This is far more common than people imagine.
I have always been extremely sensitive to low refresh rates on old CRT monitors. I could immediately spot a screen running at 60 Hz or below – it was uncomfortable to look at, almost like a physical jolt to my eyes. At 72 Hz I could barely tolerate it, 75 Hz was noticeably better, and 90 Hz felt completely stable and comfortable.
Because of this, since the 90s I went out of my way to buy monitors capable of 90 Hz. I often had to order them – no one stocked those in Sicily. I genuinely had to argue with salespeople to get a NEC MultiSync for the sake of my retinal sanity 😂.
Whenever I worked on someone else’s computer, the first thing I did was check the display settings and increase the refresh rate to the maximum supported by the hardware. If I couldn’t get past 72 Hz, I would swap the monitor or even the video card. I simply couldn’t survive five minutes at 60 Hz – not even with sunglasses.
Interestingly, the issue disappeared with the arrival of LED, LCD, and OLED displays. Even at 60 Hz, modern screens don’t cause the same discomfort. I still prefer higher refresh rates and instinctively configure them whenever possible, but now it’s about smoothness rather than survival.
So I’ve had a 144hz monitor for 2 years, after upgrading from 60hz.
For 2 years I’ve thought 144hz was a scam. I noticed 0 difference.
I never swapped from 60hz in my display settings….