Samsung HOWTO

Eliminate LCD Motion Blur on Samsung 120 Hz Monitors

Supported Monitors: Most samsung 700D, 750D and 950D series.
Tested: S23A700D, S23A750D, S23A950D, S27A700D, S27A750D, S27A950D
For LightBoost instructions on ASUS and BENQ 120 Hz, click here instead.

Samsung SA700D, SA750D, and SA950D has a little-known strobe backlight similar to LightBoost that eliminate LCD motion blur. Samsung does not advertise this as an official LightBoost feature. A synchronized stroboscopic backlight works by keeping pixel persistence in total darkness (unseen by eye) between refreshes, and strobing the backlight only on fully-refreshed LCD frames (high speed video). As a result, the refresh-synchronized strobe backlight eliminate LCD motion blur. This brings CRT motion clarity to LCD displays.

Enable Strobe Mode on SA700D, SA750D and SA950D

Set your PC into 120 Hz mode.
(Control Panel -> Display -> Adjust Resolution -> Advanced -> Monitor)
Before the next step, change “Response Time” to “Normal” via the monitor OSD.
Now, turn on “3D” via the monitor OSD, frame-sequential mode.
Keep using the monitor even for 2D gaming. (No 3D glasses needed)
For better color, change “Magic Angle” to “Group View”
Run motion test at www.testufo.com/photo in Chrome or another 120Hz web browser.

Note: On some computer configurations, your monitor might turn off when entering and exiting video games. If this happens, simply turn on your monitor again.

Important: The zero motion blur effect occurs at fps matching Hz, so you ideally need 120 fps at 120 Hz for the best CRT clear motion effect.

The good news is that the Samsung strobe backlight works with both AMD Radeon and nVidia Geforce cards! (Credit: CyberGamer.com.au review).

PixPerAn tests and TestUFO tests show 75% less LCD motion blur than regular Samsung 120 Hz even for 2D usage, which is a huge reduction. PixPerAn readability test of at least 25. This is an additional reduction on top of the 50% motion blur elimination caused by going from 60 Hz to 120 Hz. As a result, you get almost a whopping 90% less LCD motion blur than regular 60Hz! This is because the Samsung 3D mode enables a strobe backlight, which also eliminates motion blur during 2D usage.

The bad news is that the input lag is worse than official LightBoost monitors, so this is not as useful for competition online gaming as official LightBoost monitors. However, the lack of motion blur is quite handy for solo gaming, and the Samsung is known to have better colors than most TN-panel monitors!

The Science Behind Strobe Backlights

The Samsung strobe backlight is almost identical to LightBoost. This high speed video (480fps + 1000fps) demonstrates a LightBoost strobe backlight successfully bypassing pixel persistence as the motion blur barrier:

TFTCentral posted a good article about Motion Blur Reduction Backlights, explaining how strobe backlights can eliminate motion blur. Other information can be found here on this website, including Scanning Backlight FAQ, as well as Science & References.

For information about LightBoost monitors or other motion-blur-eliminating monitors, see the Official 120Hz Monitor List, or the LightBoost HOWTO.

30 Comments For “Samsung HOWTO”

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PCM2

I can confirm that this also works on the S27A750D. I believe another user reported otherwise (perhaps on an S23A750D) but there is no reason why it wouldn’t work on the SA750 series. I have confirmed subjectively and using an evaluation of the MER performance.

MrInvisible3

(Editor’s note: I can confirn that PCM2 = http://www.pcmonitors.info = a very good monitor review website, go visit them!)

Thanks for following up, I’ve added the S27A750D.

Posted with permission, a testimonial from a competition gamer, sent to me by email:

Hi Mark,

I got really excited when I saw your update about two of the Samsung 3d monitors being capable of better motion performance without the need for a Geforce card. I just successfully tested my S23a700D and it worked so this one can be added to the list as well. I was able to get up to a tempo of 25 or so on the pixperan readability test and still make out the individual letters.

The only problem is that the screen dims, and I get an added 20-30ms of input lag that makes mouse movements feel a bit “soupy”. I play Quakeworld online (usually at 600 fps to reduce tearing-no vsync) and actually found even with the added input lag, I was able to track other players much easier and pull of twitch shot kills that I normally wouldn’t because of the blur I normally get when spinning 180 degrees quickly. It would be incredible if someone could somehow hack the firmware of these monitors to remove the input lag, with some brightness/color tweaking I’d leave this mode on all the time.

Thanks for you continued research, look forward to this becoming a feature of lcd’s in the future. It really removes that last barrier to crt-like performance.

Matt

NOTE: There are other models (e.g. BENQ XL2411T) that eliminate this huge added input lag, so you can get the best of all worlds!

I have heard from additional testers. The Samsung S23A700D apparently has the strobe backlight for 3D that works in 2D too!
Edit: It appears that all 700D, 750D, and 950D series all appear to have the strobe backlight feature, based on further testing reports. Please post your PixPerAn test success reports!