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Glossary

Response time

How long a pixel takes to transition from one color to another, measured in milliseconds. Lower is better — slow response causes motion blur and ghosting on fast-moving content.

Response time has two common measurements:

  • GtG (grey-to-grey). The most-quoted number. Measures mid-tone transitions, the easiest case.
  • MPRT (moving picture response time). Measures perceived motion blur, including persistence — closer to real-world experience.

What the numbers mean

  • OLED. Sub-1 ms GtG, near-zero MPRT. The benchmark.
  • Fast IPS. 1–4 ms GtG; competitive for most gaming.
  • VA. 4–8 ms GtG; trailing dark-transition smear is common.
  • TN. Fastest LCD (1 ms) but bad color and angles; now rare.

Watch out for

"1 ms" claims on IPS panels usually require overdrive cranked up, which can introduce inverse ghosting (bright halos). The honest mid-setting often shows 3–4 ms real-world transitions.

Buyer context

How to use Response time in a real comparison

How long a pixel takes to transition from one color to another, measured in milliseconds. Lower is better — slow response causes motion blur and ghosting on fast-moving content. In practice, this is most useful as one part of a decision rather than a standalone quality badge. Compare it alongside the workload, room, ecosystem, budget, and ownership constraints that apply to you; the strongest published figure is not automatically the best outcome for every buyer.

What to check next

On vsMars, read together so the value has product-specific context. It is especially relevant in .

Avoid the one-number trap

Manufacturers can describe the same capability under different conditions. Compare like-for-like variants, check the unit and test condition where available, and use a head-to-head page to see whether a measurable difference is material for your own use.

vsMars presents structured catalog values to make trade-offs legible. The linked product and spec pages are the right place to inspect the underlying values before buying.

Where this matters

Categories that use response time

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