BENQ/ASUS 120Hz+ Easy LightBoost hotkey app on AMD/nVidia! (Strobe backlight. Zero motion blur. Bett

Mark Rejhon

Mark Rejhon

Mark Rejhon

Associate
Joined
5 Jan 2013
Posts
85
Location
Toronto, Canada
ADDENDUM -- NEW OCTOBER 2013 METHOD
Easy ToastyX Strobelight App -- hotkey utility -- turn ON/OFF LightBoost via a key press! Now works on both AMD and nVidia.

Based on instructions from:
www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-blur/lightboost
Click to expand...

Zero motion blur on LightBoost LCD's
"looks like CRT"

- Makes ASUS/BENQ 120Hz monitors have less motion blur than CRT
- Eliminates all ghosting, all motion blur
- Enables LightBoost strobe backlight even in 2D mode.
- Strobe backlight bypasses pixel transitions (keeps pixel transitions in dark, strobe after pixel transitions)
- Confirmed. several third party confirmations! "It looks like my old CRT" (etc)
- Video: High speed video of LightBoost and the Science + References Page
- LightBoost Media Coverage by AnandTech, ArsTechnica, NewEgg, ASUS

Check this out:
TFTCentral.co.uk has tested LightBoost with their equipment and found LightBoost outperforms all past scanning backlights they have ever tested, including the old BENQ AMA-Z and Samsung MPA from 2006.

Check out TFTCentral's Motion Blur Reduction Backlights article!
Click to expand...

_________

Easy LightBoost: Completely Eliminate Motion Blur on 120Hz+ Monitors

List of Supported 120Hz and 144Hz Monitors
Currently Supported Monitors: ASUS: VG248QE, ASUS VG278H, ASUS VG278HE, BENQ XL2411T, BENQ XL2420T, BENQ XL2420TX, BENQ XL2420TE, BENQ XL2720T.

-- Easy LightBoost via ToastyX Strobelight App
-- Easily turn ON/OFF LightBoost via a keypress! No hacks. No registry tweaks.
-- Also works on 3-monitor surround setups. Does not require 3D Vision drivers.

  1. First, Download ToastyX Strobelight.
    IMPORTANT: You must have a supported 120Hz ASUS or 120Hz BENQ monitor!
    DO NOT INSTALL STROBELIGHT IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A SUPPORTED MONITOR.
    .
  2. Next, run strobelight-setup to install strobed video modes. Then reboot.
    strobelight-setup.png
    ...
    strobelight.png

    IMPORTANT: To easily turn ON/OFF LightBoost, you must install at least one strobed refresh rate AND at least one non-strobed refresh rate.
    .
  3. Finally, after reboot, run strobelight to initialize LightBoost for the first time.
    NOTE: You can add strobelight.exe to the Startup Folder, so it starts up everytime you starts Windows.
    .
  4. Test LightBoost using a motion test. View Moving Photo Test at TestUFO.com.
    Turn ON/OFF LightBoost while viewing this motion test to see the big difference.
    Test in Opera 15+, FireFox 24+, Chrome or other 120Hz-friendly web browser.


Useful LightBoost Tips

  • Turning ON/OFF LightBoost via hotkeys
    Control+Alt+Plus -- turns ON LightBoost
    Control+Alt+Minus -- turns OFF LightBoost
    .
  • Other Ways to Verify that LightBoost is enabled:
    (a) Check monitor OSD menus. The "LightBoost" adjustment should be unlocked.
    (b) Wave a finger in front of a white screen. You should see a stroboscopic effect.
    (c) Use a motion test such as www.testufo.com.
    Turn ON/OFF LightBoost while repeating test, to see the big difference.
    .
  • For better LightBoost colors, adjust your nVidia Control Panel:
    nVidia Control Panel Desktop Brightness = 52%
    nVidia Control Panel Desktop Contrast = 45%
    nVidia Control Panel Desktop Gamma = 0.70
    This compensates for the LightBoost gamma bump (washed out colors).
    NOTE: If you get a purple tint, lower the Contrast setting via monitor's menu until tint disappears. You can also adjust while viewing the Lagom Contrast Test Pattern.
    .
  • For optimal benefit, run your games at triple-digit frame rates.
    Microstutters become easier to detect if they're no longer masked by motion blur. To eliminate stutters, run LightBoost at frame rates matching the refresh rate.
    (a) Run at 100fps @ 100Hz, or run at 120fps @ 120Hz.
    ...Adjust game details or upgrade your GPU. Also try FXAA instead of FSAA.
    (b) Experiment with VSYNC ON (may lag) or use "Adaptive VSYNC" (less input lag)
    ...These settings makes LightBoost framerate=Hz motion look much smoother, to allow game turning/strafing panning motion as smooth as TestUFO or PixPerAn.
    (c) Use a good 1000Hz gaming mouse.
    ...Mouse microstutters can hurt motion clarity. LightBoost benefits from a mouse that can turn left/right as smoothly as keyboard strafing left/right.
    .
  • For other information, see the LightBoost FAQ.
    If you are unable to turn off LightBoost, simply re-run strobelight-setup.exe and install non-strobed refresh rates. Alternatively, simply unplug your monitor's power cable for a few seconds to deactivate LightBoost.

How is it possible?
--> LightBoost is a programmable strobe backlight stays turned off while waiting for pixel persistence. The pixel transitions are kept in total darkness, and the backlight is strobed only after pixel transitions are finished. This bypasses pixel persistence as the motion blur barrier. (Proof: high speed YouTube video of a LightBoost strobe backlight) The strobe lengths are only 1 milliseconds long on the BENQ, and it was recently measured to eliminates of 94% motion blur (1ms out of 1/60sec) relative to a common 60Hz LCD, and eliminates 85% of motion blur (1ms out of 1/120sec) relative to 120Hz LCD's.
--> List of supported 120Hz monitors can be found at List of 120Hz Computer Monitors

CRT style gaming on LCD
It is CRT sharp; allowing complete immersion without being distracted by motion blur. You do need a GPU fast enough to frequently hit 120fps@120Hz most of the time to really notice the big improvement in motion clarity, with perfectly clear images even during fast turning. Also, disable the GPU artifical motion blur effects in video games, as that reintroduces motion blur that you've zero'd out with this strobe backlight tweak. Also, some source-engine games needs their fps_max raised at the developer console, to play smooth. Also try turning VSYNC on versus off, since some games play more smoothly with one or the other setting (game-dependant). If you are a big-time gamer that plays lots of TF2 or Quake Live, or other fast-twitch action games, the CRT-style motion clarity more than outweighs the other side effects.

Overclockers.uk BENQ monitors
As a courtesy to the people of Overclockers.uk, I'm referencing this site's own purchase pages:
BENQ XL2411T on overclockers.co.uk
BENQ XL2420T Rev2 on overclockers.co.uk

Thanks
Mark Rejhon
BlurBusters.com Blog -- Eliminating Motion Blur On LCD's

ADDENDUM -- NEW OCTOBER 2013 METHOD
Easy ToastyX Strobelight App -- hotkey utility -- turn ON/OFF LightBoost via a key press!

Based on instructions from:
www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-blur/lightboost
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
EPIC.....

How long have they been sitting on this? All this time and that horrible horrible motion blur and the first we hear of it it with a hack and tweak from community members.My eyes after 6 years of a Dell IPS feel like they have been molested compared to my old 19" trinitron CRT.


Sadly as excited as i am to get my eyesight back in games its still a TN panel with a crimson tint? It makes me incredibly unhappy knowing the colors still get messed up and i simply cannot give up my ips colors even if it is for no motion blur.
 
So this light boost (i'm new to this) tech, does it remove motion blur as standard in 3d?

Edit...Oh i guess its running at 60 fps per eye not 120.
 
Last edited:
This is definitely an avenue that I hope manufacturers can explore. The lightboost solution on existing technology shows what modern backlighting and LCD technology is capable of when it comes to smooth motion. What we need now is a monitor that supports this as standard and allows the user to control the image settings as well.

I'll be passing on a few words to BenQ and some others about this as it's clearly an area of much potential.
 
As you said earlier to me i fear it is too late in the year to get anything sigh.And there is also the question of a willingness to go to zero motion blur when they are expecting to milk 120HZ TN then probably 120HZ IPS and then after your really skint they will eventually give us strobing backlight 120hz IPS.

And even then they would probably do it all at 1080P and then finally milk you again for 2560x1600.I really hate drip feeding profteering but alas what can one do.One look at Catleap and the LG moaning really made me think that LG know thier IPS could hit 120hz with a custom PCB and cable but are unwilling to cut short the 120HZ TN craze.

I do believe they even had the gall to moan about budget korean brands using thier panels to outstrip what LG do with them themselves even though LG make profit on every catleap sold -.-


I think this is the future and hopefully BENQ listen to you.Someone like Yamakasi willing to go that one step futher than the rest and bring 120HZ strobing IPS to the market would murder all competition.The PC monitor market would be so imbalanced and shaken up it would be funny to watch pretty much everyone else's sales collpase overnight :) You would have a monopoly over the entire market for a good 6-12 months if you could keep it a secret until launch.
 
Last edited:
lol I was reading the OP's website about this today when I was looking for a Benq EDID, what a coincidence. Welcome to the forums!

P.S Any chance you can get the EDID for the Benq XL2420XT ;)
 
Some of the newer lcd tvs use a scanning back light its does help lots with motion i can imagine it being even better with a true 120hz monitor.

My 3 year old samsung lcd tv which use led back lighting has this feature but it can only be enabled in the service menu was never officialy supported.

Makes me wonder if my samsung SA700 120hz monitor can do the same :p
 
Rofflay said:
Sadly as excited as i am to get my eyesight back in games its still a TN panel with a crimson tint? It makes me incredibly unhappy knowing the colors still get messed up and i simply cannot give up my ips colors even if it is for no motion blur.
Click to expand...
The technology already exists for IPS, with a big "but...."

Some Sony and Samsung HDTV's (which use IPS) use a scanning backlight, which does a similar thing. (Examples of existing HDTV's with scanning/strobe backlights) Those are great for fast-action sports/documentaries/olympics/racing/etc. Unfortunately, for games, those add a lot of input lag, and sometimes is combined with interpolation, and those are not video game friendly. In addition, using them without interpolation, means 60Hz flicker -- which is annoying (like a 60Hz CRT)

The LightBoost strobe backlight is the first that I know of, that uses strobe lengths short enough (~1ms flashes) to reasonably compete with CRT phosphor illuminate-and-decay (~1ms total), WHILE also being near-zero-lag and video-game compatible. And at 120Hz, it does not flicker to most eyes. So LightBoost strobe backlight monitors, appear the most accurate CRT emulators, without the 60Hz flicker disadvantage, and without the input lag disadvantage. Alas, current LightBoost models are TN panels.

For now, we still need to pick our poison (LightBoost+TN) if we want CRT-style zero motion blur in an LCD panel today that's in a video game compatible manner (negligible input lag).
 
Last edited:
subbed to thread.

Taking delivery of 2 more xl2420ts on tuesday so keeping an eye on this.

Any indication of any adverse affects from running the lightboost long-term?
 
MatsyLR said:
Although I personally won't use this (not interested in any 3D/120hz panels) this is pretty darn cool ^^
Click to expand...
You don't need to use the 3D feature of a 3D monitor.

The 3D is just simply a good pre-requisite. This is because 3D panels are designed to prevent pixel persistence from leaking too much into the next refresh. That allows clear frames for shutter glasses operation -- and as a side effect, also permits strobe backlight on clear fully-refreshed frames.

That said, I agree with you about TN. The color quality of TN leaves some to be desired. It's certainly possible for the technology to arrive with IPS, but there are no IPS 120Hz displays available.
 
OptimaLnrg said:
Taking delivery of 2 more xl2420ts on tuesday so keeping an eye on this.
Click to expand...
This tweak also works on XL2420T, though, I heard that the XL2411T has a brighter LightBoost with shorter strobe lengths. This may explain why the XL2411T is rated at a 1ms pixel response time.

(Incidentially, LightBoost apparently helps improves the accuracy of pixel response time claims, by hiding pixel persistence from the human eye, as shown in the high speed video -- so reportedly, the "1ms" response is actually more honest than expected, thanks to the strobe backlight with 1ms strobe flashes)
 
peahead said:
Some of the newer lcd tvs use a scanning back light its does help lots with motion i can imagine it being even better with a true 120hz monitor.

My 3 year old samsung lcd tv which use led back lighting has this feature but it can only be enabled in the service menu was never officialy supported.

Makes me wonder if my samsung SA700 120hz monitor can do the same :p
Click to expand...

The SA7x series don't have Lightboost, in fact no Samsung does (I think)
I'd love it if it did.
 
Can't say I really notice any difference other than having to press control+T every time I start pretty much every game (not unexpected) and that theres an extra LED on on my monitor to show light-boost is enabled.

Granted using the XL2420T rather than 11 but to the best of my ability to tell theres no noticeable change to he amount of residual imagery going on with fast moves.

EDIT: To be fair it does seem to be reducing over-drive overshoot on some stuff i.e. bright colored spherical objects no longer have a slight black halo on fast moves but its a marginal improvement tho not an unwelcome one.

EDIT2: Playing QuakeLive 125fps/120Hz again minor increase in image stability on fast view changes, this panel is already pretty decent for it tho so maybe shows a bigger improvement on the 11T.
 
Last edited:
Rroff said:
EDIT: To be fair it does seem to be reducing over-drive overshoot on some stuff i.e. bright colored spherical objects no longer have a slight black halo on fast moves but its a marginal improvement tho not an unwelcome one.

EDIT2: Playing QuakeLive 125fps/120Hz again minor increase in image stability on fast view changes, this panel is already pretty decent for it tho so maybe shows a bigger improvement on the 11T.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reports. Most of the testimonials I've gotten are for the ASUS, since apparently turning on LightBoost on the ASUS has a bigger impact than turning on LightBoost on the BENQ does.

Some preliminary tests show true measured MPRT ("Motion Picture Response Time") measurements improving from 7.7ms to 2.0ms on the ASUS VG278H (almost a ~75% reduction in motion blur relative to non-LightBoost 120Hz), but on the BENQ, the MPRT was already 2.2ms and improves to 1.0ms on the XL2411T (only about a ~50% reduction in motion blur relative to non-LightBoost 120Hz)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom