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So when I first heard people talking about the 120 Hz refresh frame rate technology a while ago, I didn't put a lot of stock in it. Lots of new technologies come up, and many of them make small gains.
What the refresh frame rate does is say how often the display updates its picture. A "low" refresh rate would update only a certain amount of times per second, say 24 frames per second. Right now 120 is the "highest" I know of.
At CEDIA, JVC had a neat little display where their 120Hz TV's had a split display. The entire screen showed video scenes in 1080p, but on the left half, the TV showed what it looked like with a 120Hz refresh rate. The right side showed with a lower refresh rate. (I don't know how low, but at least 60Hz or lower) When the video scene was static with little or no motion, the picture on both sides looked exactly the same, with high resolution detail. But when the scene started to move, such as panning or if an object moved across the screen, what happened was AMAZING. The right side, with lower refresh rate, (which is what we've seen on all TV's up to now) clearly showed a jerky motion, with the detail of the moving object becoming slightly "blocky". It was like the resolution of the object dropped from 1080p to 480p or so, just because it started moving! The left side with 120Hz stayed nice and smooth, maintaining resolution and clarity through the motion. As an object panned from one side of the screen to the other, it looked completely different, but when the motion stopped, again, the entire screen looked the same at 1080p as a static image.
I had no idea I had been seeing the lower rate in TV's, and was a bit skeptical. But since then, I've paid attention to motion scenes as I've watched video displays, even those at 1080p, and the jerky or blurred motion is there.
So I just bought a new TV for my bedroom, and went with a brand new Samsung model, the LN-T4671F with a 120Hz refresh rate. Samsung has this thing called "120Hz Auto Motion Pllus". First, I went into the setup menu, and found that the TV has a "demo" mode, which interestingly enough, puts it into a split screen just like the JVC models did at CEDIA. My wife and I sat a tried it out during "Heroes" and "Chuck" tonight on NBC, and we could both tell the difference. Then, the setup menu allows you to choose "low", "medium", or "high" for the Auto Motion Plus. I set it on high, and again, was blown away.
The motion was smooth, and made the detail of everything crystal clear. The show almost looked TOO clear and realistic. It was amazing. My wife and I both noticed that it was almost like people and things that moved were moving faster, like if you watch a video on 1.5x speed or something. The longer I watched, I noticed that during motion, there would be little edge artifcacts sometimes around things that moved. So I've dropped the setting to "medium", which seems to make the display look more natural. I don't know if it's still too much or not, though, I'll have to watch for a while and then see if I want to drop it to the "low" setting.
But I'm definitely sold on 120Hz technology now, I tell you what. It's not just a trick, it's like going from standard definition to HD. It's something that you don't even know is there, or what's possible, until you see it. Very dramatic--highly recommended that everybody go into your local retailer and say, "can you put one of your 120Hz models into "demo" mode, so I can judge the difference?
What the refresh frame rate does is say how often the display updates its picture. A "low" refresh rate would update only a certain amount of times per second, say 24 frames per second. Right now 120 is the "highest" I know of.
At CEDIA, JVC had a neat little display where their 120Hz TV's had a split display. The entire screen showed video scenes in 1080p, but on the left half, the TV showed what it looked like with a 120Hz refresh rate. The right side showed with a lower refresh rate. (I don't know how low, but at least 60Hz or lower) When the video scene was static with little or no motion, the picture on both sides looked exactly the same, with high resolution detail. But when the scene started to move, such as panning or if an object moved across the screen, what happened was AMAZING. The right side, with lower refresh rate, (which is what we've seen on all TV's up to now) clearly showed a jerky motion, with the detail of the moving object becoming slightly "blocky". It was like the resolution of the object dropped from 1080p to 480p or so, just because it started moving! The left side with 120Hz stayed nice and smooth, maintaining resolution and clarity through the motion. As an object panned from one side of the screen to the other, it looked completely different, but when the motion stopped, again, the entire screen looked the same at 1080p as a static image.
I had no idea I had been seeing the lower rate in TV's, and was a bit skeptical. But since then, I've paid attention to motion scenes as I've watched video displays, even those at 1080p, and the jerky or blurred motion is there.
So I just bought a new TV for my bedroom, and went with a brand new Samsung model, the LN-T4671F with a 120Hz refresh rate. Samsung has this thing called "120Hz Auto Motion Pllus". First, I went into the setup menu, and found that the TV has a "demo" mode, which interestingly enough, puts it into a split screen just like the JVC models did at CEDIA. My wife and I sat a tried it out during "Heroes" and "Chuck" tonight on NBC, and we could both tell the difference. Then, the setup menu allows you to choose "low", "medium", or "high" for the Auto Motion Plus. I set it on high, and again, was blown away.
The motion was smooth, and made the detail of everything crystal clear. The show almost looked TOO clear and realistic. It was amazing. My wife and I both noticed that it was almost like people and things that moved were moving faster, like if you watch a video on 1.5x speed or something. The longer I watched, I noticed that during motion, there would be little edge artifcacts sometimes around things that moved. So I've dropped the setting to "medium", which seems to make the display look more natural. I don't know if it's still too much or not, though, I'll have to watch for a while and then see if I want to drop it to the "low" setting.
But I'm definitely sold on 120Hz technology now, I tell you what. It's not just a trick, it's like going from standard definition to HD. It's something that you don't even know is there, or what's possible, until you see it. Very dramatic--highly recommended that everybody go into your local retailer and say, "can you put one of your 120Hz models into "demo" mode, so I can judge the difference?
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