Questions about response time

[Ezra]

What exactly do response times do for my TV? Especially when it comes to gaming?

Is there a difference between 2ms and 1ms? What would they be?
I want to purchase a monitor but I want to make informed decisions.

[coen113]

you wont notice it until its AT LEAST 20 ms. i would go with an ips panel, even for gaming

[Ezra]

Also the difference between these gaming monitors and LED/LCD monitors.

[WoodenMarker]

2ms is twice as long as 1ms. Ms = Milliseconds.

Response time is one of the delays that makes it take longer for the screen to show what is happening from the time the signal for the image is generated.

Someone with less response time will see things before you and have an advantage over you.

 

The problem is that the way response times are measured varies depending who you're asking. In short, what they put for the response time spec is bull.

[Ezra]

What's good about the ips panel?

[WoodenMarker]

Also the difference between these gaming monitors and LED/LCD monitors.

Gaming monitors are generally LED/LCD displays unless you're gaming on something else like a CRT. 

[WoodenMarker]

What's good about the ips panel?

Better color reproduction and viewing angles. 

[Jamdude]

2ms is twice as long as 1ms. Ms = Milliseconds.

what they put for the response time spec is bull.

ms = milliseconds, Ms would be one million seconds.  You're definitely right about response times being BS though.

[WoodenMarker]

ms = milliseconds, Ms would be one million seconds.  You're definitely right about response times being BS though.

Thanks for pointing out my typo.  I have a tendency to capitalize the first letter of my sentences. 

[ForsakenLive]

The thing is not the GTG (gray to gray) response time, it's the input lag.

 

GPU ----> monitor ----> panel

graphic       input            GTG

card             lag

delay

 

Input lag can be quite beastly on TVs, because they have several input connections, and there is processing done by the TV's hardware, this is needed in order to handle different inputs/outputs/channels.

There are TVs that have something called 'game mode' in which the  signal that come from computers, skips part of the processing, this reduces their input lag.

Higher GTG response time means the colors take longer time switching after receiving the signal, input lag means the signals that are sent to the monitor take longer time to reach the reproduction on the panel, this is why TVs are not good for gaming.

[Ezra]

The thing is not the GTG (gray to gray) response time, it's the input lag.

 

GPU ----> monitor ----> panel

graphic       input            GTG

card             lag

delay

 

Input lag can be quite beastly on TVs, because they have several input connections, and there is processing done by the TV's hardware, this is needed in order to handle different inputs/outputs/channels.

There are TVs that have something called 'game mode' in which the  signal that come from computers, skips part of the processing, this reduces their input lag.

Higher GTG response time means the colors take longer time switching after receiving the signal, input lag means the signals that are sent to the monitor take longer time to reach the reproduction on the panel, this is why TVs are not good for gaming.

So you're saying that the GTG won't mean anything if there is input lag? And the input lag is likely depended on the monitor itself.

[Ezra]

I'm also guessing the input lag depends on the refresh rate?

[Glenwing]

Response time is the time it takes for a pixel to change from one color to the next.  A monitor with a slow response time will show motion blur behind fast moving objects, because the pixels at the object's previous position will change back to the background color more slowly, leaving a visible trail if it's too slow.  Response time is not a set number; the time a color change takes depends on the starting and ending color.  Monitors are usually measured in gray-to-gray because that transition gives the lowest number, although it's a fairly useless number because you'll never notice motion blur from a grey object moving across a slightly lighter grey background.  Fortunately most monitors are fast enough that you don't even have to worry about this spec in the first place.

 

Input lag is the time delay between your actions, and it being shown on the screen.  If a monitor has a slow response time, it can still react instantly if you have no input lag, it might just leave a motion trail.  Response time only affects motion blur, not delayed reaction.  That would be input lag.

 

Of course the question is, what qualifies as slow.  20-30ms is pretty typical input lag for monitors (although this spec isn't listed), and you generally won't experience motion blur on monitors under 15-16ms response time.

[Glenwing]

I'm also guessing the input lag depends on the refresh rate?

 

Theoretically yes, if your screen refreshes 60 times a second, then you get a new frame every 16ms.  If something happens in the game exactly right after a refresh, you won't see it for another 16ms when the next refresh hits.  If you have a 120Hz monitor, you get a refresh every 8ms, so the maximum delay from that could only be 8ms.  To be honest though, I've never been in a situation where I've said "Gee, if only I had seen that guy .008 seconds sooner, I would have gotten him first".