Guide

How to Enable Nvidia LightBoost on Your Monitor

Nvidia Lightboost

If you are a stubborn gamer or graphic designer who want to enhance the experience with the help of top graphics, then check all about NVIDIA lightboost.

Lightboost 3D technology is a revolutionary technology for all serious gamers and graphic designers. Lightboost technology by Nvidia helps make your gaming screen brighter by up to two times. It is a great piece of tech if you’re a 3D gamer or create high-end video graphics. When you enable 3D vision, there is a significant drop in 3D ghosting. You also get more environment brightness while using Lightboost, meaning you can use your keyboard even in dark environments.

What is Lightboost?

Lightboost is a strobe backlight that has been invented simply to solve three high priority problems in gaming- crosstalk, motion blur, brighter images. Lightboost targets each of these problems and presents a unique solution that can take care of all three problems. Lightboost reduces 3D crosstalk and makes your images brighter (helps if you have the 3D glasses as well) at the same time. Lightboost also eliminates motion blur from your game, allowing you to play games in sharp resolutions with crisp images.

What is the setup needed for lightboost?

All you need to start using Lightboost are the below components:

  • A Lightboost enabled monitor
  • AMD graphics card

That’s it! Any monitor with 120Hz or 144Hz frame rate contains what is known as the ‘strobe effect’ which optimizes your display with Lightboost. Since Lightboost is created by Nvidia, an AMD graphics card is a prerequisite for using Lightboost. A point to note is when you first start using the strobe setting, your monitor might look dimmer than usual. You can change this by changing the contrast of your monitor till you achieve the brightness you need for your game.

How to Enable Nvidia LightBoost

Nvidia Lightboost uses the following procedure to give you better and sharper images-

When you start using Lightboost, it controls the backlight that is present in your monitor panel. Under the control of Lightboost, the backlight of the panel only turns on when the LCD screen that is shown to you contains an image that is ghost-free and has no overlapping. Since the backlight goes off for a certain period, the AMD graphics card turns it back on with more energy, giving you greater brightness in the monitor.

Here are the steps detailing how to enable Lightboost on your monitor-

  • The easiest way to enable Lightboost is using the app called ‘ToastyX Strobelight’.

enable LightBoost

  • Once you download the app, run the .exe file and choose the display and the refresh rates according to your requirements.
  • Click install. Your Lightboost has been enabled!

The input lag present in your monitor might also depend on the brand of monitor purchased. Some brands have terrible lags while others run so smooth it feels like a whole other experience.

Best device with lightboost

Most BenQ and Asus monitors show negligible lag under Lightboost while Samsung monitors show quite a bit of lag since Samsung has its strobe backlight that is similar to Lightboost.

  • The device we want to particularly talk about in this article is Asus VG248QE, specifically how does it perform with Lightboost.
  • The Asus VG248QE is a 144Hz monitor with a specified 1ms gray-to-gray response time. Its brightness is typically around 350 cd/m2, but with Lightboost it can easily go up to 414 cd/m2.
  • Lightboost can operate 100, 110, or 120 Hz, with 120Hz being the best (obviously). However, it is not yet compatible with 144Hz. When we compare a 144Hz monitor and a 120Hz monitor with Lightboost, the 120Hz monitor gives you better results.
  • When using Asus VG248QE lightboost, you see a clear difference in the graphics between using the monitor with no lightboost and enabling lightboost for the monitor. Your images are more distinct with no overlapping, and there is zero lag present in the motion of the game.

An amazing technology like Lightboost has very less (if any) downsides, which can also be removed with tweaking from your end and implementing Lightboost properly. Ultimately there are negligible downsides to using Lightboost in your monitors, so you don’t have much to lose.

Howard Tavares

About Howard Tavares

Hi, Howard here. I love the computer displays, and I enjoy working on my dual monitor setup. After a lot of experiments, failures, successes, and reviews, I started Best Monitor Hz to helpmates like me who want to talk about a screen that can fulfil their working or gaming needs.

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2 thoughts on “How to Enable Nvidia LightBoost on Your Monitor

  1. Avatar vcvcc says:

    Since Lightboost is created by Nvidia, an AMD graphics card is a prerequisite for using Lightboost. That makes a lot of sense. sure…

  2. Avatar Gidion says:

    I know it is an older article and it is very clear and well written, but i don’t understand 1 thing. Lightboost is a technology developed by Nvidia, why would i need an AMD videocard for that ?

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