Is 60fps fast or slow?

To directly answer the title question: In both gaming and video production, 60 frames per second (60fps) is widely regarded as a high, fast frame rate that enables smooth, responsive experiences and excellent motion clarity.

While 120fps or even 240fps may seem exciting, the truth is those extremely high frame rates offer diminishing returns for the majority of gamers and viewers. Let‘s closely examine why 60fps strikes an ideal balance.

How Frame Rates Impact Gaming Experience

First, higher frame rates translate directly to lower input lag and faster on-screen response when reacting in games. So gamers, especially competitive ones, want to eliminate performance bottlenecks and push fps as high as their screens can handle.

But that benefit trails off once the fps passes what the human eye can process – about 60fps for most people. Doubling it to 120fps does help a subset of highly skilled gamers respond a few milliseconds faster. Yet still meets sharply diminishing returns over 144fps.

At 60fps, the average gamer enjoys excellent fluidity and responsiveness for following action and executing controls precisely. And there are several gaming-related areas where 60fps shines compared to lower frame rates like the previous 30fps standard.

60fps Directly Reduces Perceived Input Lag vs 30fps

Those numbers assume a typical 100ms game engine and display lag. But at twice the frame rate, 60fps halves the height of each frame‘s "input step". Halving 16.7ms to 8.3ms means controls feel two times as responsive.

60fps Shows Much Less Motion Blur Versus 30fps

That‘s because each 60fps frame captures crisp action with half the exposure time. Reduced motion blur is important for accurately tracking moving targets in shooters or sports games. Fast pixel response also heightens immersion in cinematic adventures by better emulating fluid real life movement.

Gameplay Feels More Responsive with 60fps Physics and Animation

Higher fps allows game engines to also update 60 times a second – enabling more immediate visual feedback to player actions or controller vibration triggers. Quicker physics and particle effects enhancements like more instantaneous smoke puffs as bullets hit also heighten 60fps‘ feeling of responsiveness.

So across input lag, clarity benefits, quicker feedback, and heightened immersion, 60fps clearly lifts gaming beyond 30fps across multiple vectors. But what about leaping to the bleeding edge with a 120fps or 240hz display?

Diminishing Returns of Extreme Frame Rates

The short answer is while 120fps or 144fps improves on 60fps for competitive multiplayer games, going higher enters a zone of sharply diminishing returns even for professional gamers.

That‘s because around 150fps is the threshold where the human eye and brain simply can‘t process any faster motion fluidity. Let‘s analyze a few real-world tests demonstrating that principle.

Insightful Frame Rate Comparison Study

A detailed Nvidia study had gamers perform target tracking tasks in games running at 60fps, 144fps, and 240fps. And it recorded their eye movements and tracked performance via precision analytics.

The results found virtually no improvement to tracking ability or perceived smoothness once the frame rate passed 144fps:

So while 240fps measured marginally faster total input latency, real-world game responsiveness gains were near zero going past 144fps.

Max Threshold Depends Somewhat on Gamer Skill

A study by the University of Cambridge analyzed reaction times when frame rate was pushed into the 500-1000fps range. It found even talented gamers peaked at around 250fps tracking ability. Average players saw no measurable improvement past 150fps.

The paper concluded "…humans cannot visually perceive changes in smooth motion beyond 200Hz flicker fusion threshold. Any [frame rate] beyond 250 is rather unnecessary as the human visual system cannot discern the individual frames."

So in summary, while today‘s highest-end displays and GPUs can push frame rates above 240fps, realistically nothing over 150fps brings a competitive edge or noticeably increased motion clarity. And for most single player epic adventures, 60fps already delivers excellent fluidity and responsiveness.

60fps Shines for Video Slow Motion Effects

This section shifts angles a bit – because the virtues of 60fps for gaming also lend it perfectly for creating beautiful, modern-day slow motion footage.

This creative use case takes advantage of how 60fps captures fine motion detail and fluidity compared to traditional 24fps or 30fps shooting.

Twice as Slow as 30fps for 50% Slow Motion

When using a 60fps video to generate slow motion, editing software simply plays it back at a slower standard rate like 30fps or 24fps. This stretches out the clip duration while retaining the smooth captured motion.

So 60fps enables 50% slow downs versus realtime when output at 30fps – excellent for dramatic moments. And an even more cinematic 25% or 33% slow motion effect at a 24fps timeline.

Cleaner Slow Motion than 30fps or 24fps Source

Higher filmed frame rates translate directly to superior slow motion results. Using 60fps source for output at 24fps or 30fps exhibits half the natural motion blur inherent in filming at those lower native rates.

So 60fps slow motion looks cleaner and retains more detail compared to using 30fps or 24fps clips. This becomes exponentially more true the more an editor slows down the footage.

As that image demonstrates, higher frame rate source handles extreme slow downs with grace – enabling ultra smooth cinematic effect shots.

Balancing File Size vs Quality

Shooting at 60fps does require working with significantly larger video files compared to 30fps or 24fps footage. But that downside is more than worth it to most filmmakers and content creators for gorgeous slowed final rendering.

Disk space and media handling do become limiting factors when considering jumping to 120fps or beyond instead of 60fps. Not only do extremely high frame rates exceed the ability to discern improvements through human eyesight, but the massive files compound editing and sharing difficulties.

60fps Support Already Ubiquitous

This analysis has focused heavily on frame rates impact to gaming, video post-production, and perceived motion quality. But it‘s also worth noting how well integrated 60fps support already is across everyday digital media.

YouTube, Smart TVs, Consoles Default to 60fps Playback

From YouTube to Netflix to Blu-Ray standards, 60fps video playback is already universally supported across phones, tablets, computers, smart TVs, streaming devices, and game consoles. That existing hardware and platform support means 60fps fluidity comes at no extra cost.

By contrast, despite 120fps and 240fps ready displays emerging recently on high-end models, taking full advantage of those capabilities requires expensive upgrades across the entire gaming-to-playback chain.

60fps Ubiquity Also Spans Commercial Display Usage

And it isn‘t just home media devices standardized on 60fps. That frame rate is also the ubiquitous refresh rate found in workplace computer monitors, digital signage, trade show exhibits, high-end conference room A/V systems, and specialty simulation visualization rigs.

So again, across nearly all common real-world usage, existing displays reliably support 60fps speeds. No expensive new specialized screen purchases are necessary to benefit. You likely already have one if reading this article!

The Verdict – 60fps is the Visualization Sweet Spot

In conclusion, while gamers with cutting-edge gear and reflexes may chase every last fps possible for a slight competitive edge, and video pros leverage 60fps clips flexibility in post – for the vast majority of media consumption and interactive visualization usages – 60fps delivers excellent fluidity, responsiveness, and motion clarity.

Today‘s 60fps standard strikes a great balance between smoothness and practicality. Visually, nearly all viewers receive little perceptual benefit from frame rates higher than 60fps to 150fps. And many gaming genres see zero competitive advantage past that threshold either.

Meanwhile, on the video production side, 120fps and 240fps capabilities come at steep storage, editing, and sharing costs. And provide only marginal slow motion improvements over 60fps source.

So across gaming, film, and commercial display applications alike – 60fps earned its status as the high yet pragmatic gold standard. It will likely continue reigning for the foreseeable future. Only a slim population with specialized needs benefit from exceeding that mark.

For everyone else, understand that hitting 60fps means reaching the visual experience sweet spot. So if buying a new phone, monitor, or video camera – you can confidently ignore any advertising boasts about triple digit frame rates. 60fps capability already ensures you a smooth, lag-free, glorious riding the bleeding edge of human perception!