Ghosting Test
Watch high-contrast shapes move at set speeds to check your monitor for ghosting, overshoot (inverse ghosting) and motion blur. Free, in your browser.
How to test
- 01Run the Refresh Rate Test first, so you know the screen is at its full rate.
- 02Press Start and follow one moving shape with your eyes.
- 03Look at the edge behind it: a soft blur, a dark or bright trail, or repeated copies.
- 04Change your monitor's overdrive setting and compare.
Ghosting, overshoot and motion blur
Every pixel takes a few milliseconds to change colour. If it's too slow, a moving object leaves a dark smear behind it: ghosting. Monitors speed pixels up with overdrive, which pushes them past their target; too much overdrive leaves a bright or coloured halo instead, called overshoot or inverse ghosting.
Separately, any screen that holds each frame for the whole refresh looks blurred when your eyes follow motion, even with instant pixels. That blur shrinks as the refresh rate rises, and backlight-strobing modes reduce it further.
How to read the lanes
- Dark lane: shows dark smearing, which VA panels are known for.
- Mid-gray lane: the most balanced view of ghosting.
- Light lane: shows overshoot halos most clearly.
- Fast speed exaggerates everything. Judge at Medium first, then compare.
Tips
- Make sure the screen runs at its full refresh rate first (Refresh Rate Test).
- Start overdrive at the middle setting, then step it up and down while watching the light lane.
- Follow one shape with your eyes; staring at a fixed point shows different artefacts.
What your result means
A soft, even blur
Normal motion blur: your eye smears a moving image on any sample-and-hold screen.
Higher refresh rates or a backlight-strobing mode reduce it.
A dark or smeared trail
Ghosting: pixels change colour too slowly.
Raise the monitor's overdrive one step.
A bright or coloured halo behind the shape
Overshoot (inverse ghosting): overdrive is set too high.
Lower the overdrive one step.
Two or more faint copies
Strobe crosstalk, from a backlight-strobing mode.
Turn strobing off, or use it only at its intended refresh rate.
How to fix it
Monitor settings
- Find Overdrive / Response Time / OD in the monitor's menu (Normal, Fast, Faster…).
- Use the middle setting first; the highest often overshoots.
- Make sure the refresh rate is at maximum (see the Refresh Rate Test).
Questions
What is monitor ghosting?
A faint trail behind moving objects, caused by pixels that can't change colour fast enough. It's different from motion blur, which every sample-and-hold display shows to some degree.
What is inverse ghosting?
A bright or coloured halo behind moving objects, caused by overdrive pushing pixels past their target colour. Lowering overdrive fixes it.
Is this the same as the UFO test?
It's our own moving-pattern test for the same purpose: judging motion clarity, ghosting and overshoot.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The test runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you see, say or film is sent to us or stored anywhere.