blacks trailing in game toms hardware

Alright, let’s talk about this “blacks trailing” thing in games, you know, like on them computer screens and TVs. I ain’t no fancy expert or anything, but I’ve seen my share of things on screens, and this black trailing thing, it’s a bother.

So, what is it? Well, it’s like this, when you got somethin’ dark movin’ on the screen, like a shadow or a fella in a dark coat, it leaves a little bit of a blurry tail behind it. Like a ghost, kinda, but not really. It’s just messy-lookin’, makes it hard to see what’s going on sometimes.

• Some folks say it’s ’cause the blacks ain’t really black, you know? They kinda grayish or somethin’.
• And then there’s the settings, all them buttons and dials on your TV or in the game itself. Mess with them enough, and you might make it better or worse.
• And sometimes, it’s just the way the game is made, I reckon. Some games, they just look blurry no matter what you do.

Now, they talk about somethin’ called “contrast ratio” too. That’s how bright the whites are compared to the blacks. The higher the number, the better, I guess. Makes the picture look sharper and the blacks blacker. But even with a good contrast ratio, you can still get that black trailing problem.

I heard some TVs and monitors, they ain’t so good at showin’ dark colors. They call ’em IPS panels or somethin’. They good at other stuff, like showin’ pretty colors, but them blacks, they ain’t always so great. They say these panels tend to have contrast ratios around 1000:1, and that’s not always enough to make them blacks look good and not blurry trailing behind stuff. And when you’re playing games, you want things to look good and clear, right? Ain’t nobody got time for blurry ghosts running around on the screen.

And then there’s HDR, that’s supposed to make things look better, brighter colors and all that. But sometimes, it makes the blacks look even worse, more like a dark gray than a real black. Sometimes, just turnin’ that HDR off makes things look better, even though you think it should make it worse. Go figure. It’s like tryin’ to fix a leaky faucet, sometimes you gotta turn it the opposite way you think you should.

Some of them fancy new computer screens, they got all sorts of bells and whistles. High refresh rates, they call ‘em. Makes things look smoother, they say. But it don’t always fix the black trailing problem. You still get that blurry ghost stuff happenin’ sometimes. And there’s all sorts of settings for adaptive sync and HDR400 and wide this and wide that. It’s enough to make your head spin. Seems like the more fancy they get, the more complicated it all is.

I also heard tell about somethin’ called “black smearing.” Sounds like a mess, don’t it? And that happens when the dark colors take longer to change on the screen than the light ones. So, when somethin’ dark moves, it leaves that blurry trail behind it. Like paint that’s too thick and doesn’t dry fast enough. The folks who make these screens, they say it’s just the way it is sometimes, nothin’ you can do about it. But I say that ain’t right! If they’re sellin’ you somethin’, it ought to work right, shouldn’t it?

And don’t even get me started on them SSD thingamajigs they put in computers now, the ones for gaming. They say they make the games load faster and all that, and they got names like “WD Black SN850X” and they come with fancy lights and heatsinks. But if the game still looks blurry and them blacks are trailin’ all over the place, what’s the point, I ask ya? It’s like puttin’ fancy rims on a car that don’t run. Looks nice, but doesn’t get you nowhere.

Then there’s this stuttering problem. Like when the game freezes up for a second, and then jumps ahead. That ain’t the same as black trailing, but it’s just as annoying. Could be your computer’s gettin’ too hot, or the settings are all wrong. Or maybe you just need a better power thingy for your computer, you know, the one that plugs into the wall? They call it a PSU, I think. Seems like there’s always somethin’ else you gotta buy to make things work right.

And finally, there’s these new OLED screens. They say they’re real good, with the blacks being really black and all that. But they cost a pretty penny, they do. More than them other screens, that’s for sure. You got to decide if it’s worth spending all that extra money just to get rid of some blurry shadows. It’s like buying a gold-plated toilet seat. Sure, it’s fancy, but does it really do the job any better? I don’t know.

So, that’s the story on blacks trailing as far as I can figure it out. It’s a complicated mess, it is, and there ain’t no easy fix. But at least now you know what folks are talkin’ about when they complain about them blurry ghosts on their screens.

Tags: [Gaming, Monitors, HDR, Black Smearing, Contrast Ratio, IPS Panels, OLED, SSD, PC Gaming, Visual Quality]