FPS? 29.97 vs. 100+

[Cage22]

Dear Tomashardware:

I've been perplexed by this question for over 6 months, searched everywhere on the Internet and found no answer.

Simply put, why do video cards need to put out such high "frames per second" rates (100+) when in the film industry, a smooth picture is acquired at 29.97 (30 drop-frame) fps?


You wouldn't believe what I've gone through to find this answer. I hope you can help.

Sincerely,
Rob Maldavir
Lynchburg, VA
USA

 

[starwrs3]

so the owners of them can feel better about themselves

 

[Cage22]

I think there is probably more to it. I'm looking for a technologically sound answer. My instinct says there is a definitive reason for such high FPS rates.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

60 fps feels better than 30 fps in games. Benchmarks show only average fps, so 100+ fps means that framerate always keeps around 60.

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[bloaty]

The average human eye is able to notice flickering up to about 60 times in one second. 60hertz on a monitor just means that the screen is being refreshed at 60 time a second. So in order to emulate something as happening in real time smoothness it needs to be refreshed by at LEAST 60hz.
Another example is the AC electricity found in all houses, it also runs at 60hz. This means your lightbulbs are really turning off and on very quickly, at 60 times every second. This just fools your eye into thinking that its straight non flickering light.
The 30fps that they use in movies is in my opinion outdated and hard on many peoples eyes(especially mine). They obvious reason they do this is to save space on film and to make digital movie files smaller(DVD movies would take up twice the space at 60hz). I also imagine it woud be more difficult to film at higher speeds aswell. I really do wish they produced movies like lord of rings at 60fps, hopefully they will start doing this someday.

So now to answer your question, yes there is a point when higher frame rate become irevilent and that rate is already known, 60. A good eye may be able to tell up to 85 or higher but 60 is the average. Hope this helps explain things.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Another example is the AC electricity found in all houses, it also runs at 60hz.

US standard only, European standard is 220V-50Hz


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[flamethrower205]

Sniff sniff, mine tells up to 100hz, which can get annoying. Dude, I totally agree w/ the movie thing, and they no need to film at 30fps, they can just double frames when editing.....wait, doesn't progressive scan work somewhat like that?

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."
- Mario Andretti

 

[thaloc]

You need many fps in games becouse your computer generates static sharp pictures - it does not blur objects accordingly to their movement. Watch any fast scene from any movie frame by frame - anything that is moving fast is blurred, so its movement looks smooth even in 24fps (standard for movies). If a game 3D engine would generete those blurs on all moving objects (professional renderers do, watch any computer-generated movie, like Shrek or Final Fantasy), 30fps would be more than you would ever need in any game.

Example:
If you have in a game low fps and fast moving object, on first frame you see nothing, on second sharp picture of object, and on third nothing again. So object does not appear to move smoothly, or event at all, and you don't even know in what direction it is moving, it simply appeared for one frame and disappeared again. If you have x3 times fps, you see object moving on screen during 3 frames in 3 different locations - a big improvement, you can actually see it moving. So bigger fps -> more smoothly moving objects.
Also you need 100fps on average to be sure that it will not drop to 10fps when you have 10 enemies firing at you in sight .

 

[jihiggs]

my feeling on it is simple. the fps you get from benchmarks is an average. say in a game you are running from some guy that is throwing rockets at you, at the same time you are looking at very complex textures. at this time your fps can drop to 15 fps if a bench shows you get 30. but in the same game, your only walking in a dark hallway, you will get about 50 fps.

my computer is so fast, it completes an endless loop in less than 4 seconds!

 

[eden]

To me, 60FPS indeed makes a difference.
On the GameCube, Mario Sunshine runs at 30FPS, while Metroid Prime runs at 60. Major difference man, you can see the frame rate being less smooth.

Problem is, it's not always a good thing. IMO some games are less realistic with extremly smooth FPS. Fighting games on current consoles look less realistic, to my eyes!
In movies, high FPS would ruin the action. They have a perfectly good FPS. And it is weird as in video games, low FPS really ruins the scene while in movies it does not.
Often too, high FPS films or commercials are low budget, ever notice? It seems too live, less entertainment for the eyes.

To me though, 60FPS is often what is needed for gaming, 30 often will not feel very smooth, but it also depends on the graphics too. Some games seem perfect at 30FPS.

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[eden]

What is progressive scan all about anyways?

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[Col_Kiwi]

You need many fps in games becouse your computer generates static sharp pictures - it does not blur objects accordingly to their movement.

That's the reason I've always accepted for why a movie you see in a theatre at 24fps seems smooth while a game can benefit from more.

It's also what I learned in my Electronics class just the other day.

-Col.Kiwi

 

[ProdigySim]

Future security, with 3D games getting more advanced, and higher quality, the newer cards will still work fine farther into the future. Plus, there's stuff like special texturing and shading effects and higher resolutions, spiffy anti-alias. But, I do agree, the human eye only sees around 30 FPS, so my GF4 MX440 is fine for CS, running 800x600 (I can't rad the chat on 1024x768) at 60 FPS. CHEAP IS GOOD!

....

 

[Cage22]

Thanks to all who responded. I wish I had joined the board earlier. Happy Holidays to all.

 

[Guest]

Future security, with 3D games getting more advanced, and higher quality, the newer cards will still work fine farther into the future. Plus, there's stuff like special texturing and shading effects and higher resolutions, spiffy anti-alias. But, I do agree, the human eye only sees around 30 FPS, so my GF4 MX440 is fine for CS, running 800x600 (I can't rad the chat on 1024x768) at 60 FPS. CHEAP IS GOOD!

....

Human eye can see well beyond 30fps...

 

[Mousemonkey]

[:wolfen18:9] Well done, thank you for digging up a SEVEN year old thread to enlighten us with that nugget of wisdom.