Monitor Sharpness Test
A sharp screen draws every pixel cleanly, with no blur and no outlines. This test fills your screen with one pixel lines, edges on gray and small text, drawn at your screen's own pixels.
Three full-screen patterns, drawn at your screen's own pixels. Click, tap or press an arrow key to move to the next one.
How do I test monitor sharpness?
Sharpness depends on both the signal and the screen's own settings. Work through these steps.
- Check that your computer sends the screen its native resolution, often marked Recommended in display settings.
- Start the test and look at each pattern from your normal seat, then up close.
- On the edges pattern, look for light or dark outlines along the bars and letters.
- Change the sharpness setting one step at a time and run the test again.
What should I see on each pattern?
Compare each pattern with the table. Most problems show on more than one of them.
Why does native resolution matter?
A screen has a fixed grid of pixels. When it receives a lower resolution, it has to stretch the picture to fit, and a one pixel line ends up spread across two pixels.
That is why the line pattern looks smudged or wavy at the wrong resolution. Set the resolution marked Recommended in your display settings, then change the size of text with scaling instead.
What does the sharpness setting do?
It does not add detail. It boosts the contrast along edges, which looks crisper up to a point and then adds bright or dark outlines called halos.
The edges on gray pattern makes halos easy to spot. Lower sharpness until the outlines go, then stop before the edges turn soft. On many monitors the default is already the neutral point.
Why does a TV look blurry as a computer screen?
Many TVs zoom the picture slightly by default, called overscan, which crops the edges and blurs fine detail. Look for a picture size option such as Just Scan, Screen Fit or Original.
TVs can also reduce color detail in some picture modes, which leaves colored text looking fuzzy. A PC or Game mode usually keeps full color detail, and the small text pattern shows the difference.
Why does text have colored fringes?
Each pixel is made of red, green and blue parts, and some text smoothing uses them to sharpen letters. On a screen whose parts sit in a different order, as on many OLED panels, letters can show color fringes.
On Windows, running the ClearType tuner can reduce them. They show in the small text pattern but not in the line patterns, which use pure black and white.
Why does text look soft on a Mac with an external monitor?
Since macOS Mojave, Macs no longer use the red, green and blue parts of each pixel to smooth text. On a high density screen you will not notice.
On a 24 or 27 inch monitor at 1080p or 1440p, letters can look softer than on Windows. A 4K monitor at 27 inches shows text far more crisply.
Questions
Does display scaling make my screen blurry?
Not on its own. Scaling at 125% or 150% draws text and windows larger but still uses every pixel of the screen. Blur comes from a resolution below native, which the screen has to stretch.
Why does the line pattern shimmer in a photo?
The camera sensor has its own grid of pixels, and two grids on top of each other make wavy moiré. Judge the pattern with your eyes, not the photo.
Is the test the same on a phone?
Yes. The patterns are drawn at the phone's own pixels, but those pixels are so small that the lines may only look like gray. That is a sign of a sharp screen.