How to Use Your Monitor’s Overdrive Setting | Digital Trends

Overdrive! This sounds cool, and it is, but you may not have it enabled in your monitor’s settings because it’s not entirely clear what it does. But you should, because it can actually improve the display of fast movements on your screen, eliminate ghosting, and improve clarity in competitive games. Just don’t overdo it or you’ll make the problem worse.

How to activate your monitor’s overdrive.

What is monitor overdrive?

Monitor overdrive or response time overdrive is a method of increasing the response time of your monitor so that it transitions from one pixel state to another more quickly. Typically this is measured in gray to gray or gray to another shade of gray and is expressed in milliseconds (ms). It needs to be fast enough so that the monitor doesn’t refresh the image before it’s finished.

For example, a 60 Hz monitor updates the image 60 times per second, or about every 16.67 ms. The response time of this monitor must be less than 16.67 ms to avoid ghosting. Higher refresh rates require more from a monitor. A 144Hz display requires a response time of less than 7ms, and things only get more difficult from there.

Slow response times can cause “ghosting” in time-lapse motion, when the pixels cannot change their display quickly enough so that the image behind them appears to disappear or ghost images run across the screen. By improving your response time by using Overdrive, you can eliminate this problem and make the images on the screen appear sharper.

How to enable monitor override

To enable override on your monitor, you can simply use the on-screen display. However, this is a setting that your monitor must have in order for you to use it, and that is not a guarantee. Not every display has this setting. So if you can’t find the setting, it may not be available. Double check on your monitor manufacturer’s website or manual.

Step 1: Press the button on your monitor to bring up its On Screen Display (OSD). It’s usually located on the side or back of your monitor, but there are usually markings for where it is located. You can also check the manual if it’s particularly difficult to find.

Step 2: Browse the settings until you find one overdrive, or reaction time Setting you can adjust. This can be in a game menu.

If the Overdrive setting is grayed out or you cannot adjust it for some reason, try turning off the Freesync, G-Sync, or VRR modes, as some monitors do not allow you to change the Overdrive settings even though sync technology is in use become.

Step 3: If it’s an on or off switch, try turning it on, then play a game or watch a fast-paced TV show or sporting event and see what the monitor looks like. If it looks good, leave it on and enjoy your new overdrive monitor.

However, if you have a number of overdrive settings or options, you will need to start with the first setting, with the lowest overdrive setting, and then do some testing to see how it looks and feels. The ghosting test from TestUFO.com is best. Change the Overdrive settings and then see what the little aliens look like as they move across the screen.

As you increase the overdrive you should notice a reduction in any ghosting. However, be aware that going too far can result in overshoot, where the pixels in front of the object appear to glow.

Step 4: Additionally, if you use Freesync, G-Sync, or another form of Adaptive Sync while gaming that dynamically adjusts your monitor’s refresh rate, you should keep in mind that you may need to manually adjust your Overdrive setting to match the frame rate you’re using . I am playing. If you end up playing a game at a low frame rate because it’s particularly demanding, but your Overdrive is configured for, say, the monitor’s refresh rate of 240 Hz, you may experience ringing issues.

Some AMD models have an advanced version called Adaptive Overdrive, while some G-Sync models have Variable Overdrive. These adjust the overdrive setting dynamically and without input based on the frame rate.

Do you wish your monitor had overdrive, or do you just want something with an overall better response time? Here are some of the best gaming monitors you can buy in 2024.

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