’s forced to play a 60 FPS video — especially without any variable refresh rate technology. That’s why gamers often need monitors with refresh rates of 120 Hz and above because they can detect motion blur or flicker in displays with lower specs. You can learn more in our guide on the difference between refresh rate and motion rate.
Where did this myth originate from?
There’s no one place you can point to specifically and attribute the myth that you can’t see more than 60 frames per second. But there’s a consensus across forums that it may have come from Hollywood.
Most movies are shot at 24 FPS, and that’s because it’s the lowest frame rate needed for movements to appear natural to people. Historically, it was also the best rate for sound quality without studios spending an arm and a leg. Over time, we’ve gotten so used to the 24 FPS aesthetic that it has now set the standard for what cinema should look like. We still use 24 FPS in movies today (with motion blur), even though we have the technology for better frames.
This “what FPS the eye can see” misconception seems to have started with people saying we can’t see more than 24 FPS. This was perhaps an oversimplified version of Hollywood telling us that we didn’t need more than 24 FPS — and the number has varied a lot over the years to settle at 60 FPS.
What’s the maximum frames per second the human eye can see?
Various sources speculate about the maximum frames per second we can see. The best way to approach this problem, though, is not “how many frames per second can we see?” but more of a “when do we notice a difference between FPS levels?”
As FPS increases, the noticeable differences between higher frame rates become less pronounced for most people. This is because the human visual system has a finite ability to process what it sees. Beyond a certain point, additional frames do not translate to a noticeable improvement in motion smoothness or clarity.
Our ability to discern differences between high frame rates depends on several factors, including the viewer’s sensitivity, the viewing conditions, and the type of content being viewed. For instance, the difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS is quite noticeable in terms of smoothness and motion clarity, especially in fast-paced video games or high-speed video footage. However, as you move to higher frame rates, such as from 220 FPS to 250 FPS, the improvement in visual quality is less perceptible.
Some people notice flickers at up to 500 Hz
There’s considerable individual variation in visual acuity and sensitivity to motion, meaning that some people might perceive improvements at higher FPS more than others. Some individuals are particularly sensitive to flicker or changes in motion, which can make higher frame rates more beneficial for them.
There are many factors that contribute to this, some being biological differences in our eyesight, others by training. For example, research conducted by the U.S. Air Force revealed pilots could often effectively interpret visual information at speeds significantly higher than 60 or 90 FPS. The research was for building a flight simulation system capable of delivering stable 120 FPS performance to match the pilots’ high visual acuity and processing speed.
Another study proves that some humans can spot flicker at 500 Hz, but the conditions facing the test subjects weren’t typical of everyday environments. However, it challenges the traditional belief that 50 to 90 Hz is more sufficient to hide perceptible flicker.