NVIDIA G-SYNC ULMB 2 reduces motion blur, making 120Hz look better than 480Hz

We recently reviewed the new ASUS ROG Swift 360Hz PG27AQN Gaming Monitor, a G-SYNC 1440p display for competitive and esports gamers that delivers impressive results. At Computex 2023, during a tour of NVIDIA's HQ, we saw a new firmware update to the high refresh-rate G-SYNC module found in the display, which reduces motion blur and improves image clarity. NVIDIA G-SYNC Ultra Low Motion Blur 2, or ULMB 2 for short, is impressive.

After a simple firmware update, the new ULMB 2 tech implements a new full refresh rate backlight strobing technique and uses the display's full brightness (in this case, 500 nits) to reduce motion blur and improve things like text clarity pretty dramatically. Due to the nature of the technology, this is one of those things that you need to see in person to get the full effect, and on that front, NVIDIA had two identical ASUS ROG Swift 360Hz PG27AQN displays side-by-side - one with ULMB 2 and one without.

How it works is quite impressive, and even though cranking a display to 500 nits might sound like you'll need to slap on a pair of sunglasses, the full refresh rate backlight strobing means that the backlight is only on when pixels are at their correct color value. As per NVIDIA's announcement, "the idea is to not show the pixels transitioning, and only show them when their color is accurate." For the demo we saw, this meant that perceived brightness was similar to the same display at 50% brightness without ULMB 2.

For a 360Hz display with ULMB 2 enabled, the motion clarity is akin to a 1440Hz display. During a demo where we got to see fast movement in Overwatch, the direct result was being able to quickly focus on fast-moving objects and text, making it the sort of tech that will excel when it comes to esports and pro-level gaming.

In fact, the following video showcases that ULMB 2 on a 120 Hz display can outperform a 480 Hz display when it comes to motion blur reduction.

The update is available now for two displays, the Acer Predator XB273U F and the ASUS ROG Swift 360Hz PG27AQN, with the firmware coming soon to the ASUS ROG Swift Pro PG248QP and the AOC AGON AG276QSG. Enabling ULMB 2 will be easy, too, as it gets added to the display's on-screen controls.