TV motion and judder test
Moving patterns show how your TV handles motion: Whether fast objects blur, whether slow pans judder, and whether frames are being dropped. It also helps you catch the soap opera effect, where motion smoothing makes film look like cheap video.
The test
This test needs JavaScript to run. Everything below still explains what to look for and what a bad result means, so the page is useful either way.
Four moving patterns
Step through with the arrow keys. Watch each one from your normal seat, at your normal picture settings, for a few seconds before judging it.
These patterns move fast and include high-contrast stripes. If you are sensitive to moving or flashing patterns, skip this test.
How to read it
Each pattern is testing one thing. Below is the good result and the problem to look for. A green tick is what you want to see; an amber mark is a fault or a limit, with a note on what it means.
Good motion. The stripes travel together, with no stutter and no split where the top and bottom of the screen fall out of step (that split is called tearing).
Low motion blur. Follow the box with your eyes. A crisp edge means the pixels change color quickly; a smeared trail behind it means they are slow.
Dropped frames: The picture is losing some of the frames it should show, so motion lurches instead of flowing. On this test it usually just means the device is busy.
Judder: A regular hitch on slow camera pans, common on 60Hz TVs showing 24-frame film. It is the frame-rate mismatch, not a fault. Motion smoothing hides it, at the cost of the soap opera effect.
Quick answer
The TV Motion Test uses scrolling bars, a moving box and a 24p pan to reveal motion blur, judder and dropped frames, and to help you spot the soap opera effect caused by motion smoothing. Honest limit, stated openly: The browser is capped near 60 frames per second, so this shows how the TV treats motion but cannot measure the panel's true refresh rate or response time.
What did you see?
Pick the closest match and we take you straight to what causes it and what fixes it.
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What this test can and cannot tell you
Motion is the area where a browser can see the least, so this matters most here.
You can see these. Blur on the moving box and judder on the slow pan are visible to the eye, and this test makes them obvious.
Not measurable on a television. TV browsers are capped near 60 frames per second whatever the panel does, so a 120Hz set cannot be confirmed here. On a computer the browser follows the display mode in use, and the refresh rate test measures exactly that, with the limits of both cases spelled out.
Needs hardware. A real gray-to-gray response figure needs a photodiode and an oscilloscope. This test shows relative blur, not a number.
You judge it, we cannot detect it. We cannot read whether interpolation is on. But if film content looks unnaturally smooth, like a cheap studio video, that is the soap opera effect, and the fix is below.
It is a 60fps path in practice. What you see is limited by the browser, not just the panel. A TV can handle motion far better in its own apps than a web page can show.
Understanding what you saw
Motion blur
Fast-moving objects smear because the pixels cannot change color quickly enough, and because your eye tracks the motion while the panel holds each frame. Some blur is unavoidable on any sample-and-hold display, meaning one that holds each frame still until the next arrives, as every LCD and OLED TV does. A lot of it points at a slow panel.
Judder
Film is shot at 24 frames per second. A 60Hz TV cannot divide 60 by 24 evenly, so it shows some frames longer than others. That uneven cadence is judder, most visible on slow steady pans. It is a maths problem, not a defect.
Dropped frames
If motion jumps rather than flows, frames are being lost somewhere: An overloaded browser, a weak connection on streamed content, or a panel that cannot keep up. On this local test it usually means the device is busy.
The soap opera effect
Motion smoothing, also called motion interpolation, invents extra frames between the real ones to reduce judder. It works, but it makes 24p film look like 60fps video, which many people find cheap and distracting. Turn it off for films. Our full guide to the soap opera effect has the exact setting to change on every brand.
Questions people ask
Why does motion on my TV look blurry?
Two reasons combine. The panel needs time to change each pixel from one color to the next, and on a sample-and-hold display your eye tracks moving objects while the panel holds each frame still, which smears the image on your retina. Some blur is unavoidable, but a slow panel makes it much worse. Follow the moving box in this test: A smeared trailing edge is the sign.
What is judder, and why do slow pans stutter?
Film runs at 24 frames per second. A 60Hz television cannot show 24 into 60 evenly, so it holds some frames longer than others, and that uneven rhythm is judder. It is most visible on slow steady camera pans. It is a consequence of the frame-rate mismatch, not a fault with your TV.
What is the soap opera effect and how do I turn it off?
It is what motion smoothing does to film: By inventing extra frames it removes judder but makes 24p movies look like cheap 60fps video. Look for a setting called Motion, TruMotion on LG, Auto Motion Plus on Samsung, Motionflow on Sony, or Motion Interpolation, and turn it off or to its lowest setting for films. Many people leave a little on for sports. Our guide to the soap opera effect walks through the exact menu on every brand.
Can this test measure my TV's refresh rate or response time?
Not on a television. TV browsers are capped near 60 frames per second, so a 120Hz panel cannot be confirmed from a web page on the TV itself, and a real response-time figure needs measuring hardware on any device. On a computer the refresh rate test does read the display mode in use. This test shows blur and judder to your eye, which is what you actually notice, but it does not produce numbers.
My TV handles motion badly in the browser but fine in apps. Why?
Because the browser is the limit, not the panel. TV web browsers are capped and are far from the fastest path to the screen. The TV's own Netflix or YouTube app can drive the panel much harder than a web page can, so judge real motion performance there, and use this test only for a quick relative check.
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