Buy TV: How much Hertz do you need?

If you want to buy a new television, you should not only pay attention to the screen size. We'll tell you how much Hertz your TV should have.

Meaning of the Hertz number

Before you jump on the Hertz values, the question arises as to what the "Hertz" unit actually describes:

Hertz (Hz) is the physical unit of frequency. The Hertz number signals the image repetitions per second, i.e. the number of different images per second.
In games, the standard "frames per second (fps)" is used instead of Hertz. At 24 frames per second (24 Hertz), the human eye already recognizes movements as fluid.

Many manufacturers trick when specifying the Hertz number. Don't let that blind you!

Today's television is broadcast in Europe at 50 Hz, but some televisions have up to 600 Hz. This is possible because built-in computer technology calculates and creates digital intermediate images in the devices. This makes movements appear more fluid than they really are.
This is why some manufacturers are tricking themselves: Although they state a high Hertz number for their devices, the background lighting is actually switched off briefly for successive images. This gives you the impression that the blur is reduced.
The lighting conditions in the living room can also have a negative effect on the Hertz number.
A too high Hertz number does not necessarily ensure a better picture.

Televisions with a Hertz number of 100 or a maximum of 200 are perfectly adequate these days. So even fast movements appear smooth - regardless of the lighting conditions.
However, you should not pay high surcharges for more Hertz, since there are often problems or ultimately only a 100 Hz panel is installed.
So do not be blinded by high Hz numbers and use lower Hz values! As long as you are satisfied with the resolution of the TV and the Hertz number is in the range mentioned, there is nothing to be said against a purchase.
Therefore, check the price and in case of doubt, take the cheaper device. Before that, you can find out more from our TV leaderboard about the test values of the TV.

Photographers also face a similar problem: In another practical tip, we will tell you how many megapixels you need for your cameras.