How 100Hz originally worked
A standard PAL television will refresh the picture 50 times per second or at a frequency of 50Hz. The Frames Per Second (FPS) are the quantity of frames needed to create the illusion of motion. Our eyes are often aware of this frequency depending on the speed of the image, the intensity of darkness, and the intensity of brightness accordingly you will on occasion notice the picture flicker on a 50Hz Television. Moreover the bigger the screen is the more apparent the flicker is.
At 100 FPS (100Hz) TV operates at twice the Frames Per Second by creating a duplicate of every frame and inserting it after the previous one. On a 50 FPS (50Hz) Cathode Ray Television (CRT) because the picture is created by an charged particle scan there is a visible flicker that can be seen by the human eye. As a result of doubling the scan frequency to 100FPS and inserting a copy frame this problem is not apparent as far as the human eye is concerned. The result of this is to appreciably reduce the flicker.
The benefit of 100Hz on Plasma and LCD TV's
Plasma and LCD televisions don't have flickering because they don't generate the picture with an electron scan. However LCD and Plasma TVs still gain from 100 Herts because advanced digital circuitry creates an further frame or middle image. The Television does this by creating an further frame by means of complicated interpolation, as well as motion compensation calculations to calculate what the addition fields and frames look like, instead of inserting a copy frame. (e.g. the first and second frames are different).
Nevertheless even at 100Hz the picture still does not produce a completely smooth picture especially with fast motion images. Several television manufactures attempt to reduce this further by using digital picture processing. Typically there is still a little blurring on quick moving images although the advantages are clearer and better-defined surfaces, smoother movement, and sharper pictures than is possible from 50 Frames Per Second LCD TVs and PlasmaTVs.
For example if a football moves ten pixels from left to right between frames one, two and three, the 100Hz television will digitally make two added frames between one and two, along with two and three, in which the ball will move five pixels. This results in five frames in which the football moves a total of ten pixels i.e. the initial frames one, two and three plus the digitally created frames inserted between one and two, and in between two and three. The effect of this is that the eye sees an image that moves more smoothly than previously.
The advantage is that 100Hz televisions have a clear benefit of ending the majority ghosting effects now and then seen in LCD TVs. The ghosting effect caused by the subsequent image being displayed before the preceding one has faded away.
Most top manufacturers have got 100Hz Plasma and LCD televisions including JVC, Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung, LG, Sony, Philips,Hitachi and Pioneer.
Further advantages with 200Hz
A range of 200 hertz televisions have been produced by Sony which digitally inserts three additional frames in between the original 50Hz frames. Thus rapidly moving scenes are seen with a smoother, more fluid and sharper picture than 50Hz or even 100 hertz televisions.
Benefits for people who have photosensitive epilepsy
Research has shown that 100Hz TV's can assist in preventing seizures in people who suffer with photosensitive epilepsies when viewing television or playing computer games.
