Monitor Refresh Rate Tester — Detect Your Display Hz

📅Published: February 21, 2026👤Author: FPS Tools Team

Detect your monitor's actual refresh rate (Hz) directly from the browser. Find out if your display is running at 60Hz, 144Hz, 240Hz, or any other rate.

—Hz
Click below to detect your refresh rate

What Is Monitor Refresh Rate?

Refresh rate, measured in Hertz (Hz), represents how many times per second your monitor redraws the entire screen. A 60Hz monitor refreshes 60 times per second, while a 144Hz monitor refreshes 144 times per second. Higher refresh rates deliver smoother motion, reduced input lag, and a more responsive feel — particularly noticeable in gaming and fast-paced content.

Many users purchase high-refresh-rate monitors but unknowingly run them at 60Hz because the higher rate wasn't enabled in their operating system settings. This tool helps you verify that your display is actually running at the refresh rate you expect.

How This Tool Works

This tester uses the browser's requestAnimationFrame API to count exactly how many frames the browser renders per second. Over 5 one-second samples, it calculates the average and matches it to the nearest standard refresh rate (60Hz, 75Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz, 165Hz, 240Hz, etc.).

The confidence level indicates measurement stability — "High" means all samples were consistent, while "Low" suggests background processes may be interfering with the measurement.

60Hz vs 144Hz vs 240Hz — Does It Matter?

The difference between 60Hz and 144Hz is immediately noticeable to most people, even in desktop usage. Mouse cursor movement becomes silky smooth, scrolling feels fluid, and in gaming, targets are easier to track. The jump from 144Hz to 240Hz is subtler but still perceptible to competitive gamers.

  • 60Hz — Standard for office work and casual use. 16.67ms between frames.
  • 75Hz — Slight improvement over 60Hz. Common on budget monitors.
  • 120Hz — Noticeably smoother. Common on gaming laptops and iPads.
  • 144Hz — The sweet spot for most gamers. 6.94ms between frames.
  • 240Hz — For competitive esports. 4.17ms between frames.
  • 360Hz — Extreme competitive edge. Diminishing returns for most users.

How to Enable Your Monitor's Full Refresh Rate

Windows: Right-click desktop → Display Settings → Advanced Display → Refresh Rate dropdown → select highest available.

macOS: System Preferences → Displays → hold Option and click "Scaled" → select refresh rate.

Linux: Use xrandr to list and set available refresh rates for your display output.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does it show 60Hz when I have a 144Hz monitor?
Your operating system may not be set to the higher refresh rate. Check your display settings and ensure the highest rate is selected. Also verify you're using a DisplayPort or HDMI 2.0+ cable — older HDMI versions may not support 144Hz.
Can a browser accurately detect refresh rate?
Yes, requestAnimationFrame is synced to the display's VSync signal, making it a reliable way to detect the active refresh rate. Results may vary slightly due to browser scheduling, but multiple samples improve accuracy.
Does refresh rate affect input lag?
Yes. Higher refresh rates reduce the time between your input and the next frame being displayed. At 60Hz, there's up to 16.67ms of display latency per frame. At 240Hz, it drops to 4.17ms.