Motion Blur Reduction (ULMB, LightBoost, etc)

... from gaming motion blur rather than PWM/flicker. These are pursuit camera pictures of the Ghosting Test on TestUFO.com Motion Tests. MotionBlurReductionfordisplays(ULMB,LightBoost,DyAc,ELMB,etc)arenowverycommononmodern120Hz+gamingmonitors.Forexample, manyG-SYNCmonitorscomewitha“ULMB”settingthatcanbeturnedON/OFF.Thesetechniqueutilizestrobebacklights asthemethodofblurreduction. WhyUseMotionBlurReduction? Manyofourreaderscraveperfectmotionclarity.SomeareformerCRTuserswhopreferasimilarmotionclarityexperience.Itbenefitscertainkindsofgames(morethanothers).Inaddition,someofourreadersgeteyestrain/headachesfromgamingmotionblurratherthanPWM/flicker. Theseare pursuitcamerapicturesofthe GhostingTest onTestUFO.comMotionTests  –60Hz  –120Hz  –120HzWithBlurReduction ManyBrandsNamesforBlurReduction Severalmonitormanufacturers havereleasedmanybrandsofMotionBlurReduction modesinrecentgamingdisplays,withnamessuchas: MotionBlurReduction LightBoost(byNVIDIA) ULMB – UltraLowMotionBlur(byNVIDIA) PureXP–PureExperience(byViewSonic) DyAc–DynamicAccuracy(byBenQZOWIE) ELMB–ExtremeLowMotionBlur(byASUS) VRB–VisualResponseBoost(byAcer) AimStabilizer–(byAORUS/GigabyteTechnology) MotionFlowImpulse(bySony) 1msMPRT(byLG)— upto16xclearermotionthan“1msGtG“! TheycanusuallybetoggledON/OFFviathemonitor’smenus(e.g.ULMBfoundinmonitorswithNVIDIAG-SYNC)orviaautility(e.g.LightBoostHOWTO orStrobeUtilityforBENQZ-Series) QualityofBlurReductionCanVary Sometimesblurreductionlooksverygood —withbeautifulCRT-stylemotionclarity,nomicrostutters,andnonoticeabledoubleimages. Sometimesblurreductionlooksverybad —withdistractingsideeffectssuchasdoubleimages(strobecrosstak),poorcolors,verydim,verymicrostuttery,flickery. Inmanycases,qualitycanbesomewhereinbetween.Qualityofstrobingisimprovedonmanymonitorsusingeithermenusorutilities(Dependingonmanufacturer,theymaybecalled“StrobePhase”,“DutyCycle”,“PulseWidth”).SometimestheFactoryServiceMenuisrequiredonsomebrandsofmonitors. StrobeCrosstalk:DoubleImageGhostingEffect Whenturningonyourgamingmonitor“BlurReduction”mode,youmaywitnesssomethingcalledstrobecrosstalk—adoubleimageeffect.Somemonitorsdothisbetterthanothers,andsometimesalmostperfectly.ThisisfromacombinationofLCDGtGresponselimitationandthetimingusedbythestrobebacklight. Bad:maximumstrobecrosstalk  Worstcase.Sometimesadjustable.Sometimesanewermonitorisneeded. Average:acceptablestrobecrosstalk  Common.Notnoticeableinmostgames. Good:nearlyinvisiblestrobecrosstalk  Above-averagebutrare. ThequalityofBlurReductioncanvaryondifferentpartsofthescreen—usuallyworseattop/bottomedges,thanthecenterofscreen. Foramoretechnicalunderstandingofthecausesofstrobecrosstalk,seeAdvancedStrobeCrosstalkFAQ. MakeBlurReductionSmoother:EliminatetheMicrostutters Optimizingthe computerconfigurationalsohelpBlurReductiongreatly. Blurreductioncanamplifythevisibilityofmicrostutters.WhichmeansitiscriticaltohaveafastGPU,agoodgamingmouse,andsynchronizeframeratestothedisplay’srefreshrate(usingframecapping,orusingVSYNCON,etc). Thebestvirtualrealityheadsets(Oculus,Vive)alsouseBlurReductionfeaturesbenefitsfromallofthistoo,requiringsynchronizedframeratesinordertoavoidtheamplifiedmicrostuttereffectofBlurReductionmodes. Strobingvisuallylookshighest-qualitywhenyouhaveaconsistentframeratethatmatchtherefreshrate. Ifyourframerateslowsdown,youmayseedramaticmicrostutteringduringBlurReduction. Insomecases,itissometimesfavourabletoslightlylowertherefreshrate(e.g.to85Hzor100HzforULMB)inordertoallow blurreductiontolooklessmicrostuttery—bymoreeasilyexactlymatchingframeratetoalowerrefreshrate—ifyourGPUisnotpowerfulenoughtodoconsistent120fps. OptimizingForReducedInput Lag BlurReductionmodesbyseveralvendors,mayaddinputlag.Therearemanytips&tricksbyusersinBlurBustersForumstoreduceoreliminate“strobelag”forBlur-Reduction-optimizedcomputerconfigurations. InsteadofusingVSYNCONwhichaddsinputlag,onecommonalternativeistheuseofanin-gameframeratecap(suchasaSourceEngine fps_maxsettingwithinCS:GO,TeamFortress,etc).ThiscanallowplayingwithgoodmotionclarityduringVSYNCOFFinsteadofVSYNCON,whilealsoeliminatingmost“BlurReductionmicrostutters”issues.AndalsoavoidstheinputlagofVSYNCONthatcaninterferewithcompetitivefirst-personshooters(FPSgames).SeeHOWTO:Low-LagVSYNCON. AnalternativemethodtoreducemicrostuttersduringVSYNCOFFwithscrobing,istouseframeratesfarinexcessofrefreshrate(suchas300framespersecondormore). ThegreatthingisBlurReductionisanoptionalfeaturethatcanbeturnedON/OFF,fordifferentgamesandsituations—whetheryouareacasualgamer—oracompetitiveeSportsgameplayer. HowDoesBlurReductionWork? BlurReductionuseastrobebacklightsynchronizedtotherefreshrate,inordertobypassmostoftheresponselimitationsoftheLCDpanel. Thebacklightisturnedoffwhilewaitingforpixeltransitions(unseenbyhumaneyes),andthebacklightisstrobedonlyonfully-refreshedLCDframes(seenbyhumaneyes).Thestrobescanbeshorterthanpixeltransitions,bypassingtheLCDpanel’sGtGpixelresponsespeedbarrier. Thisisa1000fpshighspeedvideoofastrobebacklightinoperation: ThisispossibleonmodernLCDpanels thathasreal-worldGtGmuchfasterthanonerefreshcycle,alsoarequirementof3D-capableLCDpanels(ofwhichtheveryoriginalinvention,NVIDIALightBoost,wasinventedfor) Someblurreductionbacklightshaveanadjustablestrobeflash length(e.g.“ULMBPulseWidth”setting). Thereisatrade-offbetweenmotionclarityandbrightness.TheshorterthestrobebacklightflashLightBoostalsohasanadjustmentforthisclarity-versus-brightnesstradeoff,seeLightBoost10%vs50%vs100%,asdoesBlurBustersStrobeUtilityforBENQZ-Seriesmonitors. Somedisplaysareabletoadjustthebacklightpulsesasshortas0.25ms.ThisnowresultsinMovingPictureResponseTime(MPRT)measurements(inmilliseconds)farfasterthantheLCDGrey-to-Grey(GtG)pixeltransition measurements(inmilliseconds). MPRTandGtGaretwoverydifferentdisplaybenchmarks.“1msMPRT”issuperiorto“1msGtG”.MPRTisamuchmoreaccuratebenchmarkofmotionblur.Even“1msGtG”displayscanhave“16.7msMPRT”.Thatismotion16xblurrierthan“1msMPRT”.Toview motionblurthatisunrelatedtoLCDGtG,see TestUFO EyeTrackingAnimation. Formoreinfo,see TFTCentral:MotionBlurReductionBacklightsforexplanations.Low-persistence strobebacklightsallowsLCDtohaveCRTmotionclarity.Also,manufacturersandmonitorhardwaremoddersshouldreadElectronicsHacking:CreatingaStrobeBacklight(foradvancedreadersonly). WhyDoIGetDoubleImages? IsitStrobeCrosstalk? Frameratesarelowerthanthestroberatewillhavemultiple-imageartifacts. 30fpsat60Hzhasadoubleimageeffect.(JustlikebackintheoldCRTdays) 60fpsat120Hzhasadoubleimageeffect. 30fpsat120Hzhasaquadrupleimageeffect. Theseduplicateimagesarenotstrobecrosstalk.Itiscausedbymultiplebacklightstrobeflashesperuniqueframe. Tosolvethis,youwanttomatchframerate=refreshrate=stroberate. GetamorepowerfulGPU Strobingrequireshighsteadyframerates OrusealowerrefreshratetomakeiteasierforyourGPU 100fpsat120Hzcanlookbetterthan120fpsat120Hz UseVSYNCONifyoucan Ifinputlagisaproblem,useHOWTO:Low-LagVSYNCON Oruseoverkillframeratesifyoucan IfyoupreferVSYNCOFF,useframeratesfarhigherthanrefreshratetocompensate. FlickerversusFlickerFree? Mostnewgamingmonitorsarealsocapableofbeingfullyflicker-freecapable(PWM-free)too.BlurreductionbacklightsareoptionalfeaturethatcanbeturnedON/OFF,dependingonuserpreference. ExplanationsViaAnimation Theseanimationsdemonstratesthe causesofdisplaymotionblur: Animation: TestUFOEyeTrackingDemo demonstratesamajorcauseofdisplaymotionblur. Animation:TestUFOPersistenceofVisionisanopticalillusiongeneratedbydisplaymotionblur. Animation: TestUFOBlackFrameInsertion explainshowstrobingcanreducemotionblur. MonitorswithBlurReduction Foralistofmonitorswithmotionblurreduction,seeOfficialListofGamingMonitors. The#1SiteofEverythingBetterThan60Hz™ Searchfor: BestGamingMonitors OfficialMonitorList AdvertisementFeaturedContent TestResults:4K120HzDisplaywithbonus1080p240Hz&540p480HzModes August16,2017 VRGuide2019:ComparePopularVirtualRealityHeadsets September1,2019 TestUFO.com–BlurBustersMotionTests July16,2013 BlurBustersLaw:TheAmazingJourneyToFuture1000HzDisplays December15,2020 MotionBlurReduction(ULMB,LightBoost,etc) April29,2018 RelatedContent PHOTOS:LightBoost10%vs50%vs100% November8,2013 PHOTOS:60Hzvs120HzvsULMB May19,2013 WhyDoSomeOLEDsHaveMotionBlur? December28,2018