DISPLAY TIMING GUIDE

How to Check Your Screen Refresh Rate

A browser refresh rate test estimates presentation cadence from animation-frame timing. It is useful for checking whether the browser is currently presenting at roughly 60, 120, 144, 165, 240 Hz, or another rate, but it is not a direct hardware lookup.

Refresh rate and frame time

Refresh rate is measured in Hertz. The corresponding frame interval is approximately 1000 / Hz milliseconds. A 60 Hz cadence is about 16.67 ms per frame; 144 Hz is about 6.94 ms; 240 Hz is about 4.17 ms.

Why use the median interval

Browsers occasionally deliver a late animation callback because of scheduling or system load. A median interval is less sensitive to a small number of those late callbacks than a simple arithmetic average.

Refresh rate is not game FPS

Hz describes display presentation cadence while FPS describes frames produced by software or content. A 144 Hz screen does not guarantee a game renders at 144 FPS, and an FPS counter does not replace a refresh-rate measurement.

Keep the run clean

Keep the tab visible, retain window focus, avoid resizing, and keep the window fully on the target display. If the run is interrupted, discard it and measure again rather than joining timing samples from different conditions.

Dynamic refresh and power modes

Variable-refresh systems and battery-saving modes may change cadence dynamically. Compare measurements under the conditions you actually care about, and do not treat one browser reading as the panel's maximum advertised specification.

Unexpectedly low results

Compare the operating-system display setting, power mode, target monitor, system load, and connection configuration. A browser measurement can show that cadence is currently lower than expected, but it cannot automatically identify the root cause.

What this guide does not cover

Response time, ghosting, HDR, pixel defects, touch input, screen resolution, cable certification, GPU benchmarking, and game FPS are separate tests.