Apple Wins Patent for iPhone Display With Variable Refresh Rates Up to 240Hz

[dpfenninger]

Am I the only one who thinks refresh rate is mostly ridiculous hype? Maybe I'm in the extreme minority here, but I can't really tell the difference between 60 and 120 in the first place. 180 and 240 seem like an overkill "feature" for something that would absolutely annihilate battery life. Aren't we way past what the human eye can detect anyway?

This is like 8k for me. Unless you have a 100" TV, it's all pointless marketing garbage.

 

[Rafagon]

I thought phones with variable refresh rates already existed? So a phone that automatically increases or decreases its refresh rate would be a first?

 

[Internet Enzyme]

240 Hz would be typical Apple: late to the party, but better than the competition.

 

[Cosmosent]

The higher the refresh rate, the faster the battery drains !

It will be fantastic for Sports Highlights, IMO !

 

[cmaier]

Am I the only one who thinks refresh rate is mostly ridiculous hype? Maybe I'm in the extreme minority here, but I can't really tell the difference between 60 and 120 in the first place. 180 and 240 seem like an overkill "feature" for something that would absolutely annihilate battery life. Aren't we way past what the human eye can detect anyway?

This is like 8k for me. Unless you have a 100" TV, it's all pointless marketing garbage.

I agree with you, but apparently it’s a visual acuity thing. I can’t see any difference between 60 and 120Hz (at least not a difference I care about), but apparently some people see a big difference.

 

[twinlight]

Most likely for a faster ipad pro and the vr headset. Not sure if I really need a faster display on the phone but it would be nice for scrolling text.

 

[Dark_Omen]

Am I the only one who thinks refresh rate is mostly ridiculous hype? Maybe I'm in the extreme minority here, but I can't really tell the difference between 60 and 120 in the first place. 180 and 240 seem like an overkill "feature" for something that would absolutely annihilate battery life. Aren't we way past what the human eye can detect anyway?

This is like 8k for me. Unless you have a 100" TV, it's all pointless marketing garbage.

Not sure why you can't see it. Everyone else can.

 

[Shasterball]

Small nit: patents are not “won,” but are granted. It’s not a lottery

 

[Shasterball]

How is a display that can run at different refresh rates patentable? This already exists. Is it just because it goes to 240Hz now? Patents are dumb.

Also, I'm gonna be pretty upset if the iPhone gets high refresh rate before the Mac does for crying out loud. It's already ridiculous that the iPad can do it first and PCs have done it for ages.

After all your years of studying patents, patent law, and innovation, your conclusion is that “patents are dumb?”

 

[mattopotamus]

Others have asked, so I will continue. How did they get a patent for this when there are phones on the market already doing this?

 

[Will Tisdale 🎗]

Am I the only one who thinks refresh rate is mostly ridiculous hype? Maybe I'm in the extreme minority here, but I can't really tell the difference between 60 and 120 in the first place. 180 and 240 seem like an overkill "feature" for something that would absolutely annihilate battery life. Aren't we way past what the human eye can detect anyway?

This is like 8k for me. Unless you have a 100" TV, it's all pointless marketing garbage.

It is hype, but some people can actually perceive visual ‘jitter’ down to about a 6ms granularity.
60hz refresh rate gives you a 16.7ms granularity, so it is definitely perceptible by most, particularly if you have a direct comparison with a higher resolution.

120hz is an 8.4ms granularity which is approaching the limit of human perception. Anything over that is diminishing returns and over 166Hz is overkill because you won’t be able to perceive the difference.

 

[The Game 161]

I thought phones with variable refresh rates already existed? So a phone that automatically increases or decreases its refresh rate would be a first?

at this rate it would be. some go to 144hz like gaming phones though.

 

[The Game 161]

Others have asked, so I will continue. How did they get a patent for this when there are phones on the market already doing this?

no phone can currently go from 60/120/180 and then 240hz.

 

[techwhiz]

Am I the only one who thinks refresh rate is mostly ridiculous hype? Maybe I'm in the extreme minority here, but I can't really tell the difference between 60 and 120 in the first place. 180 and 240 seem like an overkill "feature" for something that would absolutely annihilate battery life. Aren't we way past what the human eye can detect anyway?

This is like 8k for me. Unless you have a 100" TV, it's all pointless marketing garbage.

I have a high refresh rate phone and can definitely tell the difference between 60, 90 and 120Hz.

Scroll a document and look at the jitter on the screen. It becomes very apparent what screen has high refresh rate.
I've forced mine into the highest refresh possible and am willing to take the battery hit.

 

[CJM]

I played Doom Eternal on my partner's 240Hz monitor. It's like I had an epiphany. Going back to 60Hz is awful, even for every day computing.

 

[_Spinn_]

Looks like 120Hz on iPhone isn't happening this year...instead were getting 240Hz 🤣

 

[oosamon]

Apple, you are such a tease sometimes.

 

[LeadingHeat]

Maybe I don’t watch enough movies or play enough games but 120 or 240 is a bit of a yawn for me.

There’s always one person haha

 

[NT1440]

Isn’t this just a continuation of their patent on their ProMotion mechanism?

 

[orev]

240 Hz would be typical Apple: late to the party, but better than the competition.

Apple is so big and popular that they need to be able to launch a new product/feature at a scale that's orders of magnitude bigger than anyone else.

With so many different Android device options, they only need to source enough components for that one device, which may be thousands or hundreds of thousands. Only a few will reach into the millions. They're essentially technology showcases because they only need enough of that one special component to meet a relatively small demand.

With iPhone, Apple will be selling at minimum 10s of millions on launch day. That means they cannot plan for some small limited run of a special sensor -- they need to have it already at a huge scale from day-one.

 

[now i see it]

Since their OLED pixels are flashing on & off at around 240Hz anyway, refreshing the display at up to the PWM frequency is a nobrainer

 

[rjohnstone]

no phone can currently go from 60/120/180 and then 240hz.

Technically speaking, Apple isn't making this claim. The patent is for an exponential growth refresh rate... not necessarily stopping at 240hz.
There are already variable refresh rate displays on the market. Adaptive refresh rate displays (automatically change refresh rate based on app/on-screen content) are already in use in phones today.
This is just Apple's version of how to do it.
As you can see in the patent, they are building off of existing patents, which is normal in a well developed field.

 

[nwcs]

There’s always one person haha

Yep. But it shows there’s a diversity of opinion in what’s considered a killer feature.

 

[Captain Trips]

So the headline of the original post is wrong. No “up to 240Hz.” No limit at all, in fact.

If "Back to the Future 4" was made today:

Marty: "Doc, we can go forward into the future a few years, bring back phones with 240 Hz refresh rates, and sell them for big bucks!"
Doc: "Marty, you aren't thinking big enough."
Marty: "What, 480 Hz?"
Doc: "No Marty. 1.21 Gigahertz..."

 

[Unregistered 4U]

If that was the case, those people would buy phones that were designed that way. Maybe Apple has a firmer grasp on what 99% of the world wants than you do?

Yeah, I mean, the 99% Android phones are ALSO trending towards thinner with camera bumps. I’m sure there’s a big thick no bump Android phone, but it’s not selling very well...