# Real life fps
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-fps/172113
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 30, 2003, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-fps/172113 "2003-04-30T11:23:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CaGe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaGe)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2003, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-fps/172113/1 "2003-04-30T11:23:09Z")
How many fps (frames per second) do we see life in? I remember a story back from the 20s I think about factory workers dieing. How they used to use 60w bulbs to light things up, and people see at that same frequency, so whenever you saw a machine it looked like it wasnt moving and a lot of people died like that. So is there anyway we can measure this?
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### Author:  [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-fps/172113/2 "2003-04-30T11:30:34Z")
Apparently, we can see [more than 60 fps.](http://amo.net/NT/02-21-01FPS.html)
> [@](#):
>
> The overwhelming solution to a more realistic game play, or computer video has been to push the human eye past the misconception of only being able to perceive 30 FPS. Pushing the Human Eye past 30 FPS to 60 FPS and even 120 FPS is possible, ask the video card manufacturers, an eye doctor, or a Physiologist. We as humans CAN and DO see more than 60 frames a second.
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### Author:  [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-fps/172113/3 "2003-04-30T12:35:38Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by CaGe \*
> \*\*How many fps (frames per second) do we see life in? I remember a story back from the 20s I think about factory workers dieing. How they used to use 60w bulbs to light things up, and people see at that same frequency, so whenever you saw a machine it looked like it wasnt moving and a lot of people died like that. So is there anyway we can measure this? \*\*
Watts don’t measure frequency.
A stroboscopic light can indeed create an illusion that some fast-cycling machinery is stationery if it operates at an appropriate frequency (this phenomenon can aid the tuning of engines, for instance).
BUT that’s got nothing whatsoever to do with some scan-frequency of the human eye/brain.
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### Author:  [@brainfizz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainfizz)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-fps/172113/4 "2003-04-30T13:12:56Z")
[I’d suggest reading this article](http://amo.net/NT/05-24-01FPS.html), it should tell you everything you need to know.
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### Author:  [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-fps/172113/5 "2003-04-30T13:25:45Z")
The eye doesn’t really have a scan frequency, but if you see a flashing at more than 40 to 45 times per second (Hertz), it will look like a steady light to you. You don’t perceive the flicker on a TV, with a 30 Hz update rate, because each frame is divided in half and flashed at you every 1/60 of a second. So the TV flashes 60 times per second, avoiding flicker, and still shows you only 30 different pictures per second.