Does refresh rate help/hurt?
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Hello,
I finally received the monitor I chose to use for my arcade build (https://www.amazon.com/AOC-G2260VWQ6-Gaming-Monitor-Black/dp/B0158L13M4) and it does a 75Hz refresh rate. Does setting the refresh rate on RetroPie do anything to help the visual quality? Has anyone experienced using a monitor with a higher than 60Hz refresh? I imagine it runs the Pi harder and hinders emulation performance. It may not be worth a boost.
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for most emulators the games will still refresh at 50/60 (pal/ntsc) so it won't help - but you might get worse scrolling etc.
for games like doom/quake it might be useful.
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I see, well thank you sir.
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Refresh rate is just the number of times the screen is refreshed. Not to be confused with the frame rate. The Refresh rate is like a hard cap that limits the number of frames that are visible. Like a 60Hz monitor/TV is capped at 60 frames per second while a 75Hz is capped at 75 frames per second. So Basically unless your emulator frame rate is capable of exceeding the refresh rate you wouldn't see a difference.
With TV's there's more of a discernible difference between 60Hz and 120Hz vs 120Hz to 240Hz. Then I almost can't see the difference but some have a good eye for that type of thing like those videophile folks. :)
I have no idea how the Pi handles all that as I know they are tied together but the refresh rate seems more like a monitor/TV attribute. To slow and you have ghosting and to fast you might get some tearing, hence v-sync, usually.
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@Riverstorm, then back to my initial thought that RPi would have to pump out >60fps which is harder on the system.
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only if you are running something that isn't limited to a set frame rate, and you are actually in a 75hz mode. This wouldn't affect most emulators.
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@GreenHawk84 said in Does refresh rate help/hurt?:
@Riverstorm, then back to my initial thought that RPi would have to pump out >60fps which is harder on the system.
I would assume so as it usually falls on the video card to feed the monitor more FPS to equal or exceed the monitor refresh rate. I have no idea what happens under the hood to crank out more frames though. Buzz is the developer to talk to, if it is or isn't a feature currently or worth implementing, etc. he would know.
I think some people may tell the difference between 60 FPS and 120 or higher. Most people I would say more or less cannot tell. Really fast action like a MOBA it probably has a place.
The difference between 60 and 75 is probably so negligible it's not worth it as there is a point at which the eye and brain cannot discern the difference which in this case I would say that difference is really pretty small here.
I think 60fps properly covers the lion's share of the scope for the RetroPie project save for a few fast action FPS's Buzz pointed out like Doom & Quake.
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@BuZz said in Does refresh rate help/hurt?:
only if you are running something that isn't limited to a set frame rate, and you are actually in a 75hz mode. This wouldn't affect most emulators.
Okay, so I guess my interest in a higher refresh rate would be to "smoothen" the movement on the screen. Example, would I see any gain in running Street Fighter Alpha III as a fast paced game in 75Hz mode? IE - reduction in blur/clarity of movements?
If so, how does one enable 75Hz in RetroPie? Do you feel this option is worthwhile?
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@GreenHawk84 said in Does refresh rate help/hurt?:
If so, how does one enable 75Hz in RetroPie? Do you feel this option is worthwhile?
I would say no and I'm not sure you can. It looks the original was 384 x 224 (H) 59.633331 Hz. That's probably what the emulator is coded to run at or a rounded 60Hz. There's reasons for those really odd refresh rates from back in the day but I can't remember if it was hardware or what. Are you seeing ghosting or something that you're trying to correct?
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@Riverstorm, No, I am not seeing anything notable. The quality is good on this AOC monitor. Just out of curiosity, that's all.
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