120Hz

It’s impossible these days to buy a LCD TV and not encounter values meant to take your eyes like 1080p or 120Hz. These values are known as “buzzwords” and their purpose is to attract more and more costumers and increase the profit. This is a marketing technique that has been used by manufactures since “ever”:). So what is 120Hz and why is everybody talking about it? This is going to be our main focus in this article.

Q: Can you tell me what 120Hz is?

A: Since LCD displays appeared on the market , there biggest drawbacks was that they had bigger response time and lower refresh rates, then contenders like Plasma TVs, CRT and rear projection’s TVs. This drawback was noticeable especially during high speed moving content like sports, movie scenes such as fighting and games. In the past years LCD manufactures struggled to keep up with there contenders but still have ground to make up until they can have a smooth picture like plasma.
To get closer to this goal they incorporated 120Hz technology in there newer models.
So a LCD TV that has the refresh rate of 120Hz is twice as fast as a normal 60Hz model.

The manufactures claim that the 120Hz LCD TVs have an improved refresh rate and the picture is much smoother and no blurriness during fast action scenes as the ones mentioned above. On the other hand, there are voices which say that in head to head comparison there is no actual difference.

Q: Is it better then a Plasma TV?

A : The fans of 120Hz LCD TV say that this technology is truly great and can be compared to Plasma TV. But if you want quality in a LCD TV you will have to go for the high-end models. The truth is that the 120Hz value isn’t what makes LCD TV’s compare to Plasma TV but if you want to purchase a LCD TV that will offer you the same quality as a Plasma TV you will have to dig dipper in your pocket and not buy a LCD just because it has 120Hz in the specifications sheet.

Q: So, is 120Hz good for something?

A : One thing is sure: it is not useless. What a 120Hz TV does, is that it just takes a 60 Hz signal and replicate’s it twice. It does make fast moving images sharper, but not buy much. In my opinion it’s mostly a simply marketing trick with some improvements in the technology area.

Q: How about motion enhancement?

A : Motion enhancement is a video processing tool provided by each manufacturer under a different name. This feature makes the images look smoother and reduce judder. It’s a pretty good tool and, in my opinion, it does help. Anyway, if you don’t like it you can always turn the feature off.

Q: LCD TV 120Hz is it worth it?

A : This is the one million dollar question. Is not easy but is not really hard…is just a question that needs to be answer by you and your budget.
You should keep in mind that not the 120Hz makes the difference of quality between LCD TVs and if you want a LCD TV that will play the content smooth and no blurry image you should search through reviews and find one that is in your budget and also high-end model. These models tend to come with 120Hz technology but that isn’t what makes them great.

Conclusion

Right now 120Hz technology is at the beginning and still needs to be perfected, but over the years…who knows…it might just be the next big thing.