Word should have gotten around about how moving images work: individual still images become movements in sufficiently rapid succession because the brain is tricked. The cinema proves that 24 images are basically sufficient and in games 30 images are referred to as a “cinematic look”.
So 24 frames per second is enough? Then why are there 144 Hertz monitors? Because there is a difference, but how people perceive it is sometimes very different. This is underlined by a study: “The speed of vision: individual variations in the critical threshold values for flicker fusion”.
The study played footage with a flickering light that changed speed. Participants were asked to press a button when they felt that the processes now appeared “smooth”. Some pressed at 35 frames per second, others at 60 frames per second.
The study was repeated multiple times with the same participants, and the researchers discovered that while there were significant differences between individuals, the subjects who were quicker at noticing the flickering of light were able to do so repeatedly.
Could also bring benefits in sports
“We believe that individual differences in perceptual speed might become apparent in high-speed situations where one must locate or track fast-moving objects, such as ball sports, or in situations where visual scenes change rapidly, such as: “For example, in competitive games,” says Professor Kevin Mitchell, Professor of Neurology at Trinity College Dublin. “They may already have an advantage over others before they’ve even picked up a racket and hit a tennis ball or picked up a controller and thrown themselves into an online fantasy world.”
What you can take away from the study is that people perceive the fusion of images into movements very differently. This applies downwards, but also upwards. Some still notice the difference between 240 and 480 Hertz, others don’t see any added value in it.
Source: Plos Onevia The Guardian