Test Your Rig · Ghosting Test

Monitor ghosting test

Follow the moving block with your eyes. A faint trail behind it is ghosting (slow pixel response); a bright halo ahead or behind is overdrive artifacting. The full-screen UFO test below does this at your exact refresh rate with speed control.

Watch the block, not the background. Trails = ghosting.
Quick demo strip. The full UFO test runs fullscreen at your measured refresh rate with adjustable speed — the standard way to judge overdrive settings.
Launch the fullscreen UFO test →

Ghosting, overdrive, and the setting to change

Ghosting is slow pixel response: the panel can't finish changing color before the next frame, leaving a smear behind moving objects — worst on VA panels in dark scenes. Overdrive pushes pixels harder to transition faster; too much of it overshoots the target color and paints a bright inverse ghost (coronas) ahead of the object, which looks worse than mild ghosting. Almost every gaming monitor has an overdrive setting (named OD, Response Time, TraceFree, AMA…) with 3–5 levels — the right level is almost never the maximum: run the UFO test and pick the highest level that shows no corona.

Frequently asked questions

How do I fix ghosting on my monitor?

Open the monitor's OSD and find the overdrive setting (Response Time / OD / AMA / TraceFree). Step it up while watching the UFO test; stop at the level before a bright halo (inverse ghosting) appears. On adaptive-sync monitors, test at your actual in-game frame rate — overdrive tuning shifts with refresh.

Is ghosting worse on some panel types?

Yes. VA panels smear most in dark transitions ('black smearing'), IPS is quicker but can corona with aggressive overdrive, TN is fastest but looks washed out, and OLED has essentially instant response with no conventional ghosting.

Do 'MPRT 1 ms' claims mean no ghosting?

No. MPRT figures involve backlight strobing at maximum settings, not everyday pixel response. GtG response and an actual UFO test tell you what you'll really see.

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