features G-Sync Ultra Low Motion Blur (ULMB) 2, the second generation of tech designed to reduce motion blur in competitive games. Compared to the ULMB, which was released in 2015, the company says that the latest version offers almost twice as much light, along with almost no – the strobing or double image effect that is sometimes seen when the blur reduction feature is enabled.
Motion clarity is largely determined by the monitor’s pixel response time. To improve things, NVIDIA uses “full refresh rate backlight strobing,” which builds on the backlight strobing technique from the original ULMB. Although the previous version of the technology improved motion clarity for many, the monitor’s backlight had to be turned off 75 percent of the time. It reduces the brightness of the screen.
With ULMB 2, NVIDIA is able to match the refresh rate of the display when it turns the backlight on and off. The goal is to only turn on the backlight when the pixels are at the correct color value for each frame. This mitigates crosstalk, because you can’t see the pixels when they’re changing the exact color.
This method of slower pixel refresh rate on older monitors. ULMB 2 is capable of running at full refresh rate on existing displays. On a 360Hz display, each backlight strobe occurs every 2.7 milliseconds — a rate invisible to the human eye.
What it all has is that NVIDIA is able to offer more brightness and an effective clarity of motion above 1000Hz. If you use a 360Hz monitor with ULMB 2, NVIDIA says you’ll get an effective 1440Hz motion clarity. The company claims that, without ULMB 2, you’ll need a monitor capable of 1440Hz to get equivalent motion clarity. Given that we have a 500Hz monitor, mass-market 1440Hz displays seem a bit far-fetched.
NVIDIA offered some short demos of ULMB 2 in action. In the video below, you can see what a motorcycle chase sequence looks like in slow motion at 360 frames per second with a left and right side.
ULMB 2 is now available as a free update for compatible 1440p, 360Hz G-Sync monitors. Only two such displays are on the market at the moment, NVIDIA says: the Acer Predator XB273U and the ASUS ROG Swift PG27AQN, both 27-inch monitors. The ASUS ROG Swift Pro PG248QP (a 25-inch 1080p, 540Hz display) and the 27-inch AOC AGON AG276QSG G-Sync Monitor are also similar, and they will be available soon.
NVIDIA announced ULMB 2 along with some AI advancements at Computex. The company is designed to help companies build generative AI models. It also features technology that enables players to use their microphones and have in-game characters.
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