Back in the old days, Windows desktop computers came with a monitor that has a fixed screen refresh rate and it was set around 60 Hz. But things has changed rapidly in past few years. Newer gaming computers are coming with screens that have screen refresh rates of 90 Hz or 120 Hz. Some of these gaming monitors offer multiple screen refresh rates that can be changed depending on how you are going to use them.
For example, if you are using a monitor for web browsing or editing Word documents, then the monitor will stay at 60 Hz. But if you are playing videos or computer games, then the monitor should be set to 120 Hz screen refresh rate. Of course it all depends on the capabilities of the computer monitor.
Here is how you can change the screen refresh rate on Windows 11:
- Right-click anywhere on the Windows Desktop and select Display Settings from the context-menu.
- On the settings screen, select Advanced Display Settings from the list of options.
- On the advanced display settings screen, choose a supported screen refresh rate. If you see only one screen refresh rate then your computer monitor does not support multiple refresh rates.
If your laptop screen or desktop computer monitor does not support a refresh rate that you desire, then you should consider buying a gaming monitor that supports a higher refresh rate.
Just because your monitor supports a higher screen refresh rate on the specifications, it does not mean that Windows 11 will allow you to select that rate. The reason could be a low-end graphics card that does not support higher refresh rates or a wrong cable. For example, HDMI cables support only a maximum 120 Hz of screen refresh rate. If you want a rate of 144 Hz or higher, then you will need DisplayPort cable which in turn should be supported by the graphics card.