Speed up! It does sound cool, but you might not have it turned on in your monitor’s settings because it’s not clear what it does. But you should because it can make fast motion look better on your screen, getting rid of ghosting and making competitive games more explicit. Only do a little, though, or you could make things worse.
Here’s how to turn on the boost on your monitor.
What is monitor overdrive?
If you want to speed up the time it takes for your monitor to change from one-pixel state to another, you can use monitor overdrive, also known as reaction time overdrive. Most of the time, this is recorded in milliseconds (ms) and is given in grey to grey or grey to a different shade of grey fast enough so that you don’t get caught off guard when the screen updates the picture before it’s ready.
In other words, a 60Hz monitor updates the picture 60 times a second, or every 16.67ms. It must have a reaction time of less than 16.67ms for that monitor not to ghost. Monitors with higher frame rates need to be able to do more. The reaction time for a 144Hz screen has to be less than 7ms, and it gets more complicated after that.
During fast motion, “ghosting” can happen because the pixels can’t change what they’re showing fast enough. This makes the picture appear to trail behind the motion or “ghost” across the screen. This problem can be fixed by using Overdrive to speed up your reaction time. How to turn on boost for the monitor
How to enable monitor overdrive
You can use the on-screen display to turn on your monitor’s boost. But your monitor will need to have this setting for you to be able to use it, which is only sometimes the case. You might not be able to find the setting if you can’t find it on your screen. Check the website or instructions for the company that made your monitor to be sure.
Step 1: To look at what’s on your computer, press the button on it. It’s probably on the side or back of your monitor, but there are usually signs that show you where it is. You can also look in the instructions if you need help finding it.
Step 2: Find the Overdrive or Response Time setting by scrolling through the settings. This could be an option for games. If the overdrive setting is greyed out or won’t work, try turning off Freesync, G-Sync, or VRR. This is because some monitors won’t let you change the Overdrive settings if they are using one of these modes.
Step 3: If it’s an on/off switch, try turning it on. Then, play a game, watch a fast-paced TV show, or watch a sports event to see how the monitor looks. Leave it on if it looks good, and enjoy your new computer with Overdrive.
But if you have more than one Overdrive setting or choice, you should start with the first one that has the least Overdrive and then play around with it to see how it sounds and looks. Our TestUFO.com ghost test is the best one. Turn on and off speed, and then watch how the little aliens move across the screen.
Step 4: If you use Freesync, G-Sync, or another type of Adaptive Sync while gaming, your monitor’s refresh rate will change on the fly. This means that you may need to manually change your boost setting depending on the frame rate you’re playing at. If you play a game that requires a low frame rate but your Overdrive is set to the monitor’s 240Hz refresh rate, for example, you could have issues with overshoot.
Overdrive, which is more advanced, is called adaptive Overdrive on some AMD models and variable Overdrive on some G-Sync models. Based on the frame rate, these will change the boost setting on the fly without any input from the user.
Do you wish your monitor had a boost, or do you just want one that turns on faster in general? In 2024, these are some of the best LCD screens for games. The pictures look more apparent on the screen.
