What’s a Multisync Monitor?

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A MultiSync® monitor is a computer display device capable of displaying images at a range of different refresh rates, rather than being locked down with one switch. A screen’s “refresh rate” refers to the number of times a still image is displayed per second. Therefore, faster speeds are needed for sharper, more accurate video displays, especially fast-paced or graphics-intensive video that may play at many dozens of frames per second. A MultiSync® monitor can be adjusted to sync with a wide range of refresh rates, which allows it to work with multiple graphics cards without suffering damage.

The name “Monitor MultiSync®” comes from a combination of the words “multiple syncs,” which refers to the refresh rate for these devices. A screen of any kind, be it a television or a computer monitor, works through a system that actually creates still images several times a second. Just like looking at individual frames on a reel of film, the brain of someone viewing these images links them together to see instantaneous, fluid moving images and changes on a computer screen. The number of times this image on the screen changes every second is called the refresh rate.

This refresh rate happens so fast that it is typically not seen by a computer user sitting in front of the screen. Sometimes it can be seen in TV shows and movies where a computer monitor is recorded. The refresh rate of your computer screen can be synchronized differently than the rate at which frames are created for video, so interruptions in monitor refresh are captured on film. This often creates scanlines in the image, although a MultiSync® monitor can be used to potentially avoid this problem.

Most computer monitors made in the mid to late 20th century were fixed sync displays. This means that they may only run on a single refresh rate. As more powerful computers developed, especially the improved capabilities of graphics cards, this single speed was often considered insufficient. A range of different speeds was required for one display to work with multiple applications and systems, so the MultiSync® monitor was developed to achieve this.

“MultiSync®” is a trademark owned by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) Display Solutions, but is often used within the industry as a more general term. A “real” MultiSync® monitor is capable of synchronizing over a wide range of different frequencies, usually with only a minimum and maximum range. There are some companies that make monitors, however, that are capable of syncing to some particular refresh rate and can still be referred to as having multiple syncs. If a monitor fixed at a certain refresh rate is used with a device that requires a higher refresh rate, it can potentially be damaged.

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