TVs are not just larger versions of computer monitors.
Even today, there are still plenty of differences between them, and for gamers, one of the biggest
ones is probably input lag, the amount of time that passes between the TV receiving
a signal and outputting it on the screen. Now since most competitive gaming is done on PCs, monitor manufacturers have spent years
optimizing this characteristic to keep input lag as low as possible.
It isn't difficult to find gaming monitors with around 10 milliseconds of latency.
However, because TVs are built more for, you know, idly watching while being a couch potato,
their lag times have typically been a lot higher. And just because the TV is high in and other ways, doesn't mean its lag time will be anywhere
close to a gaming monitor. It's very easy to spend a lot of money on a model with other bells and whistles, yet
it has a lag time of around 50 milliseconds, or even far higher, so it's crucial to check
this spec first. Or if the manufacturer doesn't provide it, get that information from a reputable TV
review site like Artings or DisplayLag.com.
These days, a set that's good for gaming can easily have input lag of around 20 milliseconds,
which is comparable to a decent monitor, while others, notably LG's 2019 OLEDs, are down
closer to 10, which is darn near the theoretical limit of the tester line as tech tips used
to measure it. To hit this kind of responsiveness, most TVs require that you switch to a special game
mode that turns off any lag inducing post-processing such as AI color enhancement or whatever.
And a really cool related feature to look out for is ALLM, or Auto Low Latency Mode.
It's part of the HDMI 2.1 spec, and it allows your TV to automatically detect source devices
that are used for gaming, so you don't have to be constantly fidgeting with the settings
menu. A word of warning though, just because your TV has a game mode doesn't mean it works
on all the input ports, sometimes you have to use a specific one, and it also doesn't
mean it actually has a low latency mode.
Consistence is just another corny preset color setting, so do your due diligence.
Moving on, size matters. You might be tempted to grab a large model for Netflix, but a smaller screen can actually
be advantageous if you're going to be doing lots of gaming.
Unlike movies and TV shows where the action is often focused on one part of the screen,
something happening toward the periphery in the video game can be very important, with
dire consequences if you miss it, and miss it you might if you have a screen that takes
up too much of your field of vision, and of course, unlike Netflix, there's no rewinding
if you get fragged. You'll also want to consider panel type.
One nice thing about gaming on a TV is that while there are very few OLED monitors out
there, OLED TVs are plentiful, albeit more expensive.
The pixels that make up OLED displays have extremely fast response times, meaning that
they can change colors very quickly. This helps cut down on motion blur and fast-paced titles, and OLEDs also have very good viewing
angles, so an OLED TV might be a good choice if you're a fan of local multiplayer games
with many people sitting in one room, like if you're doing 8-person smash or something.
However, remember that OLED TVs are also more susceptible to burn-in, so you run the risk
of damaging your display from having the same graphics, like a heads-up display or speedometer
on your screen all the time. So if that sounds like you, the good news is that the response times and viewing angles
of modern LCDs have come a long way. Another important spec to look at is refresh rate.
Historically, TVs run at a 60Hz refresh rate, similar to monitors.
But if you only go higher, there are a lot of options out there. Just be careful.
Unlike gaming monitors, many TV manufacturers advertise fake refresh rates, which you can
learn more about up here, which are achieved using trickery-like motion interpolation to
make movements appear smoother. So what you'll want to find is a TV that can natively accept a 120Hz input.
And again, independent review sites can often confirm not only whether this is even possible
on a given model, but which resolutions this mode can support.
See, it's common for a 4K TV to be capped at 60Hz a full resolution, but still run at
120Hz at 1080 or 1440p. This feature is especially important if you're using your TV with a PC that can spell lots
of frames or if you want a next-gen console like Microsoft's upcoming Project Scarlet,
which is supposed to support 120Hz for certain titles.
Some TVs now also finally support variable refresh rate technology, which prevents screen
tearing and stutter. If you're on a PC with an NVIDIA graphics card, look for one with HDMI VRR and a G-Sync
compatible badge. For console gamers, anything with VRR or FreeSync will do you just fine.
Finally, you'll want to make sure your TV has support for 4K and whichever flavor of
HDR your PC or console supports. However, do keep in mind that the input lag issues we previously mentioned can actually
get worse with 4K and HDR enabled.
So if responsiveness is of paramount importance to you due to the types of games you play,
you could always just buy a 1080p set and then immediately regret that you paid extra to
stream Netflix and 4K. Thanks for watching guys. It was good to see you all again after a while.
Like, dislike, hopefully not dislike, but do it if you have to. I don't really care.
Check out our other videos and don't forget to subscribe.