60Hz to 120Hz issue

[jakk]

Hi,

Forgive me if this has been covered before, I can't find a strait answer anywhere.

I just got a 120Hz TV and I am using it as a monitor for my late 2010 MPB to play media from PLEX.

I can only seem to get the MBP to output 60Hz, not 120Hz. Do I need to output in 120Hz to see the difference? I am reading some articles that say 120Hz TV's will upscale 60Hz signals. Basically I want to know if I have wasted my money on the 120Hz TV if I can only use a 60Hz signal.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jack

 

[chscag]

Please read the following article: What is the advantage of 120 HZ TV over 60 HZ?

 

[jakk]

Thank you for your reply, but it didn't really answer my question. I probably didn't explain correctly.

I understand the advantage of 120Hz and how the refresh rate is faster. What I am not sure of is will my MBP outputting at 60Hz hinder the TV? Will I be getting the full 120Hz experience or just 60Hz?

 

[chscag]

You probably won't notice the difference. Your MBP output of 60 Hz to a 120 Hz TV will not degrade the quality of the picture (if that's your question). Some years back when we were still using CRT TV sets and CRT monitors (remember the eMac?) refresh rate was important. A lower refresh rate input meant flickering or in some cases distortion.

 

[pigoo3]

Thank you for your reply, but it didn't really answer my question. I probably didn't explain correctly.

I understand the advantage of 120Hz and how the refresh rate is faster. What I am not sure of is will my MBP outputting at 60Hz hinder the TV? Will I be getting the full 120Hz experience or just 60Hz?

I think that what you're doing here is not comparing "Apples to Apples". What you're doing is connecting a flat panel TV to a computer...and not a true "computer monitor" to a computer. The flat panel TV will work just fine as an external monitor....there are just some differences between a flat panel TV and a true computer monitor.

This is why you don't usually see 55", 65", and larger computer monitors (usually true computer monitors aren't commonly found larger than 28"-30")...but 55", 65" and larger are common sizes for flat panel TV's.

The whole 60Hz, 120Hz, 240Hz parameter is a selling point for TV's for smoother video/action. In the "computer world" this same parameter is usually the "response time" (gray to gray, black to black, etc.). Which is basically how fast an individual pixel can do this.

- Nick

 

[jakk]

Thanks for the replies guys, however I still think I am being misunderstood.

Im not asking If I will see the difference or the difference between a TV and a computer monitor. I was asking if I will get 120Hz out of my TV if the MBP is only sending it a 60Hz signal. In a similar way to if I sent a 720p image to a 1080p screen it would be a scaled up 720p image not true 1080.

When I try and change the refresh rate on the MBP it is greyed out and set to 60Hz. Does the refresh rate from the MBP have to mach the refresh rate that the TV is capable of in order to reap the benefits?

Does that make more sense?

 

[chscag]

I was asking if I will get 120Hz out of my TV if the MBP is only sending it a 60Hz signal.

The answer to that is obvious... The TV refresh is set to 120 Hz, attaching your MacBook Pro or anything else is not going to change that. Refresh rate in a TV is set by the horizontal sweep circuitry.

 

[pigoo3]

Im not asking If I will see the difference or the difference between a TV and a computer monitor. I was asking if I will get 120Hz out of my TV if the MBP is only sending it a 60Hz signal.

The computer is just sending video information to the input port on the TV. The computers display is operating at its frequency…and the TV is operating at its frequency.

The video information from the computer is just video information (video data). This video info from the computer does not contain any frequency info.

- Nick

 

[jakk]

Thank you for your help.

I didn't know If i could still get a refresh rate of 120 if i was only sending 60.

Like if i wanted 1080 but only sent 720.

 

[pigoo3]

I didn't know If i could still get a refresh rate of 120 if i was only sending 60.

The video data from the computer to the TV does not include frequency info.

- If you send 1080p info from the computer to the TV…then it will be 1080p on your TV (if the TV can display 1080p).
- If you send 720p info from the computer to the TV…then it will be 720p info on your TV.
- If you send standard definition info from the computer to the TV…then it will be standard definition on your TV.

The display on your computer is displaying info at 60Hz. The display on your TV is displaying the info at 120Hz. These display frequency's are independent of each other…they are not related.

The computer is just sending video data to your TV. This video data does not include frequency info.

The video data coming from the computer is just like playing a DVD from a DVD player plugged into your TV. The DVD player has no frequency info associated with it.

If you played the same exact DVD (Action Movie) from the same exact DVD player on a 60Hz TV vs. a 120Hz TV…hopefully the video on the 120HZ TV would be smoother (since this is what you're paying for). The signal (video data) from the DVD player is the same in both cases.

- Nick

 

[pigoo3]

Like if i wanted 1080 but only sent 720.

The video quality being sent is different from the frequency of the computer display or the TV.

Yes…if lower quality video is being sent from the computer to the TV…then yes…the video quality on the TV will not be as good.

But again. The computer is not sending display frequency info. The frequency that a display operates at is not part of the video data being sent from the computer.

HTH,

- Nick

 

[johnodd4]

Wow I can tell you you most likely might not be able to display in 120hrz if you want to try it and see go into system pref. and select display and where it says refresh rate change it to 120hrz and see what happens worse case issue you have to do a smc reset to get it back to 60hrz