Understanding Monitor Response Time

Are you a gamer?

If you are then you might have already come across the term “Monitor Response Time”.

So what is it?

It’s also commonly known as “Response Rate” and “Latency”. This is an important specification that you should always consider checking when you intend to buy your new computer monitor. 

It’s because it determines how quick the graphics are displayed from your computer screen. There are currently two different types of computer monitors which are the LCD and the CRT. 

In the past, LCDs features 16 Millisecond (ms) Response Rate but there are some noises and distortions that are often experienced by the user. 

Today, top companies such as Samsung and Sonic had finally introduced products that are equipped with 3 ms Latency and perhaps lower Response Rate will soon be released in the future. 

CRT monitors offers exactly the same performance as the Liquid Crystal Display but it’s easy to tell their differences in terms of advantage and disadvantage.

A Faster Response Time Offers You Better Experience

Either you are playing video games or watching your favorite movies, it is by far better to enjoy them on a screen with fast Latency. 

The video pictures or images refreshes quite fast enough which allows you to experience the best entertainment. 

Using a monitor with slow Response Time often results into an annoying digital distractions such as ghosting and lagging.

To explain further, Response Time is the period or interval where the Pixel of your monitor changes repeatedly from active (black) to inactive (white) state. 

Although, some companies goes into contrary that Latency is best achieved through colors in terms of gray-to-gray Response Time. 

But, switching between the gray states has been found out to be slower as compared with the black and white state.

Calculating the gray-to-gray Latency value is completely pointless and there are a lot of arguments simply due to this reason. 

The vendors even avoid discussing specific details about it particularly on the cycle of measurements. To solve this issue, VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) has finally released on 2006 a specification of standardizing Response Time.

As our technology continuously improves, suppliers keep on competing with their products in terms of their specifications and this includes the fastest possible Response Rate. 

Actually, most manufacturers are unable to provide the accurate Latency measurement of their items. An example was the ViewSonic VX924 which was released on September 2005 featuring 3 ms Response Time but the recent product that has been introduced do have 4 ms rate.




Regardless of the Response Time and other specifications of the monitor that you intend to buy, the method to choose the best would be to test it before deciding to purchase the item.