What is the best input for 120 FPS on a 120 Hz TV?

[CodemasterRob]

I'm upgrading my system from a 60 Hz TV running at 1360x768 with a GTX 660 Ti to a 1080p 120 Hz TV with various inputs and a GTX 970. I have an abundance of HDMI cords but a budget for any other input. Will HDMI be able to output past 60 FPS (up to 120 or even 240)? I've read extremely conflicting posts on this site saying that it supports 60 FPS, which is given, but nothing that indicates it can surpass that. As this is a TV I'm using, HDMI would be ideal, however my PC does have external speakers attached and I don't mind sacraficing HDMI audio for a higher frame rate ceilling.

 

[bystander]

Until very recently, HDMI could not support 120hz. Now, with a GTX 970 or 980 it is possible to support HDMI 2.0. However, your HDTV must also support HDMI 2.0, which is extremely rare and only on the latest models.

It is far more likely that you'll be limited to 60hz regardless of your connection, but it is possible that HDMI 2.0 is on the TV and maybe worth a shot. There are also a few rare, new HDTV's that support Displayport. I believe these are mostly 4k TV's, and displayport can support 120hz, but not at 4k.

 

[CodemasterRob]

The TV is a VIZIO M Series, relatively new (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/vizio-m-series-42-class-42-diag--led-1080p-smart-hdtv-black/4498002.p?id=1219098555849&skuId=4498002). The page there says it has nothing but HDMI, which is a bit of a bummer, but doesn't specify which version. I guess I'll have to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

 

[Calculagator]

You cannot do better than HDMI in your situation.
Unfortunately, the 120 Hz (and 240 Hz) listed for TVs does not mean that they support that refresh rate. They are not designed to accept signals above 60 Hz. If you want a higher refresh rate, you will have to go with a monitor designed for to handle the input. The HDMI cable can handle the signal just fine, but your TV cannot. You may be able to overclock or hack the tv firmware, but you should not expect this to work.

 

[CodemasterRob]

Thanks for the feedback. You guys helped me out a lot.

 

[CodemasterRob]

I thought I'd add on in case someone does end up on this page in the future, the VIZIO M series apparently can hit 120 Hz at 1080p over HDMI according to this, which is exactly what I was looking for.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/145-htpc-gaming/1707961-downsampling-overclocking-101-vizio-m-series-tv.html

 

[Calculagator]

I thought I'd add on in case someone does end up on this page in the future, the VIZIO M series apparently can hit 120 Hz at 1080p over HDMI according to this, which is exactly what I was looking for.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/145-htpc-gaming/1707961-downsampling-overclocking-101-vizio-m-series-tv.html

That's very interesting. Thanks for updating.

 

[CodemasterRob]

Final update. Got the TV up and mounted and it does, in fact, seem to run at at least 120 Hz over HDMI so it must have HDMI 2.0. No screen tearing at all with Tomb Raider running at 100+ FPS. The TV does say it's rated for 240 Hz, but I'm not sure if HDMI 2.0 goes higher than 120 Hz now. Not that it matters. It's an extremely high quality TV for $400 and I couldn't be happier with it.

 

[specialk916]

I know this is late, but I thought i would chime in to help people stumbling along this page.

the 120hz or 240hz rating on tvs is USUALLY referring to artificial frame rate where it takes a 60hz signal and splices artificial frames in between the original frames to give the illusion of 120fps, however this creates lag, and other visual issues. The vizio in question however supports true 120 fps 1080p /60 fps 4k through hdmi ( on the p series it is only through input 5, not sure about the m series ) and the 240 hz would be an artificial frame rate. linus on youtube did a much better explanation than i did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCWZ_kWTB9w

with hdmi2.0 becoming the standard hopefully this will also become standard.

 

[CodemasterRob]

I know this is late, but I thought i would chime in to help people stumbling along this page.

the 120hz or 240hz rating on tvs is USUALLY referring to artificial frame rate where it takes a 60hz signal and splices artificial frames in between the original frames to give the illusion of 120fps, however this creates lag, and other visual issues. The vizio in question however supports true 120 fps 1080p /60 fps 4k through hdmi ( on the p series it is only through input 5, not sure about the m series ) and the 240 hz would be an artificial frame rate. linus on youtube did a much better explanation than i did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCWZ_kWTB9w

with hdmi2.0 becoming the standard hopefully this will also become standard.

That is one HELL of a necro post. But yes, the TV I purchased, a VIZIO M Series, runs at a full 120 Hz, has many great picture quality options such as extremely deep blacks that make the display look shut off in those portions of the screens, and even a mode for reduced input lag that's noticeably better. I don't regret my decision to go this route at all, as it has held up tremendously and given me far more than I ever expected for a TV-PC experience.

 

[specialk916]

I know this is late, but I thought i would chime in to help people stumbling along this page.

the 120hz or 240hz rating on tvs is USUALLY referring to artificial frame rate where it takes a 60hz signal and splices artificial frames in between the original frames to give the illusion of 120fps, however this creates lag, and other visual issues. The vizio in question however supports true 120 fps 1080p /60 fps 4k through hdmi ( on the p series it is only through input 5, not sure about the m series ) and the 240 hz would be an artificial frame rate. linus on youtube did a much better explanation than i did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCWZ_kWTB9w

with hdmi2.0 becoming the standard hopefully this will also become standard.

That is one HELL of a necro post. But yes, the TV I purchased, a VIZIO M Series, runs at a full 120 Hz, has many great picture quality options such as extremely deep blacks that make the display look shut off in those portions of the screens, and even a mode for reduced input lag that's noticeably better. I don't regret my decision to go this route at all, as it has held up tremendously and given me far more than I ever expected for a TV-PC experience.