Ghosting, Motion Blur, Response Time, Input Lag

[Jephph]

And, which do I need to be concerned with for gaming? I don't care about visual quality, just about not having any disadvantages compared to other gamers.

 

[HOOfan 1]

In competitive gaming Input Lag would be the problem

 

[taltamir]

its only an issue in FPS gaming, first of all... and even then, opinions differ.

 

[mmnno]

Well they are all disadvantages. How much money do you make playing FPSs competitively? If the answer is not much, you should worry most about input lag, and a little about response time. Ghosting and response time are directly related, and motion blur is what you get viewing any LCD.

 

[Phew]

Personally, high input lag is more than a nuisance, it makes the computer unusable (not just games, graphics/productivity software as well). Some monitors have input lag near 100 ms. Compare that to the seek time of an average hard drive (9ms). We've all experienced slowdowns while waiting for the hard disc to find something, multiply that by 10, and that is what using a monitor with high input lag feel like.

Any pixel response time faster than 16ms or so is indiscernible to me, so this shouldn't be an issue unless you are using a really old LCD or your vision is very sensitive.

Our eyes/brain naturally blur moving images (we don't see movies as 24 frames per second, we see them fluidly). An LCD draws discrete frames, and our eyes blur the frames into a moving image. So I'm not even sure what people mean by blurring on an LCD, because what they are witnessing is probably just a combination of pixel response time and their own eyes/brain blurring motion.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Jephph
Ghosting, Motion Blur, Response Time, Input Lag

First three, ghosting, motion blur, response time are a result of the response time of the physical pixels and how quickly they switch colors. You'll see less of this on faster panels, rated at 2ms (5ms gtg). TN panels are typically better at reducing ghosting/motion blur.

Input lag is latency with the monitor's drive electronics, where it takes a certain amount of time before the monitor even attempts to output a frame, so this is an issue before any ghosting/motion blur/response time concerns. Some don't notice this, others do and it bothers them immensely. I'd liken it to trying to move through quicksand in an FPS, or swimming/running in motion where it takes a second to gain momentum. Again, TN panels are typically the best in this area, and S-PVA and P-MVA typically the worst. Some of *VA panels have measurable input lag of 3-4 frames per second (50-65ms).

I wouldn't worry too much about either impacting your competitiveness in games, but input lag would be the more noticeable problem imo. If you're on the fence about gaming on an LCD I'd highly recommend checking them out first-hand before you buy. Head to a BB or MicroCenter or Fry's and bring a small game demo on a USB drive, then check it out at the store.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

I hate motion blur, with a passion, but there is no doubt input lag is even more frustrating. On the bright side, I have not used a monitor which gives me input lag, although a few games, when the framerate gets low, does produce input lag (I'm thinking of you, Far Cry 2). However all LCDs (even TVs) have shown some type of blurring. In my experience, blurring is the worst when you're looking left/right or up/down. If you're just walking or strafing, it isn't too bad. If you're really worried about competition, then just pick up a CRT. Even on the cheapest of CRTs, I have not noticed any blurring or input lag whatsoever. However, CRTs will consume more power and be bigger and heavier.