Higher refresh rate does not necessarily improve scrolling experience on mobile phones

Bingxin Li, Pengye Zhu, Jin Qiu, Le Du and Feng Du

Behaviour and Information Technology, 2025, vol. 44, issue 17, 4183-4197

Abstract: The present study explored how different refresh rates affect the scrolling experience on mobile phones. Users (N = 76) completed two out of three scrolling tasks involving texts and/or images, with refresh rate set at 60, 90, or 120 Hz. Users were required to rate the perceived smoothness and levels of jittering at each refresh rate and detect if there was a perceivable change in refresh rates while scrolling. The results showed that refresh rates of 90 and 120 Hz enhanced perceived smoothness and reduced screen jittering compared to 60 Hz, with minimal differences observed between 90 and 120 Hz across most tasks. Moreover, users showed greater sensitivity to changes in refresh rate between 60 Hz and higher values than to changes within the 90 Hz to 120 Hz range, with this difference being more pronounced when the refresh rate decreased. Additionally, users displayed a more conservative response bias toward refresh rate decreases compared to increases in the specific scrolling task. These findings shed light on users’ perceptual experience of scrolling with various refresh rates, and offer useful design guidelines for optimising the screen display of mobile devices.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2025.2462266

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