True 120Hz from PC to TV

Updated 2019 Edition

Presenting updated instructions for 120 Hz refresh rate on existing 1080p or 4K televisions or DLP projector, on this page’s sixth anniversary, 2013-2019!

Unlock True 120 Hz Refresh Rate On Your Television!

Purpose: Use TV as a 120Hz computer monitor. Smoother motion and less input lag.
Supported Displays: Many HDTVs have hidden true 120Hz support. This includes Active 3D HDTV’s (the type that use electronic shutter glasses), as well as 4K Ultra HD televisions.
Alternatives: See List of 120Hz, 144Hz and 240Hz Monitors for computer monitors instead.

Many Televisions Unofficially Support True 120 Hz From A PC

Many TV’s do 120Hz internally for a different purpose (e.g. motion interpolation, active 3D). These TV’s support the dot clocks necessary for a true 120Hz refresh rate. Historically, this was called “refresh rate overclocking”. However, most newer HDTVs already support true native 120 Hz as an unadvertised feature.

Benefits of 120 Hz Instead of 60 Hz

  • 120 Hz has 50% less motion blur than 60 Hz, for text scrolling, panning, and video games.
  • 120 Hz feels faster and has less input lag than 60 Hz in your computer games
  • 120 Hz allows you to natively play HFR 120fps video on your computer.

EASY Instructions: When Your Television Has Automatic 120 Hz Support

  1. Try the easy instructions at Oh No, I’m At The Wrong Refresh Rate.
  2. If 120 Hz does not show up, try testing a lower resolution and see if 120 Hz shows up.
    Try 1920×1080 on a 4K HDTV.
    Try 1280×720 on a 1080p HDTV.
    Try 1280×800 on a DLP projector.
  3. If 120 Hz shows up and it works, you’re done!
    Now test your new 120Hz at www.testufo.com

ADVANCED Instructions: Manually Force 120 Hz Output From PC To TV

If the EASY instructions above fails, you will have to instead force 120 Hz into your HDTV since the HDTV is not advertising its ability to support 120 Hz. Try one of the following Custom Refresh Rate methods:

  • Use NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Catalyst Control Center if you have an AMD or NVIDIA GPU.
    Right-click an empty area of your Windows desktop and launch. Then follow these steps:

    If using the full resolution fails,
    Try testing 1920×1080 on a 4K HDTV.
    Try testing 1280×720 on a 1080p HDTV.
    Try testing 1280×800 on a DLP projector.
  • Or Install ToastyX Custom Resolution Utility
    This is a method that works on both GeForce and Radeon.
    (For GeForce, NVIDIA’s Custom Resolution feature can also be used).
    toastyx
    If using the full resolution fails,
    Try testing 1920×1080 on a 4K HDTV.
    Try testing 1280×720 on a 1080p HDTV.
    Try testing 1280×800 on a DLP projector.
  • Or Expert Hacker Method:
    Install a Manual EDID override. This is the hardest method, recommended only for advanced users. If you need to get familiar with how EDID overrides are installed, see 3D Vision Blog Instructions (different purpose), and Microsoft technical info.

DISCLAIMER: Follow these instructions at own risk. Blur Busters disclaims all responsibility for any possible damage or disruptions. Historically, nobody has ever reported television damage from doing this. However, please follow the Tips below for software recovery instructions if you accidentally misconfigure your computer.

Important Tips

  1. Try the EASY Instructions First.
    Do the ADVANCED Instructions only if the EASY instructions don’t work.
  2. If Using Multiple Displays, Make Your HDTV the Primary Monitor for Reliable 120 Hz
    If you are connecting multiple screens to a computer or laptop.

         

  3. If Using Multiple Displays, Choose “Extend Desktop To This Display”
    When using multi-monitor, 120 Hz is easier when not duplicating or mirroring.

         

  4. If Full Resolution Fails, Try Testing 120 Hz At Lower Resolutions
    Try testing 1920×1080 on a 4K HDTV.
    Try testing 1280×720 on a 1080p HDTV.
    Try testing 1280×800 on a DLP projector.
  5. Test Other GPU Outputs
    Only some of the GPU outputs may support 120 Hz.
  6. Test Other Television Inputs
    Only some of the television inputs may support 120 Hz.
  7. Test Other Cables or Adaptors
    If you have a very old HDMI cable (over 10 years old), try a newer HDMI cable.
    If you have a single-link DVI cable or DVI-to-HDMI adaptor, you can only do 120 Hz at 1280×720.
    You need dual-link DVI cable in order to do 120 Hz at 1920×1080 over DVI.
  8. ADVANCED: Test ToastyX Reduced Blanking Interval in a Custom Resolution Utility
    Some older televisions only “almost” reaches 120Hz, but not quite.  For example, 115 Hz or 118 Hz.  To fix such a minor shortfall, reduce the timings (smaller numbers for Front Porch, Back Porch and Sync) to maintain same dotclock while raising refresh rate. Using “Reduced” instead of “Automatic” within ToastyX Custom Resolution Utility, can do this too. This may allow success at 120Hz
  9. ADVANCED: Uninstalling ToastyX CRU To Fix Everything
    If you have problems with ToastyX Custom Resolution Utility, just run “reset-all.exe” to undo the changes made by the ToastyX Custom Resolution Utility.
  10. ADVANCED: Fix In Safe Boot Mode
    Your screen may go blank, black, and/or display distorted graphics until you reset back to 60 Hz. Normally, the refresh rate test should automatically switch back to 60 Hz if you are unable to successfully confirm 120 Hz. In the event you accidentally get stuck in an unviewable resolution or refresh rate, you can reboot into Safe Mode via pressing F8 while turning on your computer. From there, you can switch back to 60 Hz via Control Panel.

Verify That Your Television Is Correctly Display 120 Hz

  1. View The Motion Test at www.testufo.com
    The 120 fps UFO should have approximately half the motion blur of the 60 fps UFO.
  2. Do A Frame Skipping Test
    If the 120fps and 60fps UFOs look identical, run the TestUFO: Frame Skipping Check.
    If your television is skipping refresh cycles, try a lower resolution such as 720p instead of 1080p.

No fake frames. No interpolation tricks. No Motionflow voodoo. True 120Hz!

If you have a success report in doing 120 Hz HDTV refresh rate, please feel free to post your TV model in the Blur Busters Forums!


144 Comments For “True 120Hz from PC to TV”

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watdahelldale
Member
watdahelldale

9/13/20- I have a 65″ and a 50″ hisens upe 4k roku TV’s and they both clock to 120hz @1080p and 1440p. I forget the response time numbers from the UFO test but I swear I believe it was a few ms’ faster than my view sonic xg2402 144hz monitor. They look really crisp and smooth to my surprise. If anyone’s interested I can take pics and upload them. I’m curious if I got lucky with my models or are all newer 4k TV’s capable of 120hz at 1080 and 1440?

Edit: just re-tested, apparently I didnt remember correctly or maybe bc new radeon drivers, but my TV only did 1440p 120hz. Could only get 75 at 1080p. Anyways, the MCR=131, MPRT=7.6, 120hz 12ppf @1440 on my 65″. Didnt re-test my 50″ but I assume it’s the same. They’re the same model and i was just playing rb6 @120hz on the 50″. It was smooth just didnt UFO test it

PanzerIV
Member
PanzerIV

11/11/2019: Hello guys. I have a (LG C8 OLED65) with a (RTX2080Ti) and obviously a good HDMI 2.0 cable and here’s my testing.

1- I can already choose from the “Nvidia Panel” without needing to create a custom res, the choice of (1080p 120Hz, 1440p 60Hz, 4K 60Hz). It works flawlessly! However…

2- It sucks that it seems like every TV hates 1440p which is he best resolution ever but even just trying 1440p at 65Hz cause a black screen. I hate gaming at 4K for the low fps even on a 2080Ti, and I feel 1080p to be very low for today’s standard.

3- If I choose another resolution than native 4K, then the (TruMotion) doesn’t do anything at all so I can’t use the “Motion Pro aka STROBBING” at the same time as say 1080p 120Hz which would had be pretty useful! Dumb LG (-_-)

4- Is it me also or if I downscale to a much lower resolution than my native 4K, to go down to 1080p, the image quality will be clearly inferior, even noticeable on the wallpaper and the text will be somewhat blurrier? I don’t know if there is any sort of internal scalling to make the text as sharp as the native res cause otherwise it would be annoying have to switch res everything u want to launch a game then set it back to 4K when u stop playing.

Anyway I still find the input lag on the tv to be absolute trash compare to my (Acer XB271HU) and I’d much rather game 1440p at 100-120Hz than 1080p 120Hz with much higher input lag and no G-Sync or ULMB at all. I liked the idea of being in my couch and huge OLED tv but in reality it sucks and I’ll bring back my PC to my office room lol.

Lystig
Member
Lystig

Has anyone had any success using the method above to run 120hz on the LG OLED55B6V TV? My computer is currently not working, so I cannot test it. But 1440p@120hz would be the absolute dream! I know the B7 version (which is the 2017 model) is supposed to have the option of displaying at 120hz by default, but us that have the 2016 version are not so lucky. Maybe the method above can do the trick.

Kaovhmf
Member
Kaovhmf

Hi! I have a Samsung UN32H5550 television wich is, supposely, 1080p@120hz. The problem is that even doing all that you have sugested I can only get the max of 75Hz. I’m using a high speed hdmi 1.4, a Nvidia GTX 980 with the pixel clock patch but my TV refuses to run at 120Hz. What can I do next?

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