Windows 11 paves the way for eye-melting 1,000Hz monitors
Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- PCWorld reports that Windows 11 now supports refresh rates above 1000Hz, with the potential for displays reaching 5000Hz in future updates.
- The advancement benefits gamers by reducing motion blur and input lag, while display makers are reportedly developing 2000Hz monitors expected to be released by 2030.
- The update also includes improved fingerprint reader performance, voice typing in File Explorer, and improved power management for USB4 docks.
Windows 11 finally supports displays with refresh rates above 1000Hz, although these displays haven’t made it far off the drawing board yet.
On Thursday, Microsoft released Windows 11 builds 26100.8106 and 26200.8106 to the Release Preview Channel, which include explicit support for monitors that can report refresh rates above 1000 Hz. Mark Rejhon of Blur Busters took credit for this and reported that the maximum refresh rate could reach 5000 Hz.
Anyone in the PC gaming community understands that PC gaming is a constant trade-off between higher resolutions and detail levels, increased frame rates, increased display refresh rates, and AI frame generation that affects the number of frames actually seen by the player. Synchronizing the display refresh rate with the number of frames generated by the GPU is ideal; otherwise, artifacts such as screen tearing occur. Motion blur is a distinct visual artifact, but one that decreases as the time the image is actually drawn (frame time) also decreases. Higher refresh rates mean shorter frame duration (and less lag).
What Microsoft is doing is raising the ceiling for higher refresh rates, which typically top out at around 500Hz. (Tom’s Hardware found a 1,080Hz display in late 2025, although that frame rate wasn’t reached until 720p.)
Regardless, Blur Busters applauded Microsoft’s addition and claimed that display makers have 2000Hz displays in the pipeline for delivery by 2030. The site also cited an (unconfirmed) post from a Microsoft contact who said 5000Hz support could be added to Windows 11 24H2 and later. At 1,000 Hz, Blue Busters says, motion blur virtually disappears on 1080p displays like tablets; at 10,000 Hz, it disappears for “wide field of view retina resolution” displays.
Other features coming to Windows 11
The new Windows update also includes the ability to send USB4 docks (the generic equivalent of Thunderbolt 4 docks) into a very low-power sleep state while the PC is asleep, allowing you to save power and better preserve screen rotation if you have a monitor configured in portrait mode.
Other improvements include improved performance with fingerprint readers, the ability to rename a file in File Explorer via voice input, and more consistent device maps in the Settings menu. Enable or disable Smart App Control (SAC) without the need for a fresh installation as well.
