Ghosting Test
Go fullscreen and the scenes play automatically; click or use arrow keys to switch between the three patterns. Watch the edges of moving objects for trails, or bright leading edges that signal overshoot.
Watch the edges of moving objects: a same-direction dark trail is ghosting; a bright or inverted halo is overdrive overshoot.
What to look for
- Blocks: on the dark scene, watch each colored block's trailing edge — a smear behind it is ghosting; a light rim ahead of it is overshoot.
- Text: letters that blur into each other while scrolling reveal slow gray-to-gray response — the most common real-world complaint.
- Try the monitor OSD response-time level while watching: low settings smear more, the highest often adds overshoot halos.
- Best judged at your normal brightness, contrast and viewing distance — cold panels right after power-on smear slightly more.
Frequently asked questions
Ghosting vs overshoot — what's the difference?
Ghosting is a same-direction dark trail behind a moving object caused by slow pixel response; overshoot is a bright or inverted halo at the leading/trailing edge caused by overdrive set too aggressively. Both are response-time issues with opposite causes.
How do I test fairly?
Set brightness, contrast and the OSD response-time/OD level to what you actually use, then look at both the block and text scenes — some panels only smear on specific gray-to-gray transitions that one pattern can miss.
Is ghosting testing meaningful on a 60Hz screen?
Yes. Ghosting comes from pixel response time, which is independent of refresh rate. It is simply more noticeable on 144Hz+ panels because each frame persists for less time, so the same trail occupies more of a frame.
I see obvious smearing — now what?
Adjust the response-time/Overdrive level in the monitor OSD: low settings smear more, high settings can introduce overshoot halos — pick the best-looking middle ground. If every level looks bad, that's panel quality; document it and use the return window.