There are a few things that you should consider while buying a new monitor and the response time is mentioned worthy among them. You may have heard the terms resolution, refresh rate, and frame rate regarding monitors, but not everyone knows about ms like you, especially if you’re a newcomer in the world of monitors.
Basically, the ms stands for a millisecond and it means the response time of the monitor. The fact is response time is considered an overlooked feature of the monitor as it doesn’t make any significant impression on average regular users. But it makes sense to gamers.
This post contains more relevant information about response time. So, if you want to know more about it, take a few minutes and read the post till the end.

What Is MS Stands for in Monitors?
As we’ve already mentioned, ms represents milliseconds which is generally a unit of time, but here in monitors, it refers to the response time or the delay time for the pixel color change. To elaborate, this is the time that a pixel takes to change from one color to another on a monitor, which is presented by Ms.
For example, 8ms Black to white to black means the pixel will take 8 milliseconds to change its color from black to white and then back to black. Basically, there are two response time types – Black-to-White-to-Black and Gray-to-Gray. In terms of LCD display, the usual response time for Gray-to-Gray is 2 to 6ms and for Black-to-White-to-Black it’s 8 to 16ms.
What MS Is Better for Monitors?
Lower response time offers quicker transitions and ensures less visible image artifacts. That means with a lower response time, you can have a better viewing experience. Especially, it plays a vital role while gaming by reducing ghosting and motion blur as higher response time typically highlights image blurring or distracting ghosting. Even though 5ms to 10ms are considered the average response time, it’s better to have a response time within 2ms to 5ms.
Bonus Points
Keep in mind that the actual response time is the actual pixel delay. Any further delay can be caused by other impacts including frame rates. So, it can be said that response time can vary according to the settings and the content being displayed. For example, a monitor with a 2ms response time can show a higher response time if the frame or refresh rate is higher or it’s displaying fast-moving images.
Overall, response time is an important factor to consider when choosing a monitor, especially if you are a gamer or videographer. However, other factors such as screen size, resolution, and color accuracy are also important and don’t forget to consider them.
Conclusion
By now, it should be clear to you that ms actually represents the response time for monitors and it’s the abbreviation of milliseconds. If you require a monitor for gaming, choose one with a lower response time. A good rule of thumb is to look for a monitor with 5ms or less response time. However, even monitors with a response time of 10ms can be suitable for gaming if they aren’t fast-paced games.
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