If you search on the Internet for the 59 Hertz problem you come upon many users and websites that report the same problem.

As it turns out, it is not a problem at all. But let us start at the beginning to see how the refresh rate is changed in Windows 7.

Right-click the desktop of the PC and select Screen Resolution from the menu. In there click on the Advanced Settings link near the right bottom of the window.

This opens a new window. Switch to the Monitor tab. It should look like the one below.

59 Hertz is the reported screen refresh rate of the computer monitor. A click in the pulldown menu reveals the 60 Hertz setting. This refresh rate can be selected but it will not stick. Applying the changes and going back into the menu will reveal that the screen refresh rate is still stuck at 59 Hertz.

The problem is not a problem as pointed out earlier as Microsoft points out in their knowledgebase.

Certain monitors report a TV-compatibility timing of 59.94Hz. Therefore, Windows 7 exposes two frequencies, 59Hz and 60Hz, for every resolution that is supported at that timing. The 59Hz setting makes sure that a TV-compatible timing is always available for an application such as Windows Media Center. The 60Hz setting maintains compatibility for applications that expect 60Hz.

In Windows 7, when a user selects 60Hz, the OS stores a value of 59.94Hz. However, 59Hz is shown in the Screen refresh rate in Control Panel, even though the user selected 60Hz.

It basically means that Windows will always use a refresh rate of 59.94HZ regardless of the value that is shown in the screen refresh rate settings.

This affects other monitor refresh rates as well, specifically:

* 23.976Hz, but not 24Hz
* 29.970Hz, but not 30Hz
* 47.952Hz, but not 48Hz
* 71.928Hz, but not 72Hz
* 119.880Hz, but not 120Hz

To conclude: Windows displays either 59 Hertz or 60 Hertz as the refresh rate depending on the monitor’s reporting. Windows on the other hand uses a refresh rate of 59.94HZ regardless of what the monitor reports.

Once you want to change it again you have to go into that menu again to do so unless you keep it open all the time which is probably not such a handy solution.

QuickRes comes to the rescue. It adds an icon to the Windows System Tray that provides right-click access to all compatible monitor resolutions that can be changed with just another click.

The user selects a resolution and a click on the refresh rate changes the resolution to the selected one. It is advised to make sure that Windows is only displaying compatible modes in the Display Properties because that’s the source where QuickRes is pulling the information from and it can come to errors if resolutions are selected that the monitor or video card are not capable of displaying properly.