Causes
- Trace Free (overdrive) set too high, producing inverse ghosting — the VG27AQ is an IPS panel and overdrive is controlled by the OSD's Trace Free setting (0-100). At a high Trace Free value the panel overdrives pixels past their target gray level and back, which shows up as a bright white "halo" or "wraith" trailing moving objects — called overshoot or inverse ghosting. This is most visible on dark backgrounds with white text or on fast-scrolling objects, and it is the most common VG27AQ image-quality complaint.
- The 165Hz overclock increasing pixel-response strain — pushing the panel to its 165Hz overclock leaves less time for each pixel transition, so the overdrive has to work harder and overshoot becomes more pronounced. Many owners see noticeably more inverse ghosting at 165Hz than at the native 144Hz. The overclock trades a small refresh gain for worse response artifacts.
- ELMB Sync disabled, making motion blur more visible — with no backlight strobing, the panel's inherent response limitations show up as a persistent blur/smear on fast motion. This is normal IPS behavior, but when a user expects crisp motion and ELMB is off, the residual blur is easy to read as a fault. Note that ELMB dims the image and can itself introduce flicker, so it is a trade-off rather than a pure fix.
- Variable refresh paired with maximum overdrive — running G-Sync/FreeSync with Trace Free at its highest value can make the overshoot worse because the overdrive is tuned for a fixed refresh while the panel is being driven at a varying frame rate. The VG27AQ's scaler applies a constant overdrive level, so matching the refresh instead of boosting it reduces the artifact.
- An outdated GPU driver adding motion imperfections — a stale graphics driver can introduce micro-tearing or frame-present jitter that reads as ghosting, especially when v-sync and frame pacing are handled poorly. Updating the driver is a cheap step to rule out before adjusting the panel.
How to Fix
- Lower Trace Free in the OSD — press the monitor's menu/joystick button and open the Gaming menu, then set Trace Free to a lower value. The VG27AQ overshoots most at the top of the range; dropping from 100 (or stock) to around 60 removes most inverse ghosting, and going to 40 takes out the last of the white halo at the cost of slightly more blur. Raise or lower it step by step while scrolling a dark web page to find the setting where the trailing halo disappears.
- Drop from 165Hz back to the native 144Hz — open the OSD, disable the 165Hz overclock, and set the refresh rate to 144Hz in Windows (Settings → System → Display → Advanced display). Check whether the ghosting decreases. The native refresh with a moderate Trace Free value is the crispest, cleanest overall image on this panel; only re-enable 165Hz if the motion looks acceptable to you, since it generally brings more overshoot.
- Tune ELMB Sync to match your use — in the OSD Gaming menu, toggle ELMB Sync on to strobe the backlight for sharper motion on fast games (note it dims the picture), or keep it off for a brighter image and rely on lowering Trace Free. Decide per use: on for competitive FPS with ELMB at a comfortable brightness, off for general desktop use where the dimming and potential flicker are not worth it. Do not combine ELMB Sync with both a high Trace Free and the 165Hz OC, as that combination is where artifacts multiply.
- Update or cleanly reinstall the GPU driver — install the latest stable driver for your graphics card. If you suspect frame pacing issues, run a DDU clean install in Safe Mode. Confirm v-sync/prefer-maximum-performance settings in the control panel so the GPU does not inject frame-present jitter that looks like ghosting.
- Factory-reset the OSD and test on another display — reset the VG27AQ to defaults from the OSD and re-apply just the Trace Free step that looked best. If you can, connect the same PC to a second monitor to confirm the trailing artifact is absent there (which means it was a panel/overdrive setting) or present there too (which points to the GPU/driver side). If severe overshoot remains at Trace Free 0 across every device, contact ASUS support under warranty.