LG Display presented the results of an experiment on how a gaming monitor's refresh rate affects real-world gaming performance at international conferences and other venues. The findings say that using a monitor with a higher refresh rate improves target identification in moving scenes and enhances reaction speed and accuracy.
LG Display said on the 8th that it disclosed these research results through a paper, "A study on the impact of refresh rate on real-time FPS gaming performance."
The experiment was conducted as a blind test with 31 adult general gamers. Participants played a first-person shooter (FPS) in four refresh-rate environments—60Hz, 240Hz, 360Hz, and 480Hz—in random order.
LG Display measured hit score and event interval time as quantitative indicators. Hit score means the number of hits, and event interval time means the time from target appearance to elimination. For qualitative indicators, it surveyed smoothness of screen transitions, ease of target tracking, and overall preference on a 5-point scale.
As a result, the hit score—accurately hitting the target—improved win rate by 38% at 480Hz compared with 60Hz. Even compared with 240Hz, which already showed a large improvement effect, the win rate rose an additional 10% at 480Hz.
LG Display analyzed that gaming performance continues to improve as refresh rate increases. In the qualitative evaluation, gamers also said the screen was smoother and it was easier to track moving enemies in higher refresh-rate environments. Overall preference also rose.
This performance gain is related to the physical characteristics of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) monitors. When implementing high refresh rates, OLED can reduce input lag—the time it takes input signals to be reflected on the screen—and motion blur, where fast-moving objects appear blurry.
In this experiment, input lag at 480Hz decreased by more than 10ms compared with 60Hz. With lower input lag, players were able to determine the position of fast-moving enemies more accurately, LG Display said.
Based on these findings, LG Display plans to keep introducing gaming OLEDs with strengthened high refresh-rate performance. The company aims to leverage OLED's fast response and high refresh-rate capability in the gaming monitor market.
On May 5, LG Display developed a 27-inch 540/720Hz DFR OLED panel with the world's highest refresh rate. The product won the top honor, "Display of the Year," at the Society for Information Display (SID), the world's largest display society.
Choi Young-seok, chief technology officer (CTO) of LG Display, said, "Building on our commercialization experience with overwhelming performance such as the 27-inch 720Hz DFR OLED that achieved the world's highest refresh rate, we will further strengthen our technological competitiveness aimed at the gaming display industry while securing the core technologies of next-generation displays as a technology-centered company."