This debate has been going on for a long time now is 5 ms response time good for gaming. Should you go with the monitor with 5 ms response time or you should choose other options with lower response time. We will discuss various aspects by which you can decide whether 5 minute second response time is good for gaming or not.
Table of Contents
Understanding Response time
In simple words, response time is nothing but time taken by pixels to change colors. Show the lower the response time is the faster the pixels will change color and the better will be the quality.
Most gamers want 1ms response time as it is the lowest and the fastest, but does that fast really matter is it really noticeable to our eyes and how does it really affect our gaming experience.
Ideally, a 5ms response time is good enough for gaming and anything lower than that is even great and 5ms has now become a gaming standard. Unless you do not want an ultra-smooth image quality that barely makes a difference you can stick with your 5ms game monitor.
Well, there are a lot of factors that mix with response time and really do make a difference.
Balance Between Refresh Rate and Response Time
Well, people often confuse between refresh rate and response time, while we have already told you what is response time, refresh rate is the number of times your screen refreshes per second. It is measured in hertz so if your monitor has a 60Hz refresh rate it simply means the screen refreshes itself 60 times in a second.
So just having a higher refresh rate or a lower response time is not enough. Having a lower response time but with a refresh rate of only 60 Hz is of no use. Also, a higher refresh rate with a high response time is also a bad combination. So you need to find a sweet spot such as a 75Hz refresh rate and a 3ms, 5ms response time.
Panel Types
Different panels are capable of handling the response time differently. Now TN panels are the best when it comes to the lowest response time. In most cases when you look for a 1ms response time you will get a TN panel. When it comes to IPS and VA panels you will see that they mostly have a response time of 2ms or 5ms and rarely 1ms. TN panels are the fastest in processing pixels but there is a drawback here. TN panels are not great when it comes to viewing angles and color contrast. This is the reason TN panels are mostly cheap and as the response time decreases with increasing screen quality the price of the monitor also increases.
Also Read: Understanding Macros in Gaming Mouse
Games You Play
when choosing a gaming monitor, the response time you are going to choose should largely depend on what type of games you play.
If you are just a casual gamer a monitor with a 5ms refresh rate will be good for you and you may not experience any problems. Even if you mostly play RPG or racing games then a 5ms response time is very good and will not make a significant impact on your gaming experience.
Well if you are an FPS lover or someone who is into online competitive gaming then you will need to go for the lowest response time available. It will give you a much more smooth and experience but at the same time, it will come at a greater cost. If you are tight on budget of 5ms gaming monitor can also do good for you because it does not affects your reflexes in any way.
Tell us in the comments what do you think about response time and what do you prefer for gaming.
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Gourang Parekh is the founder of serinose, who is a gamer, aspiring actor, and a former e-sports organizer and a tech savvy. He is also a big fan of Cricket and his favorite batsman is Rohit Sharma.
