TVs and HDTVs

Most manufacturers quote a response time when they try to sell you an LCD monitor. This brief article explains what response time and input lag are. It also discusses the terms GLTR GTG and ms.

Response time is the amount of time a pixel in an LCD monitor takes to go from black to white and back to black again. It is measured in milliseconds (ms) 1/1000 of a second. Lower numbers mean faster transitions and therefore fewer visible image artifacts.  Response time has absolutely nothing to do with frame-rate. Pixel response times are independent of each other, and it does not take the entire screen 25ms to refresh if a monitor is labeled as a 25ms response time LCD.

Having a high response time is undesirable it causes artifacts such as  ghosting (a smear or blur pattern) in fast motion images. Essentially the LCD can't keep up with the changing images supplied to it by a computer or other video source.
 

Exaggerated Ghosting

The response time was traditionally recorded at the full black to white transition which became the ISO standard for the specification on LCDs. You are more likely to see response times quoted as follows:

Response time of 2ms (GTG)

or

Response time of 2ms (GLRT)

"GLRT" means: Gray Level Response Time

"GTG" means Grey to Grey

Gray to Gray response time refers to the time that it takes for a pixel to shift from some arbitrary level to another. On a 6-bit LCD, that's the time it takes the sub-pixel to twist from 1 of 64 different positions to one of the other 63 positions. GTG response times are useful if the manufacturer expresses the average of all the GTG response times, but that is rarely the case.

LCD input lag

The pixel response time is often confused with the LCD input lag which adds another form of latency to pictures displayed by an LCD. An LCD screen with high response time and significant input lag will not give satisfactory results when playing fast paced computer games.Manufacturers rarely inform customers about input lag.

What Is Input Lag?

Input lag is seen on some types of  LCDs, and nearly all types of HDTVs, It is the difference between the time a signal is input to a display and the time it is actually shown by the display. This lag time has been measured as high as 68ms, or the equivalent of 3-4 frames on a 60 Hz display. Input lag contributes to the overall latency in the interface chain of the user's inputs.

controller --> PC --> graphics card --> monitor --> your eyes.

The input lag is caused by a monitors physical properties and any extra processing it may perform on the images to be displayed.

Large screen TVs typically offer image sharpening and colour correction, this extra processing contributes to the input lag. Some modern TVs have modes specifically designed to minimizing this lag for gaming.

In  PC and console gaming the term input lag is mostly used in reference to the difference in time between when a player initiates a movement and when that action is displayed on the TV or monitor.

Use the following link to search for relevant reviews or faults associated with the Monitors. The results are provided by our custom Google search, which attempts to return more meaningful data for individuals researching hardware or electronics products prior to purchase.
(results are displayed within this site.)

Follow these links to find out the product features or to compare prices.