Monitor Ghosting Test: What Is Ghosting and How to Fix It
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Monitor ghosting is a motion artefact that can ruin your gaming experience and make fast-moving content appear smeared or trailed. Unlike dead pixels or backlight bleed, ghosting is a dynamic problem — it only shows up when things move. This guide explains what ghosting is, how to test for it, and what you can do to reduce or eliminate it.
What Is Monitor Ghosting?
Ghosting (also called pixel smearing or trailing) occurs when a monitor's pixels cannot transition from one colour to another fast enough to keep up with the moving image. The result is a faint “shadow” or “trail” that follows moving objects on screen. It is most noticeable in fast-paced games, scrolling text, and cursor movement.
Ghosting is caused by a slow pixel response time — specifically, the time it takes for a pixel to change from grey to grey (GtG). A 5 ms GtG panel will exhibit more ghosting than a 1 ms GtG panel at the same refresh rate.
Ghosting vs Smearing vs Motion Blur: Key Differences
- Ghosting – A visible after-image that trails behind a moving object, caused by slow pixel response.
- Overshoot / Inverse ghosting – A bright halo in front of a moving dark object, caused by overdrive being set too aggressively. Often looks like a bright white or colour edge leading the object.
- Motion blur – A natural optical effect where the eye perceives blur during smooth motion, not a defect. Reduced by higher refresh rates.
- Smearing – A more severe version of ghosting common on VA panels, where dark transitions are particularly slow.
How to Test for Monitor Ghosting
- Use the UFO Test (testufo.com) or a similar motion test tool in your browser to display objects moving at a fixed speed.
- Look for visible trails, halos, or smears behind the moving test objects.
- Test at different refresh rates and overdrive settings to observe how each setting affects the result.
- Try our full-screen colour test and move your browser window quickly — ghosting may become visible during the motion.
Which Panel Types Are Most Affected?
- TN panels – Fastest response times (as low as 0.5 ms GtG). Minimal ghosting. Best for competitive gaming.
- IPS panels – Response times of 1–5 ms GtG on quality models. Modern fast IPS panels are excellent. Some budget IPS panels ghost noticeably.
- VA panels – Traditionally the slowest in dark-grey transitions. Noticeable smearing on black-to-dark-grey transitions is a known weakness. High-end VA panels have improved significantly in 2025–2026.
- OLED panels – Sub-0.1 ms response time. Essentially zero ghosting.
For a detailed comparison of panel technologies, see our IPS vs VA vs TN guide.
How to Fix or Reduce Monitor Ghosting
1. Adjust Overdrive (Response Time) Settings
Most monitors include an overdrive setting in the OSD (on-screen display) menu, typically labelled “Response Time,” “AMA,” or “Trace Free.” Increasing this setting pushes extra voltage to pixels to speed up transitions. Set it to Medium or the second-highest setting — maximum overdrive often causes inverse ghosting (overshoot), which looks worse than regular ghosting.
2. Enable Variable Refresh Rate
G-Sync and FreeSync synchronise your GPU frame rate with the monitor's refresh rate, eliminating tearing and reducing perceived ghosting by ensuring smooth frame delivery.
3. Increase Refresh Rate
A higher refresh rate reduces the time each frame is displayed, which directly reduces perceived motion blur and ghosting. Going from 60 Hz to 144 Hz makes a significant difference even without changing the overdrive setting.
4. Enable ULMB or Backlight Strobing
Ultra-Low Motion Blur (ULMB), ELMB, and similar technologies strobe the backlight in sync with the refresh rate to reduce motion blur perception. This is different from increasing overdrive and is highly effective, though it reduces peak brightness and cannot be used simultaneously with VRR on most monitors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ghosting covered under warranty?
Ghosting that exceeds the manufacturer's published response time specification may be grounds for a warranty claim, but this is difficult to prove objectively. Most manufacturers consider moderate ghosting within normal operating parameters.
Does ghosting get worse over time?
Not typically on LCD panels. Ghosting is determined by the panel's physical liquid crystal response characteristics, which do not degrade significantly under normal use.
Can I fix ghosting without buying a new monitor?
In many cases, yes. Adjusting the overdrive setting in the monitor's OSD and ensuring your monitor is running at its maximum refresh rate resolves most user-reported ghosting complaints. Check our monitor settings guide for step-by-step instructions.
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