Check your monitor refresh rate and understand browser Hz tests

Start with the selected display

When several screens are connected, make sure you are inspecting the one used for the game. Microsoft’s display settings show information for the selected screen, including its current resolution and refresh rate. A monitor advertised with a high maximum rate may be running at a lower selected mode. Write down the active resolution and rate before changing anything. The available options depend on the display and supported connection path, so a missing mode needs an exact-model investigation rather than an arbitrary software tweak.

Choose a supported mode

Open Settings, then System, Display and Advanced display. Select the intended monitor and inspect the available refresh rates. Choose a supported mode appropriate to your needs, then verify the image and resolution. Microsoft notes that some listed rates require a resolution change, identified with an asterisk in the relevant interface. Follow your monitor, graphics device, cable and dock documentation when a desired mode is absent. Avoid unsupported custom timings while troubleshooting an ordinary configuration issue.

1. Identify the gaming monitor.
2. Record the current resolution and refresh rate.
3. Select a supported mode and check the resulting image.

Separate Hz, FPS and frame time

Refresh rate describes display updates per second, while game FPS describes frames produced or presented according to the counter’s definition. A 144 FPS target corresponds arithmetically to about 6.94 milliseconds per frame; that calculation is not a measurement of total input delay. A high refresh setting does not guarantee that a demanding game will reach the same FPS. Conversely, an FPS counter alone does not verify the selected monitor mode. Keep both observations in your test notes.

Understand what a browser test observes

The requestAnimationFrame API schedules a callback before a repaint. Its cadence commonly follows the display, but browser scheduling, page load and device behaviour can affect the intervals. Background tabs may pause callbacks. A test therefore needs a visible tab and enough samples to describe a stable observation. Treat the output as observed browser animation cadence, not a laboratory certificate of the panel. A browser cannot establish pixel transition time or end-to-end click-to-photon latency from callback intervals alone.

Investigate differences methodically

If Windows reports one rate while a browser test observes another cadence, close unnecessary tabs, keep the test visible and repeat. Record whether a laptop power mode, dynamic refresh feature or multi-monitor arrangement changed between observations. Test the game separately with its own display mode and a repeatable scene. Variable refresh and dynamic refresh describe different behaviours, so consult the official documentation for your actual feature. Save the working configuration before experimenting further; if the image becomes unstable, restore the known supported mode.

Verify with the official sources

Microsoft: change the refresh rate in Windows ↗

MDN: requestAnimationFrame timing and background behaviour ↗

Educational workflows, not a claim of hands-on testing across every device. Retest after a game, browser, driver or network change. Editorial policy →