Has anyone switched from a TV to a gaming monitor for console gaming and if so, was it worth it?
TV or Gaming Monitor for Console
ShortyX on 02/05/2018 - 15:24
Last edited 02/05/2018 - 15:49 by 1 other user
Last edited 02/05/2018 - 15:49 by 1 other user
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I actually use a monitor to game with my console to reduce the input lag.
I measured the lag on my Hisense Series 3 HDTV using a Canon camera with fast shutter speed, it was around 50ms to 60ms of input delay.
You can't feel this delay in some games, but certain things like FPS shooters and even Rocket league, having extra input delay screws up your aiming.
Console gaming is really a low-budget form of gaming. The big companies try to say otherwise, but it is what it is, especially when it comes to Online Multiplayer FPS (BF1, Overwatch, Fortnite, FC5, WS2, TCR6 Siege).
Just think about it…
You have a system with a weak CPU, so you're always bottlenecked in framerate, the relatively mediocre graphics chip also makes action heavy sequences drop frames or be inconsistent and run at lower settings. Overall you're probably looking at 900p/35fps/Low Settings. Next you have the display lag of modern Smart TVs. And with it you also have the relatively flat sound. Not to mention the input lag, where the new Xbox One/PS4 controllers are acceptable when plugged in… but add to it when they're wireless (which is very common) and even worse on the third-party options. The last layer is the Wifi's high latency to-and-fro the internet.It leads to people throwing their controller at the TV and swearing their heads off. Why?
Because the flat sound alerted them to the enemy imprecisely, and they really did see the enemy before being spotted themselves, and they reacted swiftly, but there was a hiccup delay with the Wifi/TV/Controller, most of their shots missed but few shots got in, and the enemy was fortunate enough to counter and win the skirmish.Now I'm not saying everyone needs to get a 6th-gen Intel i7, GTX 1080, high refresh display, an expensive mouse, headset, mechanical keyboard, and high-end modem; to ensure smooth gameplay at 144fps/1080p/Medium Settings. But PC gamers really have an massive advantage with the basics: a 2nd-gen i5, GTX 1050Ti, 60Hz 1080p IPS monitor, regular wired keyboard and mouse, regular headphones/speakers (logitech Z), ethernet plugged regular modem; you will get >60fps/1080p/High Settings and none of the drawbacks of a Typical Console experience.
On the other hand there's far less disparity between players in multiplayer games and virtually no cheating.
I play a lot of online games on PC and I think the cheating is overstated. I may meet 1 player every 20-30 who I think mayyyyy be using some help?
low-budget form of gaming
Right up my alley. :)
Graphical processing power aside, my projector and TV both have an input lag of about 35ms so that's not too bad, plus I use HyperX Cloud Alpha headphones and wired ethernet. I wanted to know if dropping that 35ms input lag to 1ms on a gaming monitor would be noticeable. Perhaps I just need to test one out. :)
Depends I guess how sensitive the reaction affects you.. for me when I can get 1ms latency input lag I can feel it especially in shooters or rpgs or even some rts games.
For example racing games fast reaction doesn't really affect me would you believe it unless there is a combat element to it.
Sorry, OzBargain was broken and I didn't see any responses. Same as Mr C;
- I also don't suffer from reaction speed when it comes to racing games (eg Gran Turismo), as long as the "lag time" is known, and not something that changes from time to time.
- It doesn't affect my Fighting Game (eg Tekken) performance simply because I suck at them.
- But it definitely affect my FPS, and very obvious to me.
The biggest difference isn't the CPU, or GPU, or Sound, or Internet. The biggest difference is the controller, I can react very quickly for instance in Fortnite but placing the cross-sights is a whole different issue. Equal detrimental is the ping, aka Internet Latency time.
scrimshaw - how noticeable was the reduction in input lag?
I don't have a DSLR camera anymore (was a friend's) to measure delta values but this reduction is enough to actually impact game play performance.
Like the difference between able to shoot a small target on the first try, versus missing 2 hits and getting on the 3rd try.
Obviously input lag varies a lot between displays and some TV's generally have much better response times than others.
You can measure it yourself using a fairly primitive method. You just need a good point and shoot camera (set to fast shutter speed) or just a good smartphone camera, a laptop and the TV. You run a stopwatch app (check Google). Set your Windows to clone the secondary display: so that both the built in panel and TV show the same windows desktop, then run a this stopwatch and take photos of both displays at once. Then you look at the photos and compare how far behind the time is shown on your TV screen.
The TV will always be lagging behind the computer's display, because it has to receive input from the laptop HDMI outport, and then re-process the signal. Maybe along the way there is some image post-processing, like changes in color values and sharpness adjustment.
Some TV's have a "GAME" mode which reduces the input lag, so you must turn this on for the most accurate measurement.
Note that input lag and pixel response rates are two difference things. Pixel response measures how fast a pixel changes it's color — a slower rate will cause image ghosting and blurriness when there is 'movement' shown on the display e.g, you're watching a football match and you can see ghost trails behind moving objects.
An LCD panel with a 1ms pixel response specification does not mean it has exactly 1 ms of input lag — that's actually a completely different spec altogether and the manufacturer never tells you about this specification — it's always something you have to measure yourself.
Thanks for the info. I’ll see if I can test the Xbox on a monitor and see what it’s like.
If it's Xbox One X make sure you get a Freesync monitor. Presumably PS4 will recieve it as well.
Xbox One S also has it as well, called 'variable refresh' in your display settings.
Thanks
Any tv's that have this functionality yet in the sub $3000 range
I think if you sit relatively close to the screen, have a 4K console, and would use it with your PC or laptop too then sure go ahead. I think for most users though, a larger 4K TV might be a better choice and more useful into the future for other things than just gaming.