I’ve spent hundreds of hours tweaking monitors, swapping panels, and testing settings to squeeze every advantage in Valorant. If you’re chasing crisp enemy silhouettes, smooth tracking, and predictable visuals that don’t lie to your eyes, your monitor settings matter as much as your crosshair placement. Below I break down the concrete settings I use and recommend — color, refresh rate, and response time — plus the tweaks I make in Windows, GPU drivers, and in-game to get an edge.
Why monitor settings matter in Valorant
Valorant is a low-FPS, high-precision game: micro-movements and millisecond reactions win duels. A monitor that displays motion cleanly and consistently helps you track targets and land headshots. Bad color/contrast hides enemies in shadows. Improper refresh or response settings introduce smear or perceived input lag. The goal is simple: high refresh, low latency, and neutral but clear color so you can spot players fast and trust what you see.
Refresh rate (Hz): match your FPS and prioritize consistency
Priority rule: run the highest stable refresh rate your GPU+display can sustain consistently. For me that’s typically 240Hz or 360Hz on a high-end rig. If you can’t keep your frame rate near the monitor’s refresh, drop to a lower but stable Hz — consistent frame delivery beats spiky performance at higher numbers.
Practical steps:
Set your monitor to its native max Hz in Windows Display Settings (e.g., 240Hz, 360Hz).Use DisplayPort when possible; it reliably supports high refresh + high resolutions. HDMI 2.1 works too but check your monitor/PC ports.Enable G-Sync/FreeSync if you use an NVIDIA/AMD GPU and the monitor supports it. I only enable adaptive sync when my FPS fluctuates; otherwise, I prefer uncapped FPS with low-latency settings.Cap your FPS slightly above your monitor Hz (e.g., 2–5 FPS higher) if you want to reduce microstutter from frame pacing issues. I usually cap at monitorHz + 5.Response time and Overdrive settings
Response time is how fast pixels change color. Monitors advertise low GtG numbers, but the real effect is ghosting/overshoot. Most modern gaming monitors include an "Overdrive", "Response Time", or "Trace Free" option in the OSD — this is where you balance speed vs. inverse ghosting.
My approach:
Start with Overdrive set to the manufacturer’s recommended middle setting (often labeled “Fast” or “Normal”).Run the UFO Test (blurbusters.com) or in-game sprint tests and look for inverse ghosting (overshoot bright halos) vs. trailing blur. If you see smearing/trails, increase Overdrive. If you see bright ringing/overshoot, decrease it.For IPS panels, the sweet spot tends to be medium-high. For TN panels, conservative high is usually ok. VA panels can struggle with dark transitions — keep Overdrive moderate.Remember: the setting that looks fastest visually might introduce artifacts that confuse target edges. I prefer slightly softer motion than haloing that makes enemies look like duplicates.
Color, contrast, and visibility settings
In competitive play I want realistic but high-contrast images so enemies pop out without color shifts that mislead. Here are my settings and reasoning.
Brightness: Lower than default. I typically run 120–180 cd/m² equivalent — in practice, that’s about 20–40% on many monitors. High brightness washes out contrast and increases eye fatigue. In darker rooms, lower brightness helps spot dark enemies in shadows.Contrast: Around 45–55%. Don’t max it — high contrast clips details in highlights and shadows.Color Temperature: 6500K (sRGB) or “Warm” if your monitor skews blue. I avoid very cool temps; slightly warm reduces glare and is easier on the eyes during long sessions.Saturation/Gamma: Keep saturation near neutral. I set gamma to 2.2 for more consistent mid-tone visibility. Lower gamma (e.g., 1.8) brightens shadows but reduces depth and can make visuals feel flat.Sharpness/Over-Processing: Turn off sharpening filters in the monitor OSD. They add halos which can create false outlines.Black Equalizer / Shadow Boost: These can help reveal enemies in dark corners, but don’t overdo it — too high and the map looks washed out. I usually set Black Equalizer to +1 or +2 on a scale of -5 to +5.Where to tweak outside the monitor OSD
Windows and GPU control panels let you refine things further.
In Windows Display Settings: Ensure HDR is off for competitive unless you know your entire pipeline supports HDR properly. HDR can change contrast unpredictably.NVIDIA Control Panel / AMD Radeon: Set color depth to highest available (10-bit if supported), color format RGB, and dynamic range to Full for the clearest output. Use GPU sharpening sparingly; I rely on in-game settings or my monitor’s clean image.Create an ICC profile if you use a colorimeter (DisplayCal + a sensor). For gaming I keep a simple profile that preserves contrast rather than color-graded accuracy.In-game Valorant settings that interact with your monitor
Several in-game options change how your monitor’s output looks and performs:
Resolution & Scaling: Run native resolution (e.g., 1920x1080) for best clarity. If you need more FPS you can lower resolution, but I prefer frame rate over artificial upscaling.Contrast/Brightness (if present): Fine-tune after your monitor is set.VSync: Off for lowest input lag. Use adaptive sync on the monitor/GPU combo instead.Limit FPS: Consider capping slightly above your monitor’s Hz for stable frames (see above).Quick reference table — starting points
| Monitor Type | Hz | Overdrive | Brightness | Color Temp |
| IPS 240–360Hz | 240/360 | Medium/High | 20–40% | 6500K |
| TN 240–360Hz | 240/360 | High | 25–45% | 6500K - Neutral |
| VA 144–240Hz | 144/240 | Medium | 25–40% | 6500K (watch blacks) |
Testing and iterating — what I actually do
I run a 20–30 minute calibration routine whenever I change hardware or after a driver update:
Set monitor OSD to neutral presets (FPS or Gaming mode if it disables extra processing).Open Blur Busters UFO test, check for tearing, ghosting, and frame skipping. Adjust Overdrive accordingly.Load Valorant, join a custom bot match in a well-lit map area, and watch how enemies appear at different angles and ranges.Make small adjustments to brightness/contrast and test again. I aim for clear silhouettes at long range first, then mid-range visibility.It’s iterative — small changes compound. If something suddenly feels off after a driver update, re-run the test sequence.
Final practical tips
Invest in a high Hz panel if you play competitively — the difference between 60/144 and 240/360Hz is not just smoother, it changes tracking reliability.Don’t chase gimmicks like extreme sharpening or cartoonish color boosts — they can give transient visibility gains but harm long-term target recognition.If you stream or record, remember your audience might see a different experience — keep your gameplay settings optimized for your personal performance first.If you want, I can suggest monitor models for your budget (I’ve tested models from ASUS, BenQ, Alienware, and Samsung) and give step-by-step OSD values specific to a panel. Drop your monitor model and GPU and I’ll write tailored settings you can paste into your OSD.
