Monitor Ghosting Test

How to use

1. Put the whole browser window on the monitor you want to inspect and use the refresh mode you normally use.
2. Keep your intended refresh mode and ordinary monitor OSD overdrive or response-time setting; this page cannot read either setting.
3. Optionally inspect the Artifact Reference. It is a static, artificial teaching aid—not a screenshot, measurement, baseline, threshold, or automatic comparison.
4. Choose Detail target, Solid block, or Text sample; 480, 960, or 1920 CSS px/s; a horizontal direction; and either contrast background.
5. Optionally enter browser Fullscreen before Start. It is not exclusive fullscreen, a laboratory mode, or a response-time measurement.
6. Click Start and track the moving target with your eyes. Watch leading and trailing edges rather than staring at one fixed point.
7. Keep the window, canvas geometry, and focus stable while the target moves.
8. Click Stop explicitly, then record the closest visual observation. An interrupted run is not eligible.
9. Repeat the same browser setup once before interpreting a possible trail, halo, smear, fringe, or broad blur.
10. To compare overdrive presets, change only one monitor OSD setting and repeat the same browser, refresh mode, pattern, speed, background, and direction. Compare what you see; do not treat one preset as universally best.
11. Use Reset to clear the observation and last-run context and return the session to Ready; no camera or microphone permission is required.

What the result means

• No obvious trail means no clear trailing image was noticed with the current pattern, speed, direction, contrast, browser, and display conditions. It does not prove ghosting is absent at other refresh rates, overdrive settings, games, or motion speeds, and it does not verify a manufacturer response-time claim.
• Possible same-color trail means a faded or similarly colored afterimage seemed to follow the target. Pixel transitions, display processing, motion blur, scaling, and perception can contribute; this page cannot identify the cause or measure response time.
• Possible inverse / bright halo means a reversed, dark, or bright outline appeared near the moving target. That can be consistent with overshoot or inverse ghosting, but contrast, scaling, compositing, capture, and perception can look similar. The page cannot read overdrive or confirm that an overdrive setting is wrong.
• Possible dark smearing means dark regions seemed to stretch or linger during motion. It may be more visible for some transitions and contrast settings, but this page cannot infer a panel type or a hardware fault.
• Possible color fringe means a colored edge appeared around the target. Color-channel transitions, processing, subpixel layout, scaling, or another visual artifact may contribute; it is not a panel or damage diagnosis.
• Broad motion blur means the moving edge looked wider, softer, or stretched. Sample-and-hold persistence, visual tracking, speed, browser animation, scaling, and camera exposure can contribute. Broad blur is not automatically ghosting and is not screen tearing.
• Unsure / repeat means the run did not provide enough evidence for another observation. Change one setup variable at a time and compare repeated results rather than one run.
• Ready means the test has not started. Running means the selected pattern is moving. Stopped means motion ended through an explicit Stop and an observation can be recorded.
• Any interruption—including fullscreen exit, canvas geometry change, hidden tab, focus loss, or Reduced Motion—is not eligible for an observation; repeat a clean run.
• Reset clears the local observation and last-run context and returns the session to Ready. Start also clears the previous observation before a new run and captures the new settings.
• Monitor ghosting commonly means a residual image or trail follows a moving object while pixels transition from one state to another. Pixel-transition behavior, overdrive, refresh rate, motion speed, contrast, panel processing, the browser compositor, operating-system scaling, visual pursuit, and camera capture can all affect what appears.
• Normal ghosting usually resembles a trail close to the target color. Inverse ghosting or overshoot can produce a reversed, dark, bright, or overcorrected outline; it may be consistent with strong overdrive, but this page cannot read its real state.
• Motion blur makes the moving object look broadly blurred and can arise from sample-and-hold presentation, visual tracking, speed, or camera exposure without an abnormal pixel transition. Dark smearing describes dark regions stretching during motion, but this page cannot infer a specific panel type from it.
• Screen tearing is a spatial discontinuity or misalignment between image regions, not a trailing image; use Screen Tearing Test for that visual intent. Frame skipping or stutter is irregular timing between frames, not pixel trailing; use Frame Skipping Test or FPS Test.
• Image retention or burn-in remains after static content is removed, unlike a short trail behind a moving target. Dead or stuck pixels stay at fixed positions; use Dead Pixel Test for that separate issue.
• A normal webpage has no reliable API for pixel gray-to-gray transition time, GtG, MPRT, pixel voltage curves, panel type, or monitor overdrive. Direct observation is qualitative and cannot verify a manufacturer response-time specification.
• The 480, 960, and 1920 values are browser-drawn CSS pixels per second, not calibrated native display pixels per second. A visible trail length cannot be converted directly into GtG or MPRT milliseconds by this page.
• Professional pursuit photography is a separate method that uses synchronized camera tracking and controlled scaling, exposure, and capture validation. Merely recording this page with a phone does not turn it into a calibrated pursuit-camera measurement.
• The optional artifact reference contains four fixed, artificial illustrations: Clean edge, Same-color / faded trail, Inverse / bright halo, and Broad blur / smear. It never adapts to the display, is not compared with the animation, and toggling it does not affect the motion engine or local observation.

Limitations

• Cannot measure true panel response time in milliseconds.
• This visual browser test cannot read monitor settings or identify a panel type; perception depends on speed, contrast, browser, display path, and capture.

Troubleshooting

Nothing moves after Start

Keep the tab visible, use Reset and Start again, check reduced-motion or browser animation restrictions, and try another supported browser. No media permissions are required.

No trail is visible

This may be normal under the current speed, contrast, refresh, and display conditions. Try Detail target at 960 or 1920 px/s and the opposite contrast. It does not prove the panel meets a response-time specification.

Everything looks blurred at Fast speed

Fast visual pursuit can increase perceived sample-and-hold blur. Compare Slow and Medium while keeping viewing distance and settings consistent; blur alone is not proof of ghosting.

A dark or bright inverse outline appears

Repeat with both background modes and more than one speed. The appearance may be consistent with overshoot, but this page cannot read or diagnose the monitor’s overdrive setting.

A trail appears only in a phone recording

Camera exposure, rolling shutter, recording frame rate, autofocus, and compression can create or exaggerate trails. Compare direct observation with the recording; this page does not analyze camera footage.

Results change after switching tabs

Background tabs can be throttled or interrupted. Reset and repeat while the tab is visible and the browser window is focused.

Results differ in Fullscreen

Enter Fullscreen before Start. If fullscreen exits while motion is active, the run is Interrupted; repeat with stable fullscreen geometry. Browser Fullscreen is not exclusive fullscreen or laboratory mode.

The window is resized or orientation changes during motion

The run is Interrupted because its geometry changed. Restore the intended setup and repeat before recording an observation.

Results differ between displays

Keep the browser window entirely on one display and avoid dragging it across mixed-refresh monitors during a run. Scaling and display pipelines may differ.

The trail differs between dark and light backgrounds

Pixel transitions and perception can vary with contrast. Compare both backgrounds, and do not infer a panel type from this result alone.

Motion causes discomfort

Stop immediately, use Slow speed, and exit Fullscreen. Do not continue if you feel dizzy, nauseated, or visually uncomfortable.

Related tools

• Screen Tearing Test

  Run a fast hard-edge browser motion pattern to look for tear-like horizontal splits, then compare with a clearly labeled simulated tear reference. A normal browser cannot verify VSync, G-SYNC, FreeSync, or game tearing.

• Frame Skipping Test

  Run a browser timing preflight, then photograph a discrete pattern for possible frame-skipping gaps. Review long frames, P95/P99, and stability—not a hardware verdict.

• Refresh Rate Test

  Estimate the refresh rate reaching this browser window from requestAnimationFrame timing. Review median frame interval, timing consistency, interruptions, and repeatable local results without treating browser Hz as panel telemetry.

FAQ