Glossary » screen refresh rate

screen refresh rate

the frequency at which a monitor can update its display; in CRTs, the rate at which the electron beam repeats its pass over the entire screen to refresh the dimming phosphors. The refresh rate represents the maximum rate at which graphics on the screen can change. A slow refresh rate will appear unnatural. Computer monitors often have a refresh rate of about 100 Hz (the display refreshes 100 times per second), whereas an NTSC television has a refresh rate of 60 Hz. However, televisions interlace their display, which is to say, they alternately update the even lines and the odd lines of the display on each pass to improve the speed of the refresh, but only effectively update the entire display 30 times per second.