Tv with no game lag

The numbers reflect the lowest lag number the TV is capable of, typically achieved in Game mode. I'll have a better idea of the patterns as I review more TVs throughout the year.

It will also include contextual cutoffs like other Geek Box numbers: Lag of less the 40 milliseconds will be Good, between 40 and 70 Average, and more than 70 Poor. As usual these cutoffs are for general qualification only--even the twitchiest gamer can't tell the difference between a Good and Average TV if one is Bodnar: The ins and outs of testing input lag Until recently, measuring input lag has been a very time-consuming process involving esoteric software, a fast camera, and no small amount of expertise.

It's also a performance characteristic that's simply not important to most TV shoppers. The Bodnar is a little red box with a big yellow button on top, a hole for a photo sensor on bottom, and an HDMI output plus a USB port used for service only on the back. Thanks to the box, the input lag measurement that used to take an expert like Anandtech's Chris Heinonen minutes or more can be conducted in less than a minute. And it works great.

The repeatability and consistency of the results I've found in the last few months of using the device, as well as subjective corroboration by my twitch-happy colleague Jeff Bakalar and a conversation with Leo Bodnar himself, all lead me to the conclusion that the results are legitimate.

To keep things simple, CNET will only report the results of Game mode -- if you're playing millisecond-dependent games, you should be using Game mode. Check out " How we test TVs " for more on our exact methodology. The partnership develops these devices themselves. Intrigued by the unique lag tester, I arranged an interview with Leo.

Aside from accuracy, the priority was simplicity and the ability to test many displays quickly -- in contrast to the bulky, lab-based camera method in use previously. The shopkeeper who helped us was very interested in the results. High-end TVs began to offer this feature back in the mids, and now it's trickled down to just about every TV on the market. Most of the time, it's a good idea enable Game Mode before you play a video game. Sometimes it's an option under "Video Mode," a preset picture setting.

Sometimes it's a standalone setting that you can toggle on or off. It usually turns off motion-smoothing modes see below , and pumps up the brightness and color saturation. Find it, and use it. New TVs come with at least a few reduction settings.

They usually sit in their own sub-menu within a sub-menu, so it's tricky to find them—and once you do, it's a toss-up whether the TV will even explain the setting. Whatever they're called, they always increase input lag. Most TVs' game modes are good enough for most gamers. No matter how twitchy you are, it's going to be tough to tell the difference between 13 and 30 milliseconds of input lag. Many gamers won't even be able to discern between having game mode on and off -- it all depends on the game and your sensitivity to lag.

Turning game mode on can hurt image quality a little. TV makers' menus often refer to reduced picture quality. Reduced picture quality is generally the result of turning off that video processing. In my experience, however, the differences in image quality are really subtle with console gaming, and worth the trade-off if you want to minimize lag for a great gaming experience.

In general, the numbers are similar to the lag with standard p resolution, but as you can see from the chart above, there are exceptions. Testing is an inexact science. I use a Leo Bodnar lag tester. Here's how it works, and how I use it. You might see different lag test results from different review outlets, which may use Bodnar or another method.

As I mentioned at the top, the best TV for gaming is one that has the best picture quality for viewing everything else, too. Games benefit from deep black levels, bright highlights and uniform screens just as much as movies and TV shows do. Yes, there are other factors, but they don't apply to most gamers. You might consider this if you're playing a non-reaction-based game. This result is important if you play p games, like from an Xbox or a PC.

However, p games are still considered niche, and not all TVs support this resolution, so we can't measure the p input lag of those.

The 4k 60Hz input lag is probably the most important result for most console gamers. Along with p 60Hz input lag, it carries the most weight in the final scoring since most gamers are playing at this resolution. We expect this input lag to be lower than the 4k 60Hz with HDR, chroma , or motion interpolation results because it requires the least amount of image processing. This is important if you play HDR games, and while it may add some extra lag, it's still low for most TVs.

This test is important for people wanting to use the TV as a PC monitor. Chroma is a video signal format that doesn't use any image compression, which is necessary if you want proper text clarity.

We want to know how much delay is added, but for nearly all of our TVs, it doesn't add any delay at all compared to the 4k 60Hz input lag. Since most TVs have a native 4k resolution, this number is more important than the p lag while you're scrolling through the menus. Motion interpolation is an image processing technique that increases the frame rate to a higher one, like if you want to increase a 30 fps video up to 60 fps. However, for most TVs, you need to disable the Game Mode to enable the motion interpolation setting, as only Samsung offers motion interpolation in Game Mode.

As such, most TVs will have a high input lag with motion interpolation. Also, we measure this with the motion interpolation settings at their highest because we want to see how the input lag will increase at the strongest, like a worst-case scenario. This test is only important if you have an 8k TV, and your graphics card can output 8k content at 60 fps. We repeat most of the same tests but with fps signals instead.

This is especially important for gaming on some gaming consoles, like the Xbox Series X or Xbox One X, as some other devices don't output signals at fps. The Hz input lag should be around half the 60Hz input lag, but it's not going to be exactly half. Once again, this result is only important for PC and Xbox gamers because they use p signals. Not all TVs support this resolution either, so we can't always test for it.

This test is important if you're a gamer with an HDMI 2. For this test, we use our HDMI 2. VRR is a feature gamers use to match the TV's refresh rate with the frame rate of the game, even if the frame rate drops. Enabling VRR could potentially add lag, so that's why we measure it, but most TVs don't have any issue with this. We repeat the VRR testing with p signals. If the TV doesn't support p, we skip this test. Like with p and p, we measure the 4k input lag with VRR enabled.

Once again, this is important for gamers. Input lag is not an official spec advertised by most TV companies because it depends on two varying factors: the type of source and the settings of the television. The easiest way you can measure it is by connecting a computer to the TV and displaying the same timer on both screens.

Then, if you take a picture of both screens, the time difference will be your input lag. This is, however, an approximation, because your computer does not necessarily output both signals at the same time. In this example image, an input lag of 40 ms — is indicated. However, our tests are a lot more accurate than that because of our tool.

Most people will only notice delays when the TV is out of Game Mode, but some gamers might be more sensitive to input lag even in Game Mode. Every device adds a bit of delay, and the TV is just one piece in a line of electronics that we use while gaming. If you want to know how much lag you're sensitive to, check out this input lag simulator.

You can simulate what it's like to add a certain amount of lag, but keep in mind this tool is relative to your current setup's lag, so even if you set it to 0 ms, there's still the default delay. Input lag is the time it takes a TV to display an image on the screen from when it first receives the signals.