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Simple Explanation of Ghosting and Black Smearing on VA Panels
Ghosting happens when pixels don’t change colors quickly enough, leaving a faint afterimage or residual image behind moving objects. People sometimes describe this as monitor's built-in 'motion blur'.
Black smearing is a kind of ghosting that happens when dark parts of the screen change too slowly to brighter colors. It usually shows up when black pixels cannot switch fast enough, so you see a dark trail or blur behind moving objects in dark scenes.
These two issues are most noticeable on VA (Vertical Alignment) panels because of how their technology works.
AOC 22B20JGN2 Key Specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Screen Size & Type | 21.45” VA Panel |
| Resolution & Refresh Rate | Full HD (1920×1080), 100Hz (HDMI) / 75Hz (VGA) |
| Response Time | 1ms (MPRT) |
| Adaptive Sync | Yes |
| Connectivity | HDMI 1.4 × 1, VGA × 1 |
| Design | 3-Sided Frameless, Tilt: -5° to 15° |
How to Reduce Ghosting of 22B20JHN2 monitor
Open the monitor settings by pressing the button at the back of the monitor.
Go to:
- Game setting
└─ Overdrive: Weak or medium
From my testing, here are my suggestions for which overdrive value to choose:
1. At 88–100Hz
- For gaming: use Medium overdrive however it can cause subtle white smearing (the inverse of black smearing occurring in bright parts of the screen)—at least that’s what I’m seeing on my 22B20JHN2 monitor. You can test it yourself at testufo.com/ghosting.
- For non-gaming: drop to Weak overdrive. Using medium overdrive may make judder more noticeable in some videos, especially during camera panning or when the image moves across the screen. This is based on my experience, but I am not sure if overdrive is the cause. Also, medium can cause some lines to look jagged during scrolling.
2. At 87Hz and below
- For gaming: you can go up to Strong overdrive. At this setting, it looks similar to medium (88–100Hz).
- For non-gaming: use Medium. Similar to earlier, going higher may make judder more noticeable in some videos.
Reducing black smearing
The image below shows a comparison for before (top picture) and after (bottom picture) for black smearing.
There are 5 methods here for reducing black smearing. If you want to see my recommendation, go to the bottom of this article.
Method 1: Using sRGB
This method only changes 1 setting. The slightly affects black levels but they can still look good enough. And the colors also appear slightly different.
Open monitor setting and search for Color setup.
- Change Color Gamut to sRGB.
You might sometimes notice bad pixelation in dark area or during dark scenes (e.g. on Youtube or Twitch) because the panel is not as dark as before.
Method 2: Using Bright Frame
If you want to have control on the brightness of black, try these settings:
- Color Setup
└─ Color Gamut: sRGB or Native Panel - Luminance
└─ Gamma: Gamma 2 -
Picture Boost
└─ Bright Frame: On
└─ Frame Size: 100
└─ Brightness: 42 (sRGB), 46 to 50 (Native Panel)
Method 3: Reduce Black Smearing By Sacrificing the Quality of Black
If you don't mind with black looking slightly 'grey', change these settings:
- Color Setup
└─ Color Gamut: Panel Native - Luminance
└─ Gamma: Gamma 3 - Game Setting
└─ Shadow Control: 60
Method 4: Limiting the Output Dynamic range (NVIDIA control panel)
This one is similar to the 3rd method, it makes the screen looks washed out or the blacks look grey, and it is controlled at the driver level.
In Nvidia control panel, under 'Change resolution', set the Output Dynamic range to "Limited".
Method 5: Nvidia desktop color settings
The monitor setting:
- Color Setup
└─ Color Gamut: Panel Native - Luminance
└─ Gamma: Gamma 2
Nvidia control panel "Adjust desktop color settings":
- Brightness: 50–52%
- Contrast: 45–40%
My Recommendation or What I Prefer
Of all these 5 methods, I would recommend using method 2 or 5.
For method 2 however, when the monitor loses power, Bright Frame will reset (turns off) so this needs to be setup again.