Investigating the Effect of Display Refresh Rate on First-Person Shooting Games

TL;DR

This study examines how different display refresh rates impact player performance in first-person shooting games, finding significant effects only at very low refresh rates like 30Hz, suggesting higher rates may not always enhance experience.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence that higher refresh rates do not necessarily improve performance beyond a certain point in FPS games.

Findings

Significant performance difference at 30Hz

No notable performance differences at higher refresh rates

Player self-ratings align with performance results

Abstract

For first-person shooting game players, display refresh rate is important for a smooth experience. Multiple studies have shown that a low display refresh rate will reduce gamers' experience and performance. However, the human eye's perception of refresh rate has an upper limit, which is usually less than what high-performance monitors, for which players pay much higher prices, provide. This study assesses whether a higher refresh rate always has a positive impact on players' performance, making it worthwhile for them to invest in high-performance monitors. A within-group experimental design study was conducted using a commercial first-person shooting game platform (N = 26) to investigate players' performance at display refresh rates of 30Hz, 60Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz, and 240Hz. Player performance was assessed based on score, accuracy, and self-ratings from the players. The results show that display refresh rate only significantly affects player performance at 30Hz.