I am wanting a new 50-60 inch led tv and I see that most come in 120hz but some of the higher cost ones have a 240hz refresh rate.  Is there a big difference in picture quality between these two refresh rates?

There is a big difference from 60 to 120 but 240 not so much. Prob not worth it if it is a big price increase.... Imho

I was in the same spot last year. Reviews and talking to the store personnel(TV specialty store) lead me to the 120hz. Picture is great, my brother bought a similar model but in the 240hz. Neither of us can tell a difference.

Something to consider is that in almost all of these consumer grade TV's the actual refresh rate of the panel is still 60hz. The "120hz" and "240hz" designations almost all of the time indicate software smoothing and advanced backlight timing that appear to approximate that refresh rate but the picture itself is not actually "refreshing" at that refresh rate.

Movies are shot at 24 fps.  TV shows are shot at 60 fps*.


*  Are TV's still interlaced, such that you are only getting 30 fps of new material but the screen is refreshed at 60fps?

No, nearly all flat HDTVs are progressive scan, meaning you are getting a refresh rate of 60 full frames per second on your screen. The whole interlacing thing is a throwback to tubes and rayguns. HOWEVER some OTA HD signals are still broadcast interlaced due to bandwidth considerations. 1080i is a very common OTA HD resolution, which is sent as 1920x540 top and bottom fields.

The big reason the industry has pushed so hard to get past 60hz is to allow the playback of native film sources (Blu Ray) in HD at home without judder. That is because a 60hz screen can't "divide by 24"... which means you get frame interpolation (known as the 3:2 pulldown) when viewing a 24hz movie on a 60hz screen, which can result in judder because you are left with merged and doubled frames. Monitors that can generate either a literal or "sweetened" 120hz CAN divide by 24 and thus they can replay native 24hz material without the judder that comes with 3:2 pulldown crap.

I can tell a difference between 120 and 240hz in fast moving action movies or sports.  

A TV is a big investment, while you're spending pretty big money go ahead and get the 240 refresh rate.  

Just my two cents worth.  Good luck with your search.

I had a 120hz. It had the "soap opera" effect.

My 240hz does not have that effect.

I may be the only one that still prefers 60hz.

My plasma (60) versus my GFs LCD (120)..............I'm usually upstairs watching my old plasma and luckily she joins me.

I may be wrong here, but I think you're confused on the Plasma. They typically run at 60 frames per second, but refresh is normally listed as 600hz because of the way they pulse the image over the duration of a frame. Response on a plasma is basically instantaneous, at 2ms I believe.



That's why you like your plasma better. LCD can't even come close to the refresh rate of plasma.



 

You do realize, that's just a matter of picture settings, right? My 80", 240hz, would have the "soap opera" effect if I set it up that way.