Input lag
The input lag measurement is very different from the refresh rate measurement. Input lag is the time it takes for the video signal to enter the video port (HDMI/DisplayPort) and display the image on the screen. Few manufacturers communicate on this value, which is however crucial for the player. A refresh rate of 1ms is useless if the input lag is high. It is important to note that the more pixels to display, the higher the input lag. So it will be hard to find very good results on a 4K screen. Another important information, all the pixels are not displayed at the same time, the refreshment is done from top to bottom. So, we will find a much better response time at the top of the screen than at the bottom. We make 3 measurements (top, center, bottom) and calculate the average for our rating.
Rating:
- 5 stars – Less than 4ms lag – excellent, e-sport display
- 4 Stars – 4ms to 8.33ms – equivalent to a 120Hz refresh rate monitor image lag – good for competitive gamers
- 3 stars – 8.33 to 12.33 ms – more than one frame lag at 120 Hz refresh rate – good for most gamers
- 2 stars – 12.33 to 16.66 ms – less than two frames at 120 Hz refresh rate – good for most gamers, not recommended for FPS
- 1 star – More than 16.66 ms – equivalent to more than 2 frames at 120 Hz refresh rate – noticeable lag in everyday use, not optimal for fast games
The NZXT Canvas 32Q Curved gets a good score (4 stars) with 0.8 ms at the top of the screen, 4.6 ms in the middle and 8.2 ms at the bottom. So, we have here a very good reactivity, close to 5 stars which could have made it a good choice for a FPS game if we didn’t have this sharpness problem.
