Monitor Ghosting Test

Press Full Screen and watch the moving object’s edges. A dark trail behind it or a bright halo ahead of it both point to an overdrive setting that needs adjusting — this test shows you which way to move it.

New to this? Here’s the plain-English version.

What this test is

A moving object you watch to spot trails and halos — the visual “ghosts” that follow fast motion on some monitors.

How it helps you

If your games smear during fast action, this shows which setting to change to clean it up — almost always for free, in your monitor’s menu.

What we’re checking

Whether your monitor leaves a dark trail behind moving objects, a bright halo ahead of them, or neither.

The white square should have sharp edges with minimal trailing.

Observe the edges of the moving white square. On a slow-response monitor, the edges will appear blurry and a trail will be visible against the black background.

Press F11 or Full Screen · ← → patterns · Esc to exit

How to Use the Test

The goal is simple to state and easy to see once you know what you are looking for: minimal dark trailing behind the object AND no bright halo ahead of it. Those two artifacts point to opposite overdrive problems.

1Launch fullscreen. Press Full Screen above and let the object move at medium speed — this is your baseline with the current overdrive setting.
2Watch the trailing edges. Look for a dark smear behind the object (too little overdrive) or a bright halo ahead of it (too much).
3Open the OSD overdrive setting. Find Response Time / Overdrive / AMA / TraceFree on your monitor’s menu.
4Test each level. Step through Low → Medium → High → Extreme and pick the level with the least visible artifacts in either direction.

The Four Types — What You’re Looking At

Dark ghosting

Looks like: A dark smear or shadow behind the object.

Cause: Pixels not switching fast enough; overdrive too low or panel inherently slow.

Fix: Increase overdrive one level.

Inverse ghosting (corona)

Looks like: A bright/white halo leading ahead of the object.

Cause: Overdrive overshoot — extra voltage pushes the pixel past its target colour.

Fix: Decrease overdrive one level.

IPS trails

Looks like: A faint dark trace on light-to-dark transitions.

Cause: Inherent IPS liquid-crystal response characteristic.

Fix: Not tunable via overdrive; usually subtle.

VA smear

Looks like: A pronounced grey-purple smear on dark-to-grey.

Cause: VA dark transitions are much slower than its rated GtG.

Fix: Overdrive helps a little; inherent to VA.

Ghosting by Panel Type

Panel type	Severity	Worst case
TN	Very low	Minimal at all transitions
Fast IPS / Nano IPS	Low	Occasional IPS trails on dark transitions
Standard IPS	Low–moderate	Visible at slow-to-medium transitions
VA	Moderate–high	Severe on dark-to-grey; known limitation
OLED	Effectively none	No liquid crystal; sub-0.1ms response

VA ghosting is the most common complaint in monitor reviews — it is a limitation of the technology, not a defect. If you mainly play dark-scene games, IPS or OLED avoids it. OLED monitors (LG UltraGear OLED, ASUS ROG Swift OLED) have effectively zero ghosting.

Fixing Ghosting with Overdrive

Every monitor OSD has a response-time / overdrive control, but the label varies by brand. Find yours, then tune it against the test above:

Brand	OSD label
ASUS	TraceFree
BenQ	AMA
LG	Response Time
Samsung	Response Time
Dell	Response Time
AOC	Overdrive
Gigabyte	Overdrive

1Start at Medium (or the middle value).
2Run this test at medium-fast movement.
3Dark trailing behind? Increase one step.
4Bright corona ahead? Decrease one step.
5Optimal = cleanest edges with neither artifact. Extreme/Max usually adds coronas worse than the ghosting they remove.

If the trailing persists at every overdrive level, the panel’s underlying grey-to-grey speed is the limit — confirm it with the response time test. And if the blur looks uniform rather than transition-specific, it may be sample-and-hold motion blur instead, which higher refresh rate — not overdrive — reduces.

Ghosting FAQ

What is monitor ghosting?+

Ghosting is a visual artifact where moving objects leave a trailing smear or shadow. It happens when pixels switch colour too slowly — the previous colour bleeds through the transition, leaving a ghost of the object’s old position. It is most visible on dark backgrounds and worst on VA panels during dark-to-grey transitions.

How do I test my monitor for ghosting?+

Launch the test above, press Full Screen, and watch the trailing edges of the moving object at medium speed. A dark smear behind the object is ghosting; a bright halo ahead of it is overdrive overshoot. Adjust your monitor’s overdrive setting in the OSD until both are minimised.

What is the difference between ghosting and motion blur?+

Ghosting comes from slow pixel response — a trail specific to certain colour transitions, fixable with overdrive. Motion blur comes from LCD sample-and-hold — a uniform blur as your eyes track motion, present on all LCDs regardless of response speed and reduced by higher refresh rate or a strobe backlight, not overdrive.

How do I fix monitor ghosting?+

Increase the overdrive / response-time setting in your OSD by one level, then retest here. If a bright corona appears ahead of the moving object, the overdrive is now too high — drop it one level. The best setting shows clean edges with minimal dark trailing and no bright halo.

Why is VA panel ghosting worse than IPS?+

VA panels use a liquid-crystal alignment that gives excellent static contrast but slower dark-grey transitions. Going from dark grey to a lighter shade can take 10–15ms on VA versus 1–4ms on fast IPS, producing the characteristic grey-purple smear in dark game scenes. It is a technology limitation, not a fault.

Is some ghosting normal?+

Yes. Almost every LCD shows a little trailing at some transition. The question is whether it is visible during actual use. Faint ghosting only seen in this test at high speed is normal; a smear obvious during dark game scenes or fast scrolling is worth addressing with overdrive — or, if it cannot be tuned out, points to a slow panel.

Can a firmware update or cable fix ghosting?+

Rarely from a cable — ghosting is a panel/overdrive characteristic, not a bandwidth one. Some monitors have shipped firmware that improves overdrive tuning, so it is worth checking the manufacturer’s support page. But the main lever is the OSD overdrive setting combined with a high refresh rate.

Related Monitor Tests

Response Time Test

The GtG speed behind ghosting

Motion Blur Test

Sample-and-hold blur, a different artifact

Refresh Rate Test

Higher Hz reduces perceived blur

Checking a whole new panel?

Run the dead pixel test and browse the full monitor test suite.

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