Why does macOS Settings show a different refresh rate from BetterDisplay?

BetterDisplay can offer connection-level refresh rates that macOS Settings does not list. After selecting one of these additional rates, the system settings panel can continue showing an ordinary mode's rate instead of the actual connection rate.

In BetterDisplay's Refresh Rate submenu, additional rates appear in a separate group with waveform icons. Select the intended rate, then check the monitor's own information or status page using its physical menu buttons. A screen blink or a selected menu item alone is not proof that the monitor is receiving the intended signal.

The dial-icon group uses ordinary display modes for the current desktop configuration. The waveform group contains additional connection-level rates, including some fractional or otherwise unexposed choices. It is not simply a fixed-versus-variable refresh split, and the second group is not inherently higher quality.

A connection-level rate can be available for the physical output even when macOS does not expose the same combination for a large HiDPI rendering surface. Such a selection can cause rendering artifacts or instability on some setups. If that happens, return to a working ordinary mode. Configuration Protection cannot make an incompatible combination reliable.

For the rendering background, see how macOS scaling, HiDPI and LoDPI work.

You can also hold Option while opening Refresh Rate to show BetterDisplay's refresh-rate reporter. Its timing readings and the monitor's status provide more context than the macOS Settings label alone. With variable refresh enabled, distinguish a supported range from a current timing reading.

An additional connection-level rate may be lost after a later mode change unless Configuration Protection enforces it. See Refresh Rate for the reporter, additional rates and persistence behavior.

If you also change the desktop size, check the whole selected mode. The listed logical resolution describes interface space. It is not necessarily the signal resolution sent to the panel. See Resolution.