John Chad, Bachelor Degree in Computer Science & Computer Engineering.
Russel Collins
The term “ghosting” might be a new one to you. It refers to when your video game appears as if there are multiple players onscreen at once—even though only one player exists in reality. The effect can make some people feel like they’re playing with ghosts.
If you’ve ever experienced this yourself or know someone who has, then you may want to take note of these tips and tricks that will help you avoid any instances of ghosting so you can play without worry.
Let’s first look into what ghosting actually means before we discuss how to prevent it from happening.
Best 144Hz Monitor No Ghosting
| Monitor | Key Feature | Check Price |
|---|---|---|
| LG 27GL83A-B 27 Inch | Best 144Hz |  |
| BenQ ZOWIE XL2411P 24 Inch | 2nd Best 144Hz | |
| BenQ Zowie XL2411K 24 Inch | Cheapest 144Hz | |
All of the above options are high-quality products from reputable brands. You will have no issues with these monitors.
What Is Ghosting?
When you use an LCD panel (the screen type used by most computers), each individual pixel turns off until touched. This happens because pixels need time to charge up after being turned on. If the signal doesn’t reach all the pixels within the allotted amount of time, then the display won’t work properly.
This problem becomes worse when high frame rates are involved. High frame rates require faster signals to be sent out, which leads to less time between frames. When the gap gets too short, ghosting occurs. Since the image hasn’t fully charged yet, it ends up displaying two different images simultaneously.
One solution would be to increase the refresh rate so that every single frame takes longer than usual to appear. However, higher refresh rates have their own problems such as motion blur and other visual artifacts caused by jittery screens. For example, you wouldn’t want to experience something called screen tearing where parts of the picture tear apart while moving across the screen.
Another option would be to reduce the resolution since smaller objects fill in empty spaces faster. But this comes along with its own set of issues including lower FPS and slower load times. So why not just go with the simpler way? That’s exactly what modern displays do nowadays. They employ technologies like VESA DisplayPort 1.2a and HDMI 2.0 capable of running resolutions up to Ultra HD 4K at 144Hz.
This means that picking a good monitor is key to avoiding all the issues we mentioned above.
Now you understand what ghosting is, but don’t stop reading yet!
What’s Refresh Rate?
First, let’s talk about what refresh rate is. Essentially, it refers to the speed at which your monitor refreshes the screen. Higher values mean smoother gameplay.
Increasing the refresh rate beyond 144Hz requires special hardware upgrades. Although the benefits outweigh the downsides, most manufacturers limit refresh rates to prevent ghosting & other issues. These issues are easily avoided if the monitor is from a reputable manufacturer.