The benefits really largely depends on what exactly you're looking for, what you are content with and what your eyes can see - and whether you care.
The only visual impact higher hz monitors have is reduced motion blur. But they also for the most part come with less input lag. Those combined will make for a more "fluid" experience.
Did you enjoy the smoothness of the old CRT monitors? Were you annoyed by the motion blur when switching from CRT to an LCD monitor? If so, then a Benq monitor with Benq Blur Reduction (BBR) could be the thing for you. Look at models XL2411Z, XL2430T or XL2720Z. On these you can activate BBR at
any refresh rate from 60 up to 144hz. And it becomes as smooth and motion blur free as your old CRT monitor. I'm not even kidding - it's
that smooth! Think you have seen smooth 60fps videos on YouTube before? You have no idea! As an added bonus you can even hook up game consoles to it via HDMI and get the same smoothness there. That's CRT-clarity 60fps at 60Hz with no motion blur!!
Downsides to BBR:
- You need a graphics card that can push the necessary fps to the monitor (fps>hz), because BBR demands v-sync, just like LightBoost does. Which in turn means more input lag than g-sync.
- You get about the same kind of flicker at 60hz as your old CRT. I honestly only notice this on the desktop, never in games. But if you were really bothered by the flicker on the old CRT monitors when playing games, then you should probably avoid using BBR from 60-70hz. From 70-75hz the flicker is much less, and from 75-80hz and up it's virtually non-existent.
- Slightly reduced brightness. Not an issue for me as I always turn the brightness down anyway. It's insanely high by default on these monitors.
- Slightly affected colors. This was an issue with Lightboost, but I can't really say I notice it with BBR.
Then there is g-sync/freesync. It eliminates different kinds of stutter to provide for smooth and fluid gaming. Please note that g-sync/freesync does nothing to reduce motion blur, which means that you'll get varying degrees of motion blur depending on what the framerate/hz is at any given time. But the upside is that the gaming experience will feel smooth as far down as 30 fps/hz (theoretically - in reviews I have read 40+), and input lag will be low.
Most g-sync monitors come with a blur reduction technology also - in a similar fashion to BBR - called ULMB (Ultra Low Motion Blur), but unfortunately you will have to choose between ULMB mode and g-sync. They cannot be combined. Also, ULMB only works at 85hz, 100hz and 120hz on some monitors, on others only at 85hz and 100hz.
Also worth noting: Even on non-g-sync/freesync monitors; If you are using v-sync and your fps is always higher than the monitor refresh rate, you will have perfect smoothness (maybe rare stutters in some games), albeit with some input lag, depending on the refresh rate.
So there it is in a nutshell, although maybe a bit oversimplified for the sake of decision making.
Want stutter free gaming, low input lag, and don't really mind a little motion blur? Go g-sync/freesync. The monitor will be expensive, but you won't need such a high performance video card.
Want silky smooth motion, and don't really mind a little input lag? Go BBR. The monitor will be cheaper, but you will need a video card with higher performance (if you want v-sync at high hz).
Of course, since all eyes are different, chances are you won't notice much difference with any of the above techonologies. In which case your money will be better spent elsewhere.
