In recent weeks, the Nintendo Switch 2's display has come under fire. Digital Foundry and other outlets in the gaming community have criticized its lackluster motion performance and questionable HDR credentials, despite Nintendo marketing it as an HDR-capable panel. That criticism piqued our interest.
We've tested hundreds of PC gaming monitors over the years and have the tools capable – and the curiosity – to take a closer look. We also happen to own both a Switch 2 and the original Switch 1 with its LCD screen, which gave us a perfect opportunity for a direct comparison.
Granted, we don't typically test handheld console displays. Our focus is almost entirely on gaming monitors, and our testing workflow is designed around devices that allow for direct input and complete signal control, something the Switch 2 doesn't offer.
So, while this isn't a full-scale monitor review, we set out to evaluate a few key aspects of the Switch 2's display performance. The results, while limited in scope, are still revealing, and in some areas, surprisingly disappointing.
Response Time and Motion Testing
The Switch 2 uses a 7.9-inch 1080p LCD screen that runs up to 120Hz and supports both variable refresh rates and HDR10. While Nintendo doesn't disclose the display technology being used here, its characteristics point to this being an IPS LCD.
Also, while it does support 120Hz, it seems that the vast majority of available games at the moment actually run the screen at 60Hz or lower, and we were unable to perform any proper motion testing at 120Hz because of this.
We've seen some people on social media trying to dispute this, but unfortunately, the actual numbers don't lie. It's very, very slow for a modern LCD panel.
This particular LCD is extremely slow in terms of response time performance. We've seen some people on social media trying to dispute this, but unfortunately, the actual numbers don't lie. It's very, very slow for a modern LCD panel. We ran the Switch 2 through a series of 20 grey-to-grey transitions – not the usual 110 we do for monitor testing because the Switch 2 had to be tested manually – and found atrocious results. These are gamma-corrected numbers that are measured in the same way we test PC gaming monitors.
Using our test methodology, we found an average response time across these transitions of 33ms, with some transitions exceeding 40ms. These are terrible results and would make the Switch 2 the slowest screen we've tested by a mile, and that's out of 165 displays tested using this methodology.
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