How many Hertz should my TV have?
What's Hertz?
Hertz is also called the refresh rate of a TV. This value indicates how many frames per second a television shows. Think of a frame as a picture. If you play a lot of pictures in a row, you create moving images. An image with more frames per second looks smoother.
Why 100Hz?
A 50Hz TV displays 50 frames per second. A 100Hz TV shows double that amount. If you're watching a talk show, you won't easily notice this difference. A 100Hz TV is especially useful when you watch fast-moving images, such as soccer or tennis matches, races, or action movies. With 100Hz, every fast action is displayed more smoothly.
50 or 100Hz for gaming
The latest gaming consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X support a 100Hz refresh rate. As a result, a 100Hz TV will display the fast games of these consoles even more smoothly. An explosion in a game looks more realistic, for example. You can also race at full speed and see every movement being displayed smoothly on the screen. Older gaming consoles like the PlayStation 4 don't support a 100Hz refresh rate. If you play with these consoles, it doesn't matter if you have a 50Hz or 100Hz television.
4K or 8K
The ideal resolution to watch movies and series with 100Hz, is 4K. It allows you to fully enjoy the best image quality and gives you the smoothest viewing experience. A 100Hz refresh rate isn't supported with an8K resolution yet. If you want to watch 8K content, you have to watch it with a 50Hz refresh rate.
Brand-specific vs native
TV brands have their own names and calculations for the refresh rate. That's why we use a common value that's the same for every TV. This is called the native refresh rate. This makes it easier for you to compare the TVs of different brands to each other.
| Brand | Refresh rate terminology |
|---|---|
| LG | Picture Mastering Index (PMI) |
| Panasonic | Black Light Motion Rate (BMR) |
| Philips | Perfect Motion Rate (PMR) |
| Samsung | Picture Quality Index (PQI) |
| Sony | MotionFlow XR |
Visit the store
Want to see the difference between 50 and 100Hz for yourself? Visit us in one of our stores and see the difference on our advice wall with your own eyes. Our experts are happy to show you the difference and will give you personal advice. Click the bottom below for an overview of all the Coolblue stores.
