I really should know this, but I never really “groked” the concepts as they interrelate.
Thanks for taking the time.
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A device writes moving picture content as fast as it can, with 30 frames per second (pictures per second) being a good baseline for the human eye
The screen on which that moving picture content is displayed, updates the light that you see as quickly as it can (hertz) allowing the screen to refresh what it is being told to display. The device and the screen are separate technologies, so they operate at different velocities. When the device tells the screen to update, the screen may already be mid-update, which is when you see tearing of objects on the screen (jagged edges).
Just like blinking really fast with your eyes, you miss less if you blink faster. Screens are forced to blink fast, and the faster they blink (refresh), the less you miss. The speed of the blinking is measured in Hertz (like miles per hour), and is considered the refresh rate. The device trying to TELL THE SCREEN to write a new picture, requires resources on the device. There is a limit to how many pictures that the device can create each second.
The speed of how many pictures a device can create, is measured in frames (pictures) per second. Those frames are shared with a screen, that is blinking really fast, whose blinking is measured in refreshes per second (hertz). When you have a synchronized setup, you get the frames changing in tandem with the screen being rewritten by the display…which creates video without tearing. The faster that the device can create frames, and the display can refresh those frames, the smoother and more lifelike the video appears.
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