Tool StudioWatch, measure, and compare your display's real speed
Watch the moving dots below — this runs continuously, no need to press start. Adjust the bottom lane to compare against a specific rate (film, 120Hz, 144Hz gaming monitors, and more). It's the same side-by-side comparison technique dedicated refresh-rate testers use: judging real-world smoothness by eye, not just reading a number.
Your display (unthrottled)
Capped at 60 FPS
Capped at 30 FPS
Capped at 120 FPS (custom)
If your display is genuinely running at a high refresh rate, the top lane should look visibly smoother than the ones below it — if all four look equally choppy, something (a background app, power-saving mode, browser throttling) is likely capping your real frame rate below what your display supports.
Watch the motion test
Compare your display's real motion against 60/30 FPS references — no need to press start.
Set a custom rate
Use the presets or slider to compare against a specific rate, like 120Hz or 144Hz.
Check the FPS Counter
Switch tabs for a live number: current FPS, min/max/average, and an estimated refresh rate.
Watch a moving dot compared side-by-side against fixed 60 FPS and 30 FPS references — plus one you can set to any rate yourself, from film's 24fps up to 240fps and beyond — to judge your display's real-world smoothness by eye, not just a number. This is the same comparison technique dedicated refresh-rate testers are built around.
Prefer a number? Switch to the FPS Counter tab for a live frames-per-second readout with min/max/average stats and an estimated refresh rate, snapped to the common rates real displays actually use (60/75/90/120/144/165/240, and more) — not a naive rounding that misreports a rate like 144Hz.
Refresh rate (Hz) is your display's own ceiling; FPS is how fast content is actually being rendered. This tool measures both, so you can tell which one is limiting what you're seeing.
Works in any modern browser — Chrome and Edge give the most consistent readings. Safari on iPhone/iPad has a known limitation (see the FAQ) that affects any browser-based test, not just this one.
Open the Visual Motion Test tab (the default view) and watch the dots — no need to press start. If you want a specific comparison, use the presets or slider to set the custom lane to a rate like 120 or 144 and see how closely your display's motion matches it.
Switch to the FPS Counter tab and press Start measuring. You'll get a live number plus min/max/average stats after a few seconds.
Refresh rate is your display's own ceiling — how many times it can redraw the screen per second, a fixed hardware number. FPS is how fast content is actually being rendered, which depends on the app, page, or game, and can never usefully exceed your display's refresh rate. This tool measures both: the motion test and FPS counter show real rendering speed, and the estimated refresh rate shows your display's likely ceiling.
Not automatically — 120Hz is what your display can show at most; 120 FPS is what's actually being delivered to it. A 120Hz display only looks like "120 FPS smooth" when whatever you're watching or playing is genuinely rendering at 120 FPS too. Content running slower than your display's rate won't look smoother just because the display itself is capable of more.
Set the custom lane (Visual Motion Test tab) to 120 using the preset button, and compare it against the unthrottled top lane. If your display is genuinely running at 120Hz or higher, the top lane should look noticeably smoother than the 120-capped one; if they look the same, your display may be stuck at a lower rate.
Yes — "the eye can't see past 60 FPS" is a myth traced back to old CRT/broadcast TV standards, not human biology. Real research shows people reliably tell 60Hz from 120Hz apart, and even 144Hz from 240Hz under the right conditions, with the improvement per Hz getting smaller as rates climb.
For most people, 60Hz is fine for everyday use, and 120-144Hz is where the jump in smoothness is most noticeable, especially for gaming or fast scrolling. Beyond 240Hz, real benefits shrink to a level mainly competitive gamers and specific hardware reviewers care about — not overkill exactly, but a steeply diminishing-returns zone for most people.
On Android and Chrome-based mobile browsers, yes, the same way it works on desktop. On iPhone/iPad Safari specifically, there's a known limitation: Safari caps canvas rendering at 60fps by default regardless of your device's real ProMotion (120Hz) capability, so any browser-based test — including this one — can under-report a genuinely faster display. Even TestUFO, the most established tool in this space, doesn't support Safari for this exact reason. A recent hidden Safari setting can unlock 120Hz rendering, but it isn't on by default.
No — this measures how fast your browser itself renders, as a proxy for your display and system's general capability, not a specific running game's live frame rate. For in-game FPS overlays, you'd want dedicated software like MSI Afterburner, RTSS, or a game's own built-in FPS counter.
No, and that's deliberate — everything runs directly in this page. If you're looking for an always-on FPS overlay for games, that's a different category of tool (a desktop app like MSI Afterburner or RTSS), not something a browser page can provide.
This tool measures your browser's actual live rendering speed for free, no install. It's different from a predictive FPS calculator (which estimates in-game performance from your CPU/GPU specs before you even run anything) — this one measures what's really happening, right now, in your browser.
Check your OS display settings — Windows: Settings > System > Display > Advanced display; macOS: System Settings > Displays. Operating systems and browsers sometimes default to a lower rate like 60Hz even on a monitor capable of more, so it's worth checking even if you're sure your hardware supports it.
A few common causes: another heavy tab or app competing for resources, a browser or OS setting defaulting to a lower rate than your display supports, or genuinely being GPU/CPU-limited. Close other heavy tabs and apps and re-test — if the FPS Counter's max reading still stays well under your monitor's advertised rate, that's a real signal worth investigating in your display settings.
It's based on the highest sustained FPS your browser measured, snapped to the closest real, common display rate (60, 75, 90, 120, 144, 165, 240, and others) rather than blindly rounded — a genuine 144Hz reading won't get misreported as 145Hz, for example. It's a solid estimate, not a certified hardware reading; background apps, power-saving modes, and browser throttling can all pull it below your display's true maximum.
No — that's a different concept, mouse polling rate (how often your mouse reports its position to your PC, measured in Hz but unrelated to your display). If that's what you're after, our Mouse Tester tool explains why polling rate can't be reliably measured in a browser at all; this page is specifically about your display's refresh rate and rendering FPS.
That points at something capping your real frame rate below what your display supports — a background app, power-saving mode, or browser throttling — rather than a display problem. Try closing other tabs/apps and testing again.
Yes, somewhat — Chrome and Edge tend to give the most consistent readings due to more mature hardware-acceleration support. Safari has the specific ProMotion/120Hz limitation noted above; other browsers can vary too.
No — it's a rough browser-rendering measurement, not a substitute for a dedicated GPU/gaming benchmark. It's useful for checking your display and browser setup, not for comparing gaming hardware.
Yes — the custom lane in the Visual Motion Test tab can be set anywhere from 10 to 300 FPS, with quick presets for 24 (film), 90, 120, 144 (a common gaming monitor rate), and 240. Useful if 60 and 30 both look obviously smooth or choppy on your display and don't tell you much on their own.
No — every measurement happens locally in your browser. Nothing about your device, display, or performance is sent anywhere.
See your browser name and version, rendering engine, operating system, and full user-agent string, along with language, viewport, and cookie settings. Free, works entirely in your browser.
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