How many frames per second does a standard cinema film run at?

Movies & TV easy Data from 2024

Guess before you scroll — the answer is below

Answer in frames per second. Shorthand like 9m or 1.2bn works.

The answer

24 frames per second

Cinema has run at 24 frames per second since the late 1920s. The number was not chosen for how it looks — it was the slowest speed that produced acceptable sound quality on optical film, and it stuck for a century.

Where this number comes from

Source Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
Figure refers to 2024
Last checked
Unit frames per second

Numbers move. If this one has drifted from its source, let us know.

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