# What is Refresh Rate?

Refresh rate is the number of times per second that a display can update its image, measured in hertz. It is distinct from frame rate, which counts images generated or stored each second.

Video + audio tracks

Video processing

Playable derivative

Video processing decodes timed tracks, transforms them, and encodes a deliverable for a target player. This diagram shows video broadly, not specifically Refresh Rate.

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## How Refresh Rate works

A display refreshes by scanning or updating its panel on a repeating cadence, while a renderer or video source supplies frames on its own cadence. If those timings do not align, frames may be repeated, presented for uneven intervals, or switched during scanout; synchronization and variable-refresh mechanisms manage that relationship. Refresh rate belongs at the final presentation stage, after decode, and must be considered alongside frame pacing, pixel response, and display latency.

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## Key facts

1. 1When frame cadence does not divide evenly into a fixed refresh cadence, repeated frames can follow an uneven pattern and produce judder even though no encoded frames are missing.
2. 2Variable-refresh displays adjust refresh timing within a supported operating range to follow frame delivery, reducing tearing and pacing artifacts without inventing new source frames.
3. 3Refresh rate and pixel response time are independent. A panel may accept frequent updates yet show smearing if its pixels cannot transition between levels quickly enough.

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## When Refresh Rate matters

Match animation or playback behavior to display timing when minimizing judder, tearing, or redundant rendering work. A high refresh rate cannot create motion detail absent from a lower-frame-rate source.

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## Common use cases for video

These examples cover video broadly, not specifically Refresh Rate.

* Preparing uploaded video for web, mobile, connected-TV, social, or editorial playback.
* Creating clips, thumbnails, captions, alternate aspect ratios, and adaptive renditions.
* Normalizing camera, screen-recording, and user-generated files into predictable outputs.

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## Working with video

This guidance covers video broadly, not just Refresh Rate.

A demuxer separates tracks from the container, decoders turn compressed streams into frames or samples, and filters apply spatial or temporal changes. Encoders compress the transformed tracks before a muxer writes the chosen output container.

Video compatibility is the product of codec, container, profile, level, frame rate, color, audio, and subtitles. Validate the complete output on target devices because a playable file on one decoder may fail or look different on another.

### What you gain

* Standardized derivatives make diverse source files playable on target devices.
* A retained master can feed many resolutions, aspect ratios, codecs, and channels.
* Automated inspection and transformation make large upload volumes consistent.

### What it costs

* More efficient codecs can lower bitrate at similar quality but usually cost more compute and may have narrower support.
* Higher resolutions and frame rates preserve more detail and motion while increasing processing and delivery requirements.
* Fast encoding settings improve throughput but can produce larger files or lower quality than slower analysis.

### Before production

1. 1Inspect codec, container, dimensions, frame rate, color, audio, and subtitle tracks.
2. 2Test visual quality and playback support across the slowest and oldest target devices.
3. 3Preserve a suitable master before applying lossy, destructive, or delivery-specific changes.

[← Rebuffering](/glossary/rebuffering.md)[Region Growing →](/glossary/region-growing.md)

More in video

* [Progressive Scan](/glossary/progressive-scan.md)
* [Quantization Parameter](/glossary/quantization-parameter.md)
* [Rate-Distortion Optimization](/glossary/rate-distortion-optimization.md)
* [Remuxing](/glossary/remuxing.md)
* [SDR Video](/glossary/sdr-video.md)
* [Shoppable Video](/glossary/shoppable-video.md)

[All 505 terms](/glossary.md)

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