Can a 60Hz monitor run more than 60fps

[Otorino]

After looking this up I get either one of two answers. First being no you can't and second being you can but there will be a lot of threading. (also this)

So I would like to rephrase the question in a way that might help me understand;
Does a game running at 80fps show 80 individual pictures a second on a 60Hz monitor?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rexper]

Does a game running at 80fps show 80 individual pictures a second on a 60Hz monitor?

No, it will display however many your monitor's refresh rate is (60).

The refresh rate on a monitor is how many times in a second the display can refresh/change the image. In other words the monitor can display a maximum of 60 images a second, as long as the GPU can output atleast 60 frames per second. The monitor's refresh rate basically puts a hard cap on the visible frame rate.

You can overclock your monitor's refresh rate to increase it. I got my original IPS 1080p 60hz monitor up to 74hz. The difference was slightly noticeable but still felt more smooth to game on.

 

[rhysiam]

That post you linked is utter nonsense.

Hz measured "refresh rate", this is how many times per second your monitor is re-drawing the display.
FPS is the number of frames-per-second your graphics card is producing.

Here's a decent explanation: http://www.avadirect.com/blog/frame-rate-fps-vs-hz-refresh-rate/

 

[rhysiam]

The monitor's refresh rate basically puts a hard cap on the visible frame rate.

This isn't strictly accurate. It's also where things get a bit more complicated.

With VSync on, things behave as you describe. However with VSync off, a single "frame" as seen on a 60hz (or whatever) display can actually comprise of multiple "frames" from the GPU. If, for example, your GPU is running at 180fps with vsync off, a single "frame" as visible on your display would actually consist of parts of 3 different frames from your GPU (because the GPU is updating the current frame 3 times as fast as the monitor can). About a third of the way into sending the frame to the monitor, the GPU would have a new frame ready and the second third of the "frame" would be sent form that new frame from the GPU, then some time around when the final 3rd of the frame is being sent, a new frame is again ready from the GPU and that be sent as the final section.
That's why you can see tearing with VSync off, particularly if you're looking quickly from left to right, because the final frame displayed on the monitor comprises multiple frames which don't quite line up with each other.

 

[Otorino]

No, it will display however many your monitor's refresh rate is (60).

The refresh rate on a monitor is how many times in a second the display can refresh/change the image. In other words the monitor can display a maximum of 60 images a second, as long as the GPU can output atleast 60 frames per second. The monitor's refresh rate basically puts a hard cap on the visible frame rate.

You can overclock your monitor's refresh rate to increase it. I got my original IPS 1080p 60hz monitor up to 74hz. The difference was slightly noticeable but still felt more smooth to game on.

That post you linked is utter nonsense.

Hz measured "refresh rate", this is how many times per second your monitor is re-drawing the display.
FPS is the number of frames-per-second your graphics card is producing.

Here's a decent explanation: http://www.avadirect.com/blog/frame-rate-fps-vs-hz-refresh-rate/

So why do people claim that 120fps looks smoother than 60fps on a 60Hz screen? Are there any benefits of playing with vsync off in that case?

 

[Rexper]

The monitor's refresh rate basically puts a hard cap on the visible frame rate.

This isn't strictly accurate. It's also where things get a bit more complicated.

With VSync on, things behave as you describe. However with VSync off, a single "frame" as seen on a 60hz (or whatever) display can actually comprise of multiple "frames" from the GPU. If, for example, your GPU is running at 180fps with vsync off, a single "frame" as visible on your display would actually consist of parts of 3 different frames from your GPU (because the GPU is updating the current frame 3 times as fast as the monitor can). About a third of the way into sending the frame to the monitor, the GPU would have a new frame ready and the second third of the "frame" would be sent form that new frame from the GPU, then some time around when the final 3rd of the frame is being sent, a new frame is again ready from the GPU and that be sent as the final section.
That's why you can see tearing with VSync off, particularly if you're looking quickly from left to right, because the final frame displayed on the monitor comprises multiple frames which don't quite line up with each other.

Yeah, I just made that statement basic enough for new comers to get the general idea, without going too indepth. It still displays 60 images, just some of those images have parts of different frames in them. The tearing though won't be very noticeable at 80 FPS on a 60hz screen. You are indeed correct. Another solution to solve tearing is using a free sync / GSYNC monitor paired with a compatible card, which adjusts the monitors refresh rate to the GPU's produced frame rate, up to a certain point though.

 

[rhysiam]

So why do people claim that 120fps looks smoother than 60fps on a 60Hz screen?

Mostly placebo affect. People see a higher number and "feel" like it's better. In a blind test I'd challenge anyone to notice anything other than tearing.

Are there any benefits of playing with vsync off in that case?

Latency, or "input lag", is worse under VSync. As in, when you move your mouse, it usually takes slightly longer for that change to actually display on the screen.
Also, frame rate is often highly variable. While it's probably not an issue if you were getting 180fps on a 60hz display, it can be an issue with lower frame rates. For example, you might be running an average 90fps but then something taxing happens (often in a fight for example with lots of visual effects, etc), with VSync on, as soon as your fps drops slightly below the refresh rate (so 59 fps, in our example), the graphics card will not quite have a new frame ready when the monitor needs it. It might be 99% ready, but just need a fraction longer... but it doesn't matter, there's not a new frame ready so VSync ensures that the last frame is just duplicated again and your effective frame rate drops to 30fps.

 

[Rexper]

You will see 60 images per second, but you can also see multiple frames in an image (multiple parts of a frame put into one) in a monitor's refresh.

Watch this video https://youtu.be/nCHgmCxGEzY?t=22 to see how the refresh rate works. It doesn't instantly change the image (atleast not to the naked eye), but starts from the top and works it's way down. The faster it works it's way down, the higher the refresh rate is. At all times it is kept at a constant speed. When the actually fram produced by the GPU changes, the monitor's refresh doesnt go back to the top, instead it keeps going down, except displaying a newer image.
So if you use a 60 hz monitor, and playing a game at 120 FPS, you will get 1 screen tear as there's two frames delivered to the monitor in one refresh. The part of screen above the tear will be the older image, below will be the newer image.
If you were using a 30h monitor and playing a game at 180fps, you will have 5 tears, as there are 6 seperate parts of different frames within the one refresh.
All this is known as screen tearing, which can be resolved by turning on vsync. However, vsync adds input lag. Think of it this way, seeing a fraction of something new will give you a better idea than not seeing it all.