Can anyone point to a resource which identifies monitor refresh rates in milliseconds? I am interested in CRT vs LCD displays and cannot find anything beyond unreferences numbers (ie., 16.6 msec) and standard MHz.
CRTs have a refresh rate measured in Hz. That is the number of times per second that the scanning electron beam will refresh or “relight” a particular phosphor. This is important because the light output from the phosphor decays with time, and if the refresh rate is too slow the screen will flicker, because the phosphors are “going out” before they are relit.
LCDs don’t work the same way. They have a backlight that is always on, and when a pixel is illuminated it is constantly on, letting the backlight through. There is no decay of the light output, and no refreshing is done.
What LCDs do have is a certain amount of time (measures in msec) for a pixel to respond to a change from off to on (or on to off). If this response time is too slow, things moving on the screen will appear to smear, or “ghost”. This shows up primarily in fast-moving games or video playback.
You can’t compare a CRT refresh rate to an LCD response time. Not only that, but there really isn’t a standard way of measuring an LCD’s response time. Two manufacturer’s reported times may be the same, but the actual appearance of the monitor output will differ. The only way to be sure is to see it yourself.
Here’s what you need for fast gaming. (I hope).