I am planning to buy a CRT (low price, high refresh rate, no ghosting, no input lag). On some specs page they list different values for maximum refresh rates and preset signal timing.
For example on the specs page of Sony E430 I can read:
Preset signal timing
VGA 640 x 480/60 Hz
EVGA 640 x 480/75 Hz
VESA 640 x 480/85 Hz
VGA-Text 720 x 400/70 Hz
VESA 720 x 400/85 Hz
SVGA 800 x 600/60 Hz
ESVGA 800 x 600/75 Hz
VESA 800 x 600/85 Hz
Mac 16" 832 x 624/75 Hz
VESA 1024 x 768/60 Hz
VESA 1024 x 768/70 Hz
EUVGA 1024 x 768/75 Hz
Mac 19" 1024 x 768/75 Hz
VESA 1024 x 768/85 Hz
VESA 1152 x 864/75 Hz
VESA 1152 x 864/85 Hz
Mac 2 1152 x 870/75 Hz
VESA 1280 x 960/60 Hz
VESA 1280 x 960/85 Hz
VESA 1280 x 1024/60 Hz
VESA 1280 x 1024/75 Hz
VESA 1280 x 1024/85 Hz
VESA 1600 x 1200/60 Hz
VESA 1600 x 1200/65 Hz
VESA 1600 x 1200/70 Hz
VESA 1600 x 1200/75 HzMaximum refresh rates:
800 x 600/155 Hz
1024 x 768/121 Hz
1280 x 1024/91 Hz
1600 x 1200/78 HzIs this "maximal refresh rate" a theoretical maximal limit which I cannot set? Or is it possible to get 120Hz at 1024x768?
13 Answers
The preset resolution rates are standards which most video cards should support out of the box. The maximum refresh rates are supported by the monitor, however might not be supported by the video card you are using. You need to check your video card's specification to see if it will support 120Hz @ 1024x768. This shouldn't be a problem in most modern video cards, though.
2- 800 x 600/155 Hz
- 1024 x 768/121 Hz
- 1280 x 1024/91 Hz
- 1600 x 1200/78 Hz
This is the answer to your question.
It's the maximal "vertical refresh rate" which people simply call "refresh rate" that your monitor can do for each resolution. So yes, you can set your CRT to 1024x768 @120Hz
You might need to tweak your settings in your AMD/NVIDIA utility to access this mode though.
The presets are often going to be relatively limited since they come from a much older era (the 90s). The same spec sheet should list the actual maximum refresh rate (it will depend on the resolution). You should expect, however, 100hz or 120hz for almost any CRT that was made in the last decade that CRTs were manufactured (the 2000s). The highest-end CRTs could do 200hz at low resolutions.
