What is FPS? Frame rate vs refresh rate vs frame time

Three closely-related concepts that mean different things and are often confused. FPS is what software makes. Refresh rate is what hardware can show. Frame time is the gap between consecutive frames. All three matter for different reasons.

FPS — frames per second

FPS measures how many distinct still images get produced in one second. A movie filmed at 24 FPS records 24 still photos every second; played back, your brain stitches them into apparent motion. A video game running at 120 FPS produces 120 different rendered images per second.

Higher FPS means more samples per second of whatever is moving — which gives the eye and brain more information to reconstruct motion from. Above a certain rate, the difference becomes hard to detect; below it, motion looks choppy.

Common FPS targets:

24 FPS — film, the cinematic standard for over a century.
30 FPS — TV broadcasts in NTSC regions, older console games, most YouTube uploads.
60 FPS — current console gaming, most YouTube and Twitch streams, the "smooth motion" baseline.
120 FPS — premium gaming, fluid scrolling on high-end devices.
144-240 FPS — competitive PC gaming, where small response-time gains matter.
360+ FPS — esports niche; benefits real but very small.

Refresh rate — measured in Hertz

Refresh rate is the maximum number of times per second your monitor can show a new image. It is a hardware property — the panel and the controller chip determine it.

A 60 Hz monitor refreshes 60 times per second. A 144 Hz monitor refreshes 144 times per second. The Hz figure is the ceiling on what the screen can possibly show.

Critical relationship: FPS is capped by refresh rate. A game producing 200 FPS on a 60 Hz monitor still only shows 60 distinct frames — the other 140 are produced by your GPU but never displayed. The extra effort is wasted unless you have V-sync turned off and accept tearing as a result.

How to check yours

Use our refresh rate test — counts your monitor's actual rate from inside the browser.
Windows 11: Settings → System → Display → Advanced display → "Choose a refresh rate".
macOS: System Settings → Displays → click your display → Refresh Rate.

Frame time — milliseconds between frames

Frame time is the gap between consecutive frames, measured in milliseconds. It is the inverse of FPS:

FPS	Frame time
24 FPS	41.7 ms
30 FPS	33.3 ms
60 FPS	16.7 ms
120 FPS	8.3 ms
144 FPS	6.9 ms
240 FPS	4.2 ms

Why frame time is the more useful number:

Consistency matters more than average. A steady 60 FPS (16.7 ms every frame) feels smoother than a wobbly 90 FPS that includes occasional 40 ms spikes.
Spikes show as stutter. Even a single 50 ms frame in an otherwise-60-FPS sequence is visible as a dropped frame.
Performance tools report it. Game profilers like the Windows Game Bar (Win+G) and macOS's Instruments show frame time graphs because they make stutter visible in a way average FPS hides.

What controls each one

FPS is software-side: how fast your application can produce a new frame. Game engine optimisation, CPU/GPU power, render resolution and graphical settings all influence it.
Refresh rate is hardware-side: the panel, the timing controller, the cable bandwidth, and any active scaler. You can usually pick from the rates the panel supports; you cannot exceed them.
Frame time is a measurement of FPS variance: lower and steadier is better.

The cable trap

Even with a 144 Hz monitor and a powerful GPU, your displayed FPS will be capped at 60 if the cable cannot carry enough bandwidth. Rough rules:

1080p 144 Hz: HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 or any "high speed" certified cable.
1440p 144 Hz: DisplayPort 1.2 (just), DisplayPort 1.4 with margin, HDMI 2.1.
4K 120 Hz: DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, or HDMI 2.1 (must be a certified Ultra High Speed HDMI cable).
4K 240 Hz: DisplayPort 2.1.

Why your game's FPS might not match what you expect

Common causes:

V-sync is on — caps FPS to refresh rate, eliminates tearing but can introduce input lag.
Battery saver / power profile — most laptops drop maximum FPS aggressively on battery.
Resolution / settings too high — 4K Ultra rarely hits 120 FPS without flagship hardware.
Background process eating CPU — open Task Manager, find the culprit.
Browser throttling — Chrome and Edge cap requestAnimationFrame to 60 FPS on battery with battery saver active.

Frequently asked

What is FPS? +

FPS — frames per second — is how many distinct still images your screen shows you in one second. Movies traditionally use 24 FPS, video games target 60 or 120, web pages aim to scroll at your monitor's refresh rate. The higher the FPS, the smoother motion appears.

What is the difference between FPS and refresh rate? +

FPS is what software produces (the game, the browser, the video player). Refresh rate is what hardware can display (your monitor, in Hertz). They cap each other: a 60 Hz monitor cannot show more than 60 distinct frames per second even if your game produces 200 FPS, and a 144 Hz monitor cannot make a 30-FPS video appear smoother than 30 FPS.

What is frame time? +

Frame time is the milliseconds between consecutive frames — basically the inverse of FPS. 60 FPS = 16.7 ms per frame; 120 FPS = 8.3 ms per frame; 240 FPS = 4.2 ms per frame. Frame time consistency matters more than raw average FPS for perceived smoothness — a steady 60 FPS feels smoother than a wobbly 90 FPS.

Is higher FPS always better? +

For motion content (gaming, scrolling, animation), yes — up to a point of diminishing returns around 120-144 FPS. For static content (reading, watching films at 24 FPS), no — extra FPS adds nothing because there is no new image to show.