BFI stands for "Black Frame Insertion" and it enhances motion resolution in LCD/OLED/Sample and Hold displays by inserting a black frame or blackout between regular frames. This has the result of reducing motion blur by shortening the time each frame is visible, making fast-moving content appear sharper and clearer.
It effectively mimics in a way older CRT monitors, improving the perception of motion. Which for me is huge, because I still game on CRT's on the regular and LCD's abysmal handling of motion is a major detriment to me of my enjoyment of such things, especially for titles that were designed and produced for displays that had much clearer motion.
It's a niche use case i'll admit, and i'd never claim otherwise, and it's not for everybody. But its funny that without that capability, id trade it in for an OLED deck tomorrow.
Normally it’s closer to 25% off and that is still uncomfortable to view compared to plasma or CRT, unless you are blessed with a golden visual system in your brain
If you see one now you'll see how bad it is.
Only the latest super high refresh OLEDs are approaching that capability and the software is not done. Nobody is simulating the rays right now. Pretty niche, so progress is slow.
I also use BFI with my OLED and sure, BFI at 240hz is better but it’s not available to me in a handheld.
It gets you really close, but not all the way to the motion clarity of a CRT. It's not at the point yet where I would remove my CRT's from my desk, but another few years of brightness increases and resolution increases in <27" and under OLED's, and I could be almost convinced to finally retire them.
Funnily enough VR headsets might be some of the best displays for retro due to their ability to do really good low persistance strobing without something called crosstalk.
Another drawback I forgot to mention is that if you couldnt perhaps tolerate 60hz on a CRT, you may find the same with BFI/strobing, so again, it rules it out for a lot of people.
Sadly OLED is not able to escape the problems inherent to sample and hold displays when it comes to the blurring of motion.
Old mate Mark from Blurbusters (An expert in the field) does a far better job of explaining why then I can: