LG study: 480Hz monitors improve shooter accuracy by 38% over 60Hz

If you're still gaming on a 60Hz monitor, LG's latest research suggests you're leaving a measurable edge on the table. LG Display press release details a blind study showing a 38% improvement in hit accuracy when moving from 60Hz to 480Hz in first-person shooters. The catch: the final leap from 240Hz to 480Hz adds just 10% more—raising real questions about whether ultra-high refresh rates justify their price tags.

The study

LG Display recruited 31 general adult gamers—no professional esports athletes—and had each one play an FPS title on OLED monitors running at 60, 240, 360, and 480Hz. The order was randomized to prevent practice effects. Researchers tracked hit scores, reaction times after a target appeared on screen, and participants' subjective impressions of image quality.

The input lag difference between 60Hz and 480Hz exceeded 10 milliseconds, which the researchers say directly explains why targets were easier to spot and hit. Participants also reported smoother motion and less difficulty tracking fast-moving objects at higher refresh rates. LG attributes the gains to OLED's near-instant pixel response combined with the reduced motion blur that comes with faster panel updates.

The caveat worth noting

The study was funded entirely by LG Display, and no independent replication exists yet. The academic venue isn't specified clearly, and the sample size of 31 gamers is small. Independent testing from labs like TFTCentral has shown that real-world gains above 240Hz are genuine but increasingly marginal—consistent with LG's own 10% figure.

What it means for buyers

That 10% gap between 240Hz and 480Hz matters most when you consider pricing. In the UK, the LG UltraGear GX7—running at a switchable 540/720Hz—costs £899.98, per Trusted Reviews UK availability. Competing 240Hz OLED panels like the Alienware AW2726DM and AOC Q27G4ZD have dropped under £500. In the US, solid 240Hz QD-OLED options are now available under $900 for 32-inch 4K panels.

LG's 27-inch 540/720Hz dual-frequency OLED panel recently won Display of the Year from the Society for Information Display (SID), signaling the industry is pushing hard in this direction regardless. For casual and mid-level competitive gamers, a 240Hz OLED likely hits the sweet spot. For anyone chasing every last percentage point in ranked play, the data says 480Hz does help—just not dramatically so.