1.Rendering Throughput vs Display Scanout
Frames Per Second (FPS) represents the speed at which your graphics pipeline and game engine compute, rasterize, and output new visual frames. In contrast, Refresh Rate (measured in Hertz, Hz) is the fixed or variable frequency at which your physical display hardware scans and illuminates pixels across the panel.
2.What Happens When FPS Exceeds Refresh Rate?
When your graphics card renders at 200 FPS on a 60Hz monitor, the GPU produces a new frame every 5ms, but the monitor only refreshes every 16.67ms. Without synchronization (V-Sync/G-Sync), the monitor displays fragments of multiple frames in a single scanout pass, creating horizontal tear lines while reducing overall input latency.
3.What Happens When FPS Drops Below Refresh Rate?
If your monitor operates at 144Hz (refreshing every 6.94ms) but your GPU only renders at 50 FPS (outputting every 20ms), the monitor is forced to repeat the same static frame across multiple consecutive refresh cycles, leading to visible stutter and motion judder unless Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) is active.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you see more than 60 FPS on a 60Hz monitor?
You cannot see more than 60 distinct completed screen images per second on a 60Hz monitor. However, higher FPS reduces input lag and ensures the displayed slice reflects the most recent user mouse/keyboard input.
How do I test my monitor refresh rate vs browser FPS?
Use the FPSRate Refresh Rate Test to measure your observed monitor refresh cadence, and the FPS Test to evaluate real-time rendering throughput.