The new buzz is refresh rate. For years, 60Hz was the defacto standard for home televisions. Over the last few years, there have been more and more 120Hz televisions coming out to the market, and the question many people are asking is why. The most basic reason is because it gives manufacturers a way to charge more for their televisions. When you dig deeper, you realize there is a difference and even a benefit for 120Hz televisions depending on what you use your television for.
If a movie is recorded in 24p and your television refreshes at 60Hz, your television ends up not looking as good as it could because the television picture and the movie video source aren’t in sync. Without getting really crazy with the explanation just consider that 24 doesn’t go into 60. But it does go into 120. This means that when you have a 120Hz source, the image appears smoother.
There is currently a $400-500 premium to get a television that’s 120Hz instead of 60Hz, and with Sony coming out with 240Hz televisions, you can expect the gap between 60 and 120 to go away some in terms of pricing. Until then, you have to ask yourself how often you’ll be watching movies on your HDTV. If you are a cinemaphile – spend the extra to get a 120Hz set and you’ll never look back. If you aren’t too keen on spending several extra hundred dollars because you don’t watch that many DVDs you should be fine with 60Hz.
For those who want to read more on 3:2 pulldown processing, and a more scientific explanation, you can read more at dvdfile.com.
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