Motion blur or faint afterimage of rapid movement in a single frame — caused by slow shutter or extreme motion blur. Minimize with higher frame rate or shorter exposure.
During fast camera movements or when objects streak across the frame, they sometimes leave behind a blurry afterimage—this is ghosting. You see it particularly clearly when a person or a car drives past at high speed and the shutter remains open for too long. The result: multiple, slightly offset superimposed images of the same object within the same frame. Not true motion blur, but rather a visual artifact that appears disruptive and undermines image sharpness.
The cause lies in the exposure time. With low frame rates—around 24fps in classic cinema—and standard shutter angles (180°), the sensor remains open for a relatively long time. If you then make a fast panning movement or an object comes through the frame at extreme speed, your sensor effectively captures multiple positions consecutively in one frame. The difference from intentional motion blur: ghosting appears pixelated, fragmented, unnatural—it looks like a technical error, not a cinematic intention. The problem is exacerbated in digital formats because modern sensors and displays render these artifacts crisply.
On set, you minimize ghosting through three approaches: Increase your frame rate—48fps or 60fps significantly reduce the problem because the shutter closes more often between frames. Shorten the shutter angle: instead of 180°, you use 90° or less, but consciously sacrifice motion blur. Or slow down the object's movement—not always possible, but sometimes you consciously play with the speed of choreography or direction of travel. In editing, the problem can hardly be repaired without distorting the movement.
In everyday life, you often see ghosting in action scenes shot with too low a frame rate and standard shutter—especially visible in fast pans in documentaries or live events. It's not fatal, but it's a sure sign of technical inattention. Professionals also call it the stroboscopic effect when the superimposition becomes rhythmic. You recognize the difference from true motion blur by the fact that ghosting feels discontinuous—multiple hard, superimposed positions instead of a smooth motion trail.