Display motion blur

Display motion blur, also called HDTV blur and LCD motion blur, is a set of several different artifacts that is frequently found on modern consumer high-definition television sets and flat panel displays for computers.

Many motion blur factors have existed for a long time in film and video (e.g. slow camera shutter speed). The emergence of digital video, and HDTV display technologies, introduced many additional factors that now contribute to motion blur. The following factors are generally the primary or secondary causes of perceived motion blur in video. In many cases, multiple factors can occur at the same time within the entire chain, from the original media or broadcast, all the way to the receiver end.

Motion blur has been a more severe problem for LCD displays, due to their sample-and-hold nature. Even in situations when pixel response time is very short, motion blur remains a problem because their pixels remain lit, unlike CRT phosphors that merely flash briefly. Reducing the time an LCD pixel is lit, can be accomplished via turning off the backlight for part of a refresh. This reduces motion blur due to eye tracking by decreasing the time the backlight is on. In addition, strobed backlights can also be combined together with motion interpolation to reduce eye-tracking-based motion blur.

Different manufacturers use many names for their strobed backlight technologies for reducing motion blur on sample-and-hold LCD displays. Generic names include black frame insertion and scanning backlight.

Some displays use motion interpolation to run at a higher refresh rate, such as 100 Hz or 120 Hz to reduce motion blur. Motion interpolation generates artificial in-between frames that are inserted between the real frames. The advantage is reduced motion blur on sample-and-hold displays such as LCD.

There can be side-effects, including the soap opera effect if interpolation is enabled while watching movies (24fps material). Motion interpolation also adds input lag, which makes it undesirable for interactive activity such as computers and video games.

Recently, 240 Hz interpolation have become available, along with displays that claim an equivalence to 480 Hz or 960 Hz. Some manufacturers use a different terminology such as Samsung's "Clear Motion Rate 960" instead of "Hz". This avoids incorrect usage of the "Hz" terminology, due to multiple motion blur reduction technologies in use, including both motion interpolation and strobed backlights.

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