Refresh Rate Test — What Hz Is Your Screen Really Running?
Press start and the test measures your screen's real repaint interval for three seconds to work out its refresh rate. The two tracks below show your screen against 60Hz motion.
Press start for a three-second measurement.
Measured refresh rate
Hz
If this is a high-refresh monitor showing 60Hz, the panel is probably not the problem — check the refresh rate in your OS display settings, your cable (HDMI version / DisplayPort), and laptop power-saving modes.
About the Refresh Rate Test
Refresh rate is how many times per second your screen redraws its picture. At 60Hz that is sixty redraws a second; at 144Hz, one hundred and forty-four — and the higher the number, the smoother scrolling and mouse movement feel, and the more responsive games look. The catch: a remarkable number of people buy a high-refresh monitor and then run it at 60Hz without knowing. The operating system setting stays on 60, the cable cannot carry the higher mode, or a laptop quietly throttles itself to save battery.
This test measures the interval at which your browser actually paints frames in sync with the display, over three seconds, and converts the stable median into Hz. If the number lands within three percent of a standard rate — 60, 75, 90, 120, 144, 165 or 240 — it snaps to that; otherwise you see the raw figure. The two motion tracks make the difference visible: the top one moves at your real rate, the bottom one is throttled to 60Hz, and on a fast screen the gap is easy to see.
Everything happens inside this page and nothing is transmitted anywhere. If the number comes out lower than the panel you paid for, check the settings before blaming the monitor — most 'slow screens' are really just screens nobody switched on.
How the refresh rate test works
- Close heavy tabs or apps for a moment — dropped frames read as a lower rate.
- Press start and leave the window alone for three seconds.
- Read the measured Hz and the standard-rate verdict.
- Compare the two motion tracks to feel the difference.
- Got 60Hz on a high-refresh panel? Follow the hint and check OS settings and cables.
- Changed a setting? Measure again to confirm the difference.
Frequently asked questions
I have a high-refresh monitor — why does it say 60Hz?
The three usual suspects: the OS display setting is still on 60Hz, the HDMI or DisplayPort cable or port cannot carry the higher mode, or a laptop is throttling to save power. On Windows it lives under Settings → System → Display → Advanced display. The cable is the part most people guess at instead of checking, and it does not have to be a guess: HDMI requires cable products to carry their official name on the jacket, and that name is the speed class. Standard sits at the bottom, tested only for 720p and 1080i, and HDMI notes those cables do not cover the later resolutions, refresh rates and bandwidth. Above it the ceilings climb — High Speed 10.2Gbps, Premium High Speed 18Gbps, Ultra High Speed 48Gbps, Ultra96 96Gbps. Read the one already plugged in before you buy another.
Why does the result land exactly on a standard number like 144?
Because the test snaps to one. Browser timers carry tiny jitter, so a 144Hz panel rarely measures exactly 144.0, and any reading within three percent of a standard rate (60, 75, 90, 120, 144, 165, 240) is reported as that rate. A panel that falls outside all of those bands is shown as the rounded measurement instead.
Can different browsers give different numbers?
Yes. Some browser and graphics combinations composite windows at 60Hz regardless of the panel, and some browsers cap frame rates on battery. If a result looks wrong, try another browser and plug in the charger.
Should I avoid doing other things during the measurement?
Yes. Heavy pages or video pulling on the CPU and GPU drop frames, which reads as a lower rate than the panel really runs. Keep this window in front and untouched for the three seconds.
The two tracks look identical to me.
If your screen really is running at 60Hz, the tracks move the same — which is itself the diagnosis. If the verdict above says 60Hz, follow the settings hint. On a confirmed high-refresh screen, the difference is most obvious during fast motion.
Is anything uploaded?
Nothing. The frame timing is measured entirely inside this page, shown on screen, and never stored or sent anywhere.
What is the difference between refresh rate and FPS?
FPS is how many frames your computer produces; Hz is how many the screen can display. They are two separate numbers and the lower one sets the ceiling — 200 FPS sent to a 60Hz screen still arrives as 60, and a 144Hz screen fed by a game running at 40 FPS still shows 40.
Is the Refresh Rate Test free, and does it work on a phone?
It is free, needs no account and installs nothing, and it works on a phone as well as a computer — which is the point on a handset advertised at 90Hz or 120Hz, since those panels often drop to 60 on battery saver or in certain apps and nothing on the phone tells you when it happened.
Why not just read the number in my display settings?
Because the settings panel shows the mode your system asked for, while this page counts the frames that actually reach the browser. The two part company more often than you would expect — a cable or adapter that cannot carry the bandwidth, a power-saving mode, a second monitor forcing a shared rate. When they disagree, the settings number is a plan and the measured number is the result, and the result is what your eyes are getting. It is also why a reading here can sit below a spec sheet without either being wrong.