Why can I play better with highest overdrive setting and overshoot?

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SvenL
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Joined: 04 Oct 2022, 07:45

Why can I play better with highest overdrive setting and overshoot?

Post by SvenL » 04 Oct 2022, 07:57

Hi everyone,

I hope someone can help me out as I'm a bit clueless in my current situation.

I'm using a 144Hz monitor (Asus VG259Q) and am quite happy with it, but I'm looking for an upgrade. I recently learned about response time etc. (thanks to Blur Busters) and tried the various overdrive settings on my monitor.

I was shocked to find out that I can play much better with the strongest mode on (100) than with the "slower" ones. Mouse movement feels much faster and easier. Also, I could track enemies much better which used to be more of a "guess" until now.

Don't know if it's pure placebo. Of course, the big disadvantage of overshoot comes into play now, and don't get me wrong, the picture doesn't look good but somehow everything feels more responsive, easier, and faster with the highest overdrive setting.
Right now I play mostly FPS games, uncapped, and get around 300-350fps (mainly tracking heavy games).

So is this an illusion, pure placebo, or what does help me here in this case? The faster pixels or less "ghosting"? (Of course, I have overshoot now but with the ufo for example as far as I've seen it still stands out better because the overshoot is purple and doesn't just have that blurry trail behind it. (But please correct me if I'm wrong)

Is there a monitor that can give me the same if not better gaming experience just without the disadvantage of overshoot? (240hz or maybe even 360hz)

P.S.: I also tried BFI on this monitor. The picture was a bit clearer as far as motion goes however, everything got much darker and my eyes had to strain more and somehow everything didn't feel as fast, responsive either, so I don't use this mode.

Thank you very much!

Boomchakadah
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Re: Why can I play better with highest overdrive setting and overshoot?

Post by Boomchakadah » 06 Oct 2022, 02:18

A stronger overdrive generally means a faster response time, hence why you played better on the fastest overdrive. The issue is the disgusting overshoot.
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SvenL
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Joined: 04 Oct 2022, 07:45

Re: Why can I play better with highest overdrive setting and overshoot?

Post by SvenL » 06 Oct 2022, 02:43

Boomchakadah wrote:
06 Oct 2022, 02:18
A stronger overdrive generally means a faster response time, hence why you played better on the fastest overdrive. The issue is the disgusting overshoot.
Ah, I see, thanks for the answer! Yes, overshoot looks really bad :)

In this case, should I be looking for a monitor with the lowest possible response time? (For example, use RTings and filter by lowest Total Response Time)

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Discorz
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Re: Why can I play better with highest overdrive setting and overshoot?

Post by Discorz » 06 Oct 2022, 06:20

SvenL wrote:
04 Oct 2022, 07:57
I can play much better with the strongest mode on (100) than with the "slower" ones.
Overdrive fastens up the pixel transitions, meaning:
- removes distractions of ghosting/better focus
- helps you see things happen earlier on screen/less latency

Some people will prefer advantages over compromises as they are more sensitive to one thing than another.
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SvenL
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Joined: 04 Oct 2022, 07:45

Re: Why can I play better with highest overdrive setting and overshoot?

Post by SvenL » 06 Oct 2022, 11:10

Discorz wrote:
06 Oct 2022, 06:20
Overdrive fastens up the pixel transitions, meaning:
- removes distractions of ghosting/better focus
- helps you see things happen earlier on screen/less latency

Some people will prefer advantages over compromises as they are more sensitive to one thing than another.
Ah ok, thanks for the explanation Discorz! You're absolutely right there.
But are there screens nowadays where you don't have to make a compromise with overshoot and still get the same good, if not better, performance with the 2 advantages you mentioned? (Is that only possible with TN?)

Should I then look for screens that just have the lowest response time or does the refresh rate also play an important role? (Compliance)

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