Visual monitor response and overdrive test.

How this test works

Change speed and contrast while watching the trail behind a moving object.

1. Prepare the display using the checklist below.
2. Select Start test and allow fullscreen mode if your browser asks.
3. Use the arrow keys, on-screen controls, or click the pattern to move through the test.
4. Exit the runner and save a local observation if useful.

Before you begin

• Set the display to its normal refresh rate
• Keep browser zoom at 100%
• Try the monitor's response-time settings one at a time

What to look for

• Dark or bright trails
• Inverse ghosting halos
• Smearing on dark backgrounds

Compare overdrive modes with the same moving target

Pixel response describes transitions between shades, but this browser pattern does not measure their physical duration. It presents moving edges whose speed and contrast you can change. Start at the refresh mode you actually use. Follow the target with your eyes and watch for a dark trail, a faint copy, or a bright halo. Then change only the monitor’s response or overdrive setting and compare the same speed and background again. Altering speed, brightness, and overdrive together makes the difference hard to interpret.

A stronger overdrive mode can reduce one trail while creating inverse ghosting, where an edge overshoots and leaves a bright or dark outline. There is no universal best preset across all monitors and refresh modes. A mode that looks acceptable at a high fixed refresh rate may look different when refresh varies. If you use variable refresh, inspect more than one typical operating condition. Choose the setting that is least distracting in real content, not the one with the most aggressive name in the display menu.

Why a visual trail is not a millisecond reading

The apparent length of a trail depends on motion speed, refresh cadence, contrast, panel transition behavior, eye tracking, and browser rendering. You cannot divide a visible trail by screen distance and obtain a validated response-time number. Measuring a physical transition requires a controlled optical setup and defined transition criteria. Marketing figures may also describe a different transition or measurement method from the one that looks most important to you. This page therefore reports no millisecond value and should be used for relative, same-setup comparisons.

Browser and operating-system compositing can add their own timing behavior, and the test window may be throttled when hidden. Keep it in the foreground, use native resolution and normal zoom, and avoid changing displays mid-comparison. An ordinary phone video has its own frame rate and exposure, so it may show or hide a halo differently from what your eyes perceive. Describe what you see under controlled settings before attributing the effect to a particular panel technology.

Decide whether the chosen setting helps in use

Test a light and a dark background because transitions between dark shades can behave differently from bright ones. After comparing presets in the runner, check scrolling text, games, or other motion you actually use. If one setting reduces a dark smear but adds a conspicuous bright outline, a lower setting may be the better compromise. Record the monitor mode, refresh setting, target speed, background, and what kind of trail changed. Repeatability matters more than a one-word pass or fail.

The ghosting page focuses on identifying and naming trails; this response-time page focuses on comparing monitor response and overdrive controls. They share a moving renderer but serve adjacent questions. A browser can show the visual result of your current setup, not verify a manufacturer's response-time specification. If you need a measured value for a review or purchasing comparison, use independent instrument-based testing with clearly documented methods rather than converting this visual pattern into a number.

Frequently asked questions