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A monitor to match your speed
The general rule of thumb regarding the reaction time is: the shorter the better. To show how a minimal reaction time of a new monitor helps to make the best use of all capabilities, we explain the functionality and advantages of short reaction times.
What is response time?
Simply put, it’s the time the individual pixels on your monitor need to display a change from black to white, or from one shade of gray to another. But why do we care about black and white transitions when it comes to the beautiful colors of next-gen AAA blockbuster games, or the fierce competition of popular esports titles? Well, between black and white there is a spectrum of gray that is used to display varying intensities of colors through a filter.
What does a low response time do for Gamers?
A low response time eliminates the blurry trails left by objects moving very quickly on your screen; a phenomenon often referred to as ghosting. This means a small response time is essential when watching action movies or playing fast-paced games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
So, response time is like input lag?
While having a low response time is different to having input lag on your monitor, the resulting negative effects are similar. You push a button and the delay until something happens on your screen is longer with a high response time, just like with input lag. The reason is pixels being slow at changing gray tones, whereas input lag is measured by the time a monitor needs to process an image coming from the GPU.
Play like the pros
For esports professionals such as G2 Esports’ CS:GO pro and AWP superstar Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, a minimal response time is essential for competing at the highest level. He uses an AOC AG251FZ monitor — with only 1ms response time — to ensure he always reacts in time. Minimal response time does not only help FPS competitors react in time, it is also useful in other games such as Rocket League. G2 Esports’ professional Jacob “JKnaps” Knapman recommends the AOC AG352UCG6 — with 4ms response time — to guarantee a fluid gameplay experience. Stay up-to-date on the latest display innovations via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.