Monitor response time claims hide two different numbers behind one word. Grey-to-grey response measures how fast a pixel changes shade. Moving-picture response measures how long each frame stays visible. A panel advertised at 1ms is usually quoting the vendor's single best transition, not the blur a buyer sees in games.
Spec-sheet skepticism travels well beyond monitors, and the retro handheld emulation hardware legal guide applies the same scrutiny to another corner of gaming hardware. Here the receipts are public. LG's own December 2022 release for its first 240Hz OLED monitors quoted less than 0.03 milliseconds grey-to-gray, a figure no LCD panel reaches.
This guide splits the two specs apart, shows where each number comes from, and names the settings that change motion clarity more than any spec line. More component explainers sit on the hardware hub.
What Do the 1ms Specs Actually Measure?
Most quoted figures are grey-to-grey, or G2G, times: the speed of one pixel transition between two grey shades. TFTCentral's measurement methodology article notes that manufacturers usually quote the best case, the fastest transition a panel can manage. That is where adventurous 1ms marketing comes from. Real content mixes hundreds of transitions, and plenty of them run slower.
The distinction matters for what a buyer can verify. A vendor picks its most flattering transition and rounds down. A measured review reports an average across many transitions, plus the overshoot errors that aggressive pixel pushing creates. The two approaches produce very different pictures of the same screen.
Why Does MPRT Look So Much Lower?
Because it measures persistence, not pixel speed. Moving-picture response time tracks how long a frame stays visible during motion, and on a standard LCD it is governed almost entirely by the refresh rate, per TFTCentral's 2019 explainer. The math is fixed by the display mode:
- 60Hz: 16.67ms MPRT floor
- 120Hz: 8.33ms
- 144Hz: 6.94ms
- 240Hz: 4.16ms
A 1ms MPRT label therefore requires a strobing blur-reduction backlight. The same explainer warned that some manufacturers had already used the spec on screens with no such backlight at all. A marketing number can describe a feature the monitor does not have.
Do OLED Panels End the Argument?
On pixel switching, mostly yes. LG's December 2022 announcement for the 27GR95QE and 45GR95QE, the first 240Hz OLED panels, quoted a response time under 0.03 milliseconds grey-to-gray. No LCD reaches that figure, because each OLED pixel emits its own light and changes state almost instantly.
Perceived blur is a different budget. The MPRT table above applies to any sample-and-hold screen, so refresh rate and frame rates still set the persistence term even when pixels switch in microseconds. Fast pixels remove one source of blur. They do not remove the one governed by how long each frame sits on screen.
Which Settings Change Motion More Than Specs?
Overdrive, the setting many menus call Response Time. It pushes pixels harder. Set too low, panels smear on dark transitions, a weakness common on VA-type panels. Set too high, pixels overshoot their target and produce inverse ghosting, the bright halos TFTCentral documents in its measurement guide. The sweet spot varies panel by panel.
That variability is the strongest argument against single-number shopping. If a store listing quotes one flattering figure, treat it as marketing. If a review shows averaged grey-to-grey times with overshoot noted, that is measurement, and it tells a buyer which overdrive step to pick on day one.
Conclusion: Read the Unit Before the Number
Response time figures promise speed only when the unit and method are known. Grey-to-grey describes pixel speed at its best transition. MPRT describes persistence at a given refresh rate. Check which one a spec sheet quotes, favor screens with measured reviews, and tune overdrive by eye on dark scenes. LG's 0.03ms OLED figure shows how fast pixels have become. It also shows how clean a spec looks before anyone asks how it was measured. This connects to our earlier piece, Polling Rate 1000 Hz on Controllers: Real Advantage or Spec-Sheet Theater?.
