How to Check Your Monitor Refresh Rate: Test 60, 120, 144, 165 and 240 Hz

What do 60, 120, 144, 165 and 240 Hz actually mean?

Refresh rate is about how often the display can update

Refresh rate describes how many times per second a monitor can display a new image. A 60 Hz display can refresh up to 60 times each second, while a 144 Hz display can refresh 144 times and a 240 Hz panel up to 240 times. The important consequence is the shorter interval between updates. At 60 Hz one refresh lasts roughly 16.67 ms. At 144 Hz it is about 6.94 ms, and at 240 Hz roughly 4.17 ms. This is why mouse movement, scrolling and fast camera motion can appear much more continuous on a high-refresh display.

Refresh rate is only one part of perceived responsiveness. Frame rate, pixel response time, input latency and frame pacing also matter. A 240 Hz monitor does not magically make a game running at 50 FPS look like 240 FPS. Even so, high refresh rates can improve normal desktop use because the cursor and interface animations can be updated more frequently. For many people the move from 60 to 120 or 144 Hz is immediately noticeable, while smaller steps at already high refresh rates tend to be more subtle.

How to check monitor Hz in Windows

Verify the mode the computer is actually sending

The most useful first check is Windows itself. Open Settings, go to System and Display, then open Advanced display. Select the correct monitor and look for the current refresh rate and the available choices. If your 144 Hz monitor is listed as running at 60 Hz, then the computer is currently outputting 60 Hz regardless of what the box or product page says. Select the intended refresh rate, apply it and then repeat your motion or browser test.

With multiple displays, make sure you are changing the setting for the correct screen. Each monitor can run at a different refresh rate. NVIDIA, AMD and Intel graphics software may also expose display settings, but the key question is still which resolution and refresh mode are active at the operating-system level. If a particular rate is missing from the list, that is useful diagnostic information: something in the current display path may not support that combination.

• Select the correct screen in a multi-monitor setup.
• Check resolution and refresh rate together.
• Retest motion after applying the new setting.

What can a browser refresh-rate test tell you?

Useful confirmation, but not a laboratory measurement

A web-based monitor test can track how frequently animation frames are being presented by the browser. On a correctly configured 144 Hz desktop, animations can update far more frequently than they do at 60 Hz, making a refresh-rate test a convenient way to catch an obvious configuration problem. On ACC64 you can combine the refresh-rate reading with motion and ghosting tests, which makes it easier to see the difference instead of relying only on a number.

A browser cannot directly measure every electrical scan of the physical panel, however. Results can be affected by CPU or GPU load, power-saving behaviour, background tabs, browser scheduling, the operating-system compositor or temporary performance drops. For that reason, treat the browser result as one part of the diagnosis. The best confirmation is agreement between the operating-system setting, the monitor's own on-screen display when it reports the incoming signal, and the browser test.

Why is a 144 or 165 Hz monitor stuck at 60 Hz?

Work through the display chain before blaming the panel

When the expected high-refresh option is missing, inspect the physical connection first. The maximum combination of resolution and refresh rate depends on the monitor, graphics output, monitor input, cable and any adapters or docks between them. A display may support its highest refresh rate over one connector but offer a lower maximum through another. Connect the monitor directly to the graphics device when possible and use a cable suitable for the mode specified by the monitor manufacturer.

Next, check configuration. Some monitors require a high-refresh or overclock mode to be enabled in the on-screen menu before the maximum option becomes available. Try the monitor's native resolution first and see whether changing resolution alters the available refresh rates. Laptop HDMI and USB-C capabilities vary significantly between models, so the connector's shape alone does not guarantee a particular display mode. Updating the graphics driver and reconnecting the monitor can also help when a previously available refresh rate suddenly disappears.

• Connect the display directly to the appropriate GPU output.
• Check the required cable and port for your resolution.
• Inspect the monitor OSD for refresh-related modes.
• Review GPU drivers and multi-display configuration.

Can you really see the difference between 120, 144, 165 and 240 Hz?

The improvement becomes progressively smaller

For many users the biggest jump is from 60 Hz to 120 or 144 Hz. The time between updates is roughly halved, so scrolling, window movement and fast game motion look much more continuous. The difference from 144 to 165 Hz is smaller because both modes already update the screen very frequently. It is measurable and can be visible to some people, but it should not be expected to feel as dramatic as leaving 60 Hz behind.

A 240 Hz monitor becomes most useful when the computer can produce high and stable frame rates, especially in fast competitive games. That does not mean a game must remain at exactly 240 FPS at all times, but a high-refresh panel has more opportunity to show newly rendered frames when the system produces them quickly. Choosing between 144, 165 and 240 Hz should therefore take GPU performance, resolution, game type and panel quality into account instead of focusing on the largest Hz number alone.

A reliable refresh-rate test procedure

Check the configuration in a repeatable order

Start by setting the monitor to its native resolution and selecting the refresh rate you want to verify. Close unusually heavy background applications, open the ACC64 monitor test in an active browser window and observe both the reported refresh behaviour and the motion test. If possible, deliberately switch between 60 Hz and your higher mode. A side-by-side or immediate before-and-after comparison is often more informative than trying to remember how smooth the screen looked earlier.

If the result is lower than expected or unstable, do not immediately conclude that the monitor is defective. Confirm the Windows setting, check the incoming signal information in the monitor OSD, then inspect the cable and port. If all of those appear correct, try another certified or manufacturer-recommended cable and, when practical, another computer. This sequence separates software configuration, connection bandwidth and hardware issues far more effectively than random setting changes.

• Use the monitor's native resolution.
• Select the target refresh rate in the operating system.
• Run the ACC64 test in the foreground.
• Compare the result with the monitor OSD.
• If necessary, test another cable, port or computer.