Monitor response time settings: why would anyone turn it up?

[Panpaper]

I recently bought an LG 29UM59 monitor, and was looking around in the settings. i saw a setting called "Response Time", which went from OFF, to LOW, to MEDIUM, to HIGH.

 

As far as I know, the lower the response time, the better. Why would anyone turn up the response time? And what does OFF mean? Can't possibly be no response time

[FIXXX]

One suggestion is - the contrast ratio is higher when the response time is higher.

Did you try checking is some settings become available on the High response setting?

[Panpaper]

3 minutes ago, FIXXX said:

One suggestion is - the contrast ratio is higher when the response time is higher.

Did you try checking is some settings become available on the High response setting?

I currently have it on HIGH, but I'm not noticing any difference in contrast, picture quality, and quite frankly, any input lag. I grew up using pretty low-end laptops for gaming and input lag never occurred to me.

 

What could OFF possibly mean?

[vanished]

Most monitors have a settings that allows you to pick a configuration somewhere along a spectrum, trading off between completely natural colours and high motion blur, or lower motion blur but with colour distortions that surround any motion.  My BenQ calls it AMA, while my Samsung calls it RTA.  Turning this tech "off" is generally the former, with "higher" settings tending to the latter.  Perhaps this is what you're describing?

[Sakkura]

It's probably an overdrive setting. More aggressive overdrive makes the pixels transition faster... but then they more often overshoot past where they were supposed to go. So it's often best to pick a middling setting rather than a very high one.

 

Here's a good article about overdrive:

 

https://www.blurbusters.com/faq/lcd-overdrive-artifacts/

[Glenwing]

4 hours ago, Panpaper said:

I recently bought an LG 29UM59 monitor, and was looking around in the settings. i saw a setting called "Response Time", which went from OFF, to LOW, to MEDIUM, to HIGH.

 

As far as I know, the lower the response time, the better. Why would anyone turn up the response time? And what does OFF mean? Can't possibly be no response time

Actually the ultra-low response time modes usually introduce massive inverse ghosting or other undesirable artifacts, which in reality take a much longer time to reach the correct color, but due to the way response time is defined, it produces a lower number. There is no reason to use the low response time modes, the only reason they are there is so manufacturers can claim "1 ms response time", only by having a mode which you aren't supposed to actually use in real usage.

 

I think in this case, "Response time" refers to "Response time compensation" or overdrive, so it's a bit backwards. "OFF" means no compensation, so the response time is left as its natural state without any acceleration. This is the slowest response time setting. Turning the response time compensation higher makes the response time lower, so "HIGH" is the fastest (lowest) response time.