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Reaction LabGuides60Hz vs 144Hz vs 240Hz for Reaction Time
Display performance

60Hz vs 144Hz vs 240Hz for Reaction Time

Higher refresh rates create more opportunities each second for a newly rendered visual change to reach the display. That can reduce one part of visual latency, but refresh rate is not the same thing as total end-to-end system delay.
Updated 2026-08-17 · Research-linked educational guide · Free browser tests

Key takeaways

On this page

  1. Frame interval comparison
  2. Why refresh rate can affect visual response
  3. Why higher Hz is not the whole story
  4. What experimental gaming research suggests
  5. How to compare refresh settings yourself

Frame interval comparison

60 Hz1000/60 ≈ 16.67 ms per refresh interval.
144 Hz1000/144 ≈ 6.94 ms per refresh interval.
240 Hz1000/240 ≈ 4.17 ms per refresh interval.
Difference60→144 reduces the interval by ~9.72 ms; 144→240 by ~2.78 ms.

Why refresh rate can affect visual response

A new image cannot become visible until it is presented and scanned out to the display. More refresh opportunities can reduce the waiting time between a rendered update and a visible update.

The exact latency depends on when the frame becomes ready relative to the refresh cycle and how the monitor scans and processes it.

Why higher Hz is not the whole story

A 240 Hz monitor can still have processing or pixel-response behaviour that contributes to latency. Likewise, a game may not deliver enough frames consistently to make full use of the display.

Mouse/input latency and human reaction remain separate components.

What experimental gaming research suggests

A 2024 experimental preprint comparing 30, 60, 120, 144 and 240 Hz in an FPS task found a clear performance penalty at 30 Hz, while differences among the higher refresh conditions were less decisive in that sample.

That is consistent with diminishing practical gains: higher rates can improve temporal resolution, but performance does not scale linearly with the Hz number.

How to compare refresh settings yourself

Use the same monitor and system, change only the refresh setting, verify the operating system actually applied it, and run many trials. Compare the full distribution because normal human variability can be larger than the nominal frame-time difference between two high-refresh settings.

Common questions

Is 144 Hz twice as fast as 60 Hz?

It refreshes 2.4 times as often, but that does not make a person react 2.4 times faster.

Is 240 Hz always better than 144 Hz?

It has a shorter frame interval, but the practical benefit depends on the system, application, monitor and user.

Does a higher refresh rate reduce input lag?

It can reduce the display-side wait for visual updates. It does not remove mouse, system or panel-processing latency.

COMPARE YOUR DISPLAY SETTINGSRun enough trials that normal human variability does not dominate the comparison.
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Research and further reading

  1. Experimental study of display refresh rate and FPS performance
  2. Woods et al. — Factors influencing the latency of simple reaction time
Research links are provided for context. Reaction Lab is an entertainment and personal benchmarking site, not a medical, neurological, vision, hearing or fitness diagnostic service.