Motion Blur Test
Assesses the readability of moving typography, fine single-pixel grids, and high-frequency textures to evaluate display sample-and-hold eye-tracking motion blur.
- Track the moving text and fine grid lines with your eyes.
- Observe at what speed (px/s) text letters lose distinct legibility and blur into horizontal smears.
- Compare high-refresh displays with 60Hz displays to see the direct clarity impact of higher frame rates.
Most modern monitors (LCD and OLED alike) operate as sample-and-hold displays: each frame is held statically on the screen for the duration of the refresh cycle (e.g. 16.7ms on 60Hz, 8.3ms on 120Hz). When your eyes track moving text smoothly, the static image is smeared across your retina during that hold time. This biological blur occurs even if the panel’s GtG pixel transition time is 0 ms!
What This Test Checks
- Moving text typography readability across diverse scroll velocities.
- Fine single-pixel line grating and high-density checkerboard motion clarity.
- Sample-and-hold retina blur caused by continuous frame hold times.
- Impact of high refresh rates (120Hz, 240Hz) on visual sharpness.
How to Perform the Test
- Track the moving text strings smoothly with your eyes across the screen.
- Increase the speed from 240 px/s up to 1920 px/s.
- Note the velocity at which letters blur together and individual character strokes become illegible.
- Compare readability between 60Hz and 120Hz/144Hz displays.
What to Look For
- Text legibility: At 960 px/s, 60Hz monitors show heavy blur, while 240Hz monitors remain readable.
- Double images: Caused by stroboscopic eye-stepping when framerate is lower than tracking speed.
- Pure optical sharpness: Higher frame rates deliver narrower blur trails on your retina.
Common Display Problems & Diagnostic Guidance
Why do OLED monitors still have motion blur?
Even with 0.03ms pixel response times, OLED panels suffer from sample-and-hold eye blur because each frame is held statically on screen for 16.7ms (on 60Hz) or 8.3ms (on 120Hz) while your eyes move continuously.
How does Backlight Strobing eliminate motion blur?
Technologies like ULMB, DyAc, and ELMB strobe the backlight off during pixel transitions, only flashing light for 1ms per frame to mimic the instantaneous impulse behavior of classic CRT monitors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What causes motion blur on computer monitors?
Two distinct factors: (1) Slow pixel response time (GtG ghosting), and (2) Eye-tracking across static sample-and-hold display frames (MPRT blur). In modern gaming monitors, sample-and-hold blur accounts for over 85% of total perceived blur.
Can software alone fix sample-and-hold motion blur?
No. Reducing sample-and-hold blur fundamentally requires either increasing the physical refresh rate (e.g. 240Hz, 360Hz, 500Hz) or enabling hardware backlight strobing / black frame insertion.