Discussions

Need a new tv. Does it make a difference between 60 and 120hz? Dont watch sports. There is quit a price difference between the two. Just wondering if its worth the extra money.

I much prefer 120 Hz capable TV's but I've seen a great many different sets given my occupation, and there's some that are better than others at achieving the smoothness I'd expect. I've been studying the many TV's on sale waiting for the day that my existing 60Hz one finally dies so I can replace it.  
 
I have vision that is apparantly unique, so I can actually see the flicker of all plasma TV's and all tube TV's. Tube computer monitors were hell until I discovered turning up the refresh to any number higher than 72.I also see jitter during motion of 60Hz LCD's. Given this, I prefer 120Hz LCD's made by either LG, Insignia, or Samsung. Sony's have been really hit-or-miss as far as smoothness goes.  
 
120Hz TV's take the usual video signal, and perform some processing to it. a few frames are examined, and similarities between them are measured. then, the TV decides what parts of the picture are moving, and creates new frames of video to put in-between the originals so that the motion is made more gradual.  
The biggest difference I've noticed is that "talking faces" or closeups of faces tent to be the most noticeable as they seem to stand out as being different.  
Certain fast scenes like hockey or action movies can upset the processing in certain TV's and then it suddenly gives up and switches to non processed video and back.  
 
I would recommend going to a store, and just study the various TV's on the wall. Hopefully they are showing video that represents the things that you might watch at home. after you chase away the salesmen and finally get some time to study the differences between the TV's, it shoudl become clear to you wether or not 120Hz is something you want to pay extra for or not.  
 
I've met people who say that they cannot see the difference, and I've met others who don't like the way the procesed video comes accross. It really is worthwhile to take the time to look closely at them in-person.

I always wonder is if they are set proper in store. Some tvs are very fuzzy on the wall and others are clear. My 12yr old tv is more clear then some new ones.

Some stores have no pride, and can't be bothered to build or repair their signal distribution systems properly. Target was terrible for that.  
 
Other stores might try to make sure that the cheaper TV's have worse looking signals, so that customers will buy more expensive or higher-markup TV's instead.  
It doesn't take long to figure out which kind of store I'm in when I see any crappy signals...

With us too. We have a 4 yeat old 600hz plasma thats a way better picture than anything ive seen thats new and way way better picture than lcd or led. Not even close.

I don't like the motion smoothing processing, it makes things look fake to me. That's one of the first settings I change after getting a new TV.

"The rate of 120 was chosen as the least common multiple of 24 frame/s (cinema) and 30 frame/s (NTSC TV), and allows for less distortion when movies are viewed due to the elimination of telecine (3:2 pulldown)." - from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refresh_rate  
 
In other words, DVDs refresh at 24 Hz and cable/sat TV refreshes at 30 Hz, so you need a refresh rate of at least 120 Hz. With 60 Hz, you will miss one in three frames on DVD or Blu-Ray and video quality will suffer.  
 
There are people who say you want to go higher than 120 Hz, but I'm not smart enough about this stuff to say whether there's anything besides marketing fluff to back that up.  
 
Edited by acidbasement, 2016-01-10 16:19:30