15 FPS vs. 30 FPS vs. 60 FPS

A Visual Comparison

I've heard a few people say "the human eye can't tell the difference between 30 and 60 frames per second." I disagree.

Here's my attempt to prove that the human eye can tell the difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS. Pay close attention to the detail of the animation.

Note: "fps ok" means you're seeing the animations at the intended rate. If you see "fps too slow", it means your computer is slow, and isn't rendering the animations fast enough.





Let's start with 15 FPS. Kinda choppy...







Now, let's move onto 30 FPS. Much smoother...







Now 60 FPS.




I can easily detect a more life-like fluidity in the 60 FPS example.

I once thought TV and movies should all be 60 FPS. But a comment by Naim Sutherland made me think twice.

No way should films and TV be shot at 30fps. Unless you want No Country for Old Men to look like Days of Our Lives.

The goal of motion pictures is not to recreate reality, it's not even to show reality. I want to create a little psychic link between you and my pictures. I want to suck you into the world of the story, suspend your disbelief and make you forget about yourself and your life and just be in the moment of the film.

By not showing enough visual information, we force the brain into filling in the gaps... it draws you in even more. It's part of how you let go to the point where you can laugh or cry or feel tense or afraid or elated.

Naim Sutherland

Well said. It makes sense to me.

Maybe one day television and movies will be able to use dynamic frame rates.