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Refresh rate and the chart that lies by omission

Monitors draw a fixed number of frames per second. A chart receiving 15 ticks per second on a 60 Hz screen can't show every tick. Several updates are merged into a single redraw, and the eye sees a smoothed version of what happened.

During bursts, the gap grows. A spike that arrives in 30 milliseconds may appear as a single jump on the screen, though the data underneath had a clear sequence.

Platforms add their own throttling. Many limit chart redraws to a few times per second to save CPU. The price in the corner updates quickly, while the candle redraws lazily. The two can disagree for a moment.

For judging the exact order of events, a screen is the wrong instrument. The data file is the right one.

Still, a higher refresh rate gives a more faithful picture in live trading and reduces eye fatigue. A modern gaming monitor is inexpensive and relevant.

Another detail is the tearing and stuttering that appear when the graphics driver or an overloaded CPU can't keep up, giving the impression of lag that isn't in the feed.

Is the main monitor's refresh rate high, and is chart throttling set in the platform?

I moved from a 60 Hz office monitor to a 144 Hz one last year, mostly on a whim, and the difference on a busy one-minute chart was obvious straight away. Fast candles looked less jumpy and I stopped feeling like price was skipping levels. Whether it improved my trading is hard to prove, but my eyes are definitely less tired after a long London session.

The throttling point caught me out before I knew about it. My platform had a chart update setting buried in the options that was limiting redraws, and I'd been blaming my broker's feed for what looked like lag. Turning it off made the chart and the price window agree far more often, though it does push the CPU harder when a lot of charts are open.

These days I keep only the charts I actually trade from on the fast monitor and put slower reference charts on the older screen. Fewer charts redrawing at once cut out the stutter you describe better than any driver tweak did.

Amanhasnoname wrote: Fri Oct 30, 2026 1:15 pm I moved from a 60 Hz office monitor to a 144 Hz one last year, mostly on a whim, and the difference on a busy one-minute chart was obvious straight away. Fast candles looked less jumpy and I stopped feeling like price was skipping levels. Whether it improved my trading is hard to prove, but my eyes are definitely less tired after a long London session.

The throttling point caught me out before I knew about it. My platform had a chart update setting buried in the options that was limiting redraws, and I'd been blaming my broker's feed for what looked like lag. Turning it off made the chart and the price window agree far more often, though it does push the CPU harder when a lot of charts are open.

These days I keep only the charts I actually trade from on the fast monitor and put slower reference charts on the older screen. Fewer charts redrawing at once cut out the stutter you describe better than any driver tweak did.

I just trade from my mobile phone (Iphone) and im do not have any problem with that.

I have at home working station with 32 inch monitor and 85 inch external TV, i do not use it for trading to be honest.

That is a fair point, PTScalper, and I think it shows the monitor question matters less the more you simplify. I will admit my own setup is the opposite of yours, with several charts open and a lot of screen real estate, and I am not convinced it has made me a better trader. The extra screens mostly gave me more things to react to.

What interested me in your reply is that a phone forces a discipline I had to learn on purpose. You can only look at one chart at a time, so you are not tempted to chase whatever is flashing on the screen next to it. When I tried trading from my phone for a week during a trip, I took fewer trades, about six a day instead of fifteen, and the average trade was a little better. I am not saying the sample was large, but it was noticeable.

Where I would still defend a fast refresh is when you work on the one-minute chart, because stutter there can hide a spike. On a higher timeframe like yours, I doubt it matters at all.