60 Hz on a 75 Hz display feel "sluggish"

[Macro Device]

It's the first time since forever ago I've got a 75 Hz display in my disposal. When vsynced to 75 Hz, it feels faster and more comfortable than my 60 Hz display vsynced to its native 60 FPS. And I don't see any issues whatsoever when vsync to 75 Hz is the case.

But when I commit to 60 Hz vsync for whatever reason (mostly the game itself doesn't allow for "non-standard" vsync modes) everything feels like it's not 60 Hz. It feels slower and more stuttery. I was thinking of the possibility that it might be the game or my cable acting up so I tested other games and cables and came to the same results. The 60 Hz display, however, doesn't feel messy when capped to 60 FPS.

I am plain curious as to why this is happening. Are monitors "allergic" to "uneven" refresh rates? Is this only exclusive to buggy monitors and one of such displays is mine? What is going on? Why are 60 Hz feeling worse on my 75 Hz monitor than they feel on my 60 Hz TV?

What I also tried:

• Asking my brothers if I'm tripping and they confirmed my observations and told me I'm not making this up;
• Reinstalling Windows;
• Using Windows 11 instead of Windows 10;
• Installing monitor drivers;
• Installing different graphics drivers;
• Installing different graphics cards;
• Removing any overclocking whatsoever;
• Updating my BIOS (frankly, unrelated to this issue but didn't change anything about my monitor behaviour anyway);
• Using a different PSU;
• Forcing lower temperatures;
• Disabling super resolution and similar features in the AMD driver;
• Changing "ill" monitor settings in its native menu.

I'd try an nVidia GPU but I don't have any team green GPUs whatsoever.

The 75 Hz monitor in question is Viewsonic VX3276-MHD-2 from my system specs and the 60 Hz display in question is basically any generic 60 Hz fixed refresh rate monitor/TV since I got a truckload of them and they all behave the most expected way: 60 Hz feel like 60 Hz.

Other PC specs are up to date.

 

[tabascosauz]

If you play hard-limited 60Hz/fps games on a high refresh monitor, you usually either have to limit refresh rate to 60Hz, or rely on some form of Freesync/G-sync/VRR to get a smooth 60fps experience. Otherwise, fps is consistently at 60fps but the stuttery/tearing mess makes for a horrible experience more akin to sub-30fps.

 

[Macro Device]

have to limit refresh rate to 60Hz

I did it and this didn't change anything. Both 60 and 75 hardware Hz behave the same with vsync to 60 Hz.

rely on Freesync/G-sync

Not available on my monitor unfortunately.

tearing

Not the case. I've only seen stuttering. Tearing only happened to me with vsync disabled.

more akin to sub-30fps.

I'd say low 40s.

 

[Pumper]

I have 75Hz monitor as well and can agree that 60fps does not feel smooth on it compared to the locked 72fps (for vrr latency) I usually play at. I just assumed that it is because I got used to the higher fps and even the 12fps difference is enough to be noticeable.

Though it also depends on the game.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I am plain curious as to why this is happening. Are monitors "allergic" to "uneven" refresh rates?

There can be some merit to that idea. Some games/software generally expects refresh rates in multiples of 30hz, so 75hz might be causing some glitching. This is only my theory, I have no supporting evidence to offer.

 

[Lore]

What may be happening here is that you have been habituated to a higher refresh rate on that monitor. As humans we are context-sensitive, and having experienced 75hz in that context, 60hz just feels very slow now. Also, human senses are not linear in their sensitivity. We are probably more sensitive in the 30-90 hz range, then we are from 90 to 165hz. So altough it's "just" a 15fps difference, you notice it well.

 

[Macro Device]

What may be happening here is that you have been habituated to a higher refresh rate on that monitor.

Absolutely wrong.
I have a 60 Hz TV in my disposal and at 60 Hz, it feels faster than my 75 Hz monitor locked to 60 Hz. Same eyes, same day. So if that was the case I'd feel the same level of sluggishness on both displays, yet the what's supposed to be a slower one feels actually faster.

 

[Calenhad]

You are trying to vsync 60 fps to 75Hz refresh. That means your computer is outputting 4 frames for every 5 frames displayed. In other words you have a microstutter after every 4 frames. A modern gaming monitor would solve this with vrr, which yours do not have. How does it behave if you run games in proper fullscreen mode at a matched refresh rate?

Also some monitors have dreadful input lag, I have no experience with the monitor you have so I can't comment on that here.

 

[Macro Device]

How does it behave if you run games in proper fullscreen mode at a matched refresh rate?

I stated that in the OP. It behaves as intended. Flawless experience.

 

[Calenhad]

I stated that in the OP. It behaves as intended. Flawless experience.

Sorry, I missed that. But then you have your answer above.

 

[faye]

You say "tried different cables" but what do you mean by that? Different HDMI? Different DisplayPort? Swapping between the two?

Honestly my first instinct is to blame the display itself - probably just a cheap/old controller board ViewSonic is getting rid of by using it in this lower end model.

A 32" 1080p 4ms GtG panel that can only do 75Hz is pretty much bottom of the barrel by modern standards. I doubt they're putting quality supporting hardware in there, and the inclusion of VGA as an input option on a display in 2022 is a real red flag.

This hardware isn't compensating for the mismatch between panel native refresh at 75Hz and what you're feeding it at 60Hz and there are hiccups, as @Calenhad said.

 

[Macro Device]

Different HDMI? Different DisplayPort? Swapping between the two?

All possible switches. HDMI (A) to HDMI (B); HDMI (B) to DP (A); DP (A) to DP (B); DP (B) to VGA (A); VGA (A) to VGA (B). Every single cable worked exactly the same way: no fails on my 60 Hz displays, 4K TV included, and badly looking 60 FPS on my 75 Hz display (75 Hz look great though).

probably just a cheap/old controller board

How do I make sure it's the real reason?

A 32" 1080p 4ms GtG panel that can only do 75Hz is pretty much bottom of the barrel by modern standards

Not news. I knew what I'm buying for my $80. Haven't had enough for anything more fancy at that point.

the inclusion of VGA as an input option on a display in 2022 is a real red flag.

In 2020s, maybe, but this monitor is a 2017 model. VGA was much more of a thing 6 years ago.

 

[faye]

How do I make sure it's the real reason?

Other than connecting the display to another computer or your computer to another display, I don't know.

 

[Macro Device]

Other than connecting the display to another computer or your computer to another display, I don't know.

Did both, nothing changed. All my other displays are 60 Hz ones and they behave as intended. This 75 Hz one has sluggish 60 FPS on both my computers.

 

[faye]

Did both, nothing changed. All my other displays are 60 Hz ones and they behave as intended. This 75 Hz one has sluggish 60 FPS on both my computers.

Then it's just a bad monitor.

I mean, 32" for $80, you could do a lot worse, but it's not surprising that a 6 year old glorified office display isn't going to be ideal for gaming.