Monitor Response Test
Moving shapes, bars and text reveal ghosting, blur and overshoot.
Pursuit-camera check
Follow the shape with your eyes, head still, like tracking a ball. A fast panel keeps edges readable while moving; a slow one smears them. For a photo, use 1/60 s shutter, track the shape by hand and compare frames.
How to photograph ghosting
Set the camera to manual, shutter 1/60 s, and pan along with the shape. Trails behind the shape are ghosting; a soft double image is overshoot from aggressive overdrive.
Overdrive and blur, plainly
Overdrive pushes pixels to change color faster. Too little leaves trails; too much paints a bright halo ahead of moving edges. The bars pattern shows both: smear behind, halo in front.
Browsers cap background tabs, so keep this tab focused with power saving off for an honest result.
Test monitor response
- Pick the bars pattern at 480 px/s and follow it with your eyes.
- Look for trails behind edges and bright halos ahead of them.
- Switch to small text: if you can read it while moving, response is fast.
Response questions
What is the difference between refresh rate and response time?
Refresh rate is how many frames the panel shows per second. Response time is how fast each pixel changes color. A 144 Hz panel with slow pixels still smears motion.
What does overdrive do?
Overdrive overvolts pixels so they switch color sooner. The middle setting usually beats the maximum: maxed overdrive trades trails for bright inverse ghosts.
Why can I read the text when still but not while moving?
Still text needs zero motion clarity. Moving text redraws every frame while your eyes track smoothly, so slow pixels blur it. That gap is exactly what this test measures.