Gaming TV’s : Play in 4K

If you are really in to gaming, you have probably thought about that “perfect set up”. You might have even thought about using a TV instead of a normal screen, or if you are a console gamer you pretty much have to use one. Yet 90% of the time the TV’s we use for gaming are hand-me downs, the main family TV that was given up for a newer model. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but it can often mean that the TV itself is responsible for some of your most common issues. But did you know the “newer” TV’s could cause you problems as well?

Input Lag and Gaming TV’s

As strange as it sounds a new TV might cause you more issues than your old one as newer TV’s offer more options, this can cause them to suffer from high rates of input lag (even if they say they have a high response time). Input lag is described as: “The delay from the moment a display receives a signal from a game controller” : hdtvtest.co.uk Where as response time only measures how quickly pixels can change between black and white (or grey to grey in some cases) it doesn’t account for any delay caused by the input. This kind of lag can cause serious issues, when the TV itself takes too long to register an image it can throw your timing out just enough to matter in an FPS. On top of all that input lag can make any lag you normally suffer worse, with a bad internet connection or a badly coded game you can soon find that a big investment makes you less able to play.

So what can you do?

  • First of all check the input lag of the TV you want to buy. There is no hard of fast rule for which TV’s are best for gaming so searching sites like this can save you a lot of hassle.
  • Secondly buy 4K, this isn’t even a lag issue, the picture quality is just so much higher and if you are going to buy any new TV I’d say 4K is the only way to be future proof.
  • Finally look at your space. If you have a games room that is 3mx4m don’t buy a 68″, it’s more likely to have input lag (though some hold up well even against small models) and I guarantee you will have a worse gaming experience. You don’t buy a king size bed for a box room half it’s size and that’s how you should think of TV’s, get the one that is best for your home, not necessarily the most expensive.If you want to learn more about input lag I would recommend you check out this video or have a read of this article hdtvtest.co.uk Gaming
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