4 reasons high refresh rate monitors aren’t just for gamers

If you’re eyeing up a high-refresh-rate monitor but you’re not a gamer, it might be hard to justify the purchase. However, there are a few reasons you might want one, even if you’re not a gamer. You might not need a 240Hz or 360Hz monitor, and a 144Hz monitor will get the job done. These are the biggest benefits you can expect.

It’s a game changer

If you have a high-refresh-rate monitor, then you’ll know that the biggest change is just how smooth everything is. All of the animations, program launches, and general UI will be incredibly fluid. It’s the biggest upgrade, and it’s not just for gamers.

Think about it: smartphones are launching with high-refresh-rate screens for a reason, and it’s not because everyone is a mobile gamer. It’s just that it looks great and feels really nice to use. It’s genuinely of the first things you’ll notice, and I can tell if a monitor is 60Hz or if it’s higher based just on the mouse cursor on the desktop.

Related

5 ways a new gaming monitor is a better investment than a GPU

Before investing in a new graphics card, consider a monitor upgrade for a bigger impact on your gaming experience

3

Enhanced video editing

If you’re a video editor who works with high frame rate content, you’ll benefit hugely from a high refresh rate monitor. That’s because you’ll be able to see everything more accurately, in the frame rate that it was intended to be seen in.

This also works well for when you’re slowing content down as if it’s high frame rate content, you’ll be able to see how it looks and be able to better understand what will happen when you slow it down.

2

Reduced eye strain

One benefit of high refresh rate monitors that isn’t talked about a lot is how they can help with eye strain. Screen flickering is more likely to happen at lower refresh rates, which makes your eyes work harder to process what’s in front of you, and causing eye strain if it happens repeatedly.

Eye strain is inherently personal, and not everyone will experience eye strain from a 60Hz monitor. However, you’ll notice that a high refresh rate monitor is at least more comfortable than a 60Hz monitor, which in itself is a massive bonus. If you can work more comfortably, then even if it’s not eyestrain that’s going away, it’s still an improvement.

Related

5 reasons I haven’t upgraded my monitor in 5 years (and will probably use it for 5 more)

My existing monitor does everything I need it to. Upgrading it is not in the cards yet

1

A lot of high-end monitors have a high refresh rate anyway

A lot of high-end monitors these days go above and beyond 60Hz regardless. For example, the cream of the crop is probably the Dell UltraSharp 40 Curved. It’s a fantastic (but expensive) monitor that boasts a 120Hz refresh rate. The Dell U4025QW is also a 120Hz monitor, along with the Alienware AW3225QF and the MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD.

No doubt you’ll have to spend a bit more if you’re looking for a color-accurate monitor for video and photo editing, but the point ist hat there are a lot of really great high-end options that boast high-refresh-rates. As a result, as time goes on, chances are you’ll need to get used to it as those refresh rates trickle down to cheaper and cheaper productivity monitors. Plus, most professionals will have some of the best monitors they can get, which might be a monitor capable of 120Hz and beyond.