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[cereal_killerxx]

Game mode on TVs are a nice feature. Minimizing input lag so that games are more response. But on most TVs, there is a trade-off at the cost of picture quality. How do you guys feel about this? How bad is the trade-off on your TV? What games do you notice it in the most?

 

[thisisamul]

I think the hit to image quality is no longer an issue (at least on more recent tv's like my JS8500).

 

[jett]

I see literally no difference in image quality on my Sony TV's game mode.

 

[shinobi602]

?

There's no effect to IQ on my TV...

 

[I'm Spartacus]

I see literally no difference in image quality on my Sony TV's game mode.

Ditto on my Bravia

 

[Mindman]

I see literally no difference in image quality on my Sony TV's game mode.

This. Just can't use crap like judder reduction and the like, but picture quality stays the same.

 

[Hermii]

?

There's no effect to IQ on my TV...

Then what's the point of not using gmode all the time? Why does your tv even have a game mode?

 

[cyborgnumberblue]

The only effect it has is disabling the post-processing that adds the lag in the first place. There isn't any actual degradation of picture quality occurring.

 

[geordiemp]

why does it make picture quality worse ?

Surely the processing for the image is done by the console / PC, it does not need the extra processing reserved for cleaning up live TV pictures.

 

[Fliesen]

well, the image quality you lose is usually just stuff that doesn't matter when playing games anyways, like noise reduction, frame interpolation, dynamic contrast, etc.

When you play a game, you want as pure of a signal anyways, imho.

 

[-Mutsukki-]

I don't think it makes it any worse it just pre-defines some stuff that you can absolutely change later

 

[cereal_killerxx]

The only effect it has is disabling the post-processing that adds the lag in the first place. There isn't any actual degradation of picture quality occurring.

Maybe it's just my TV then :/

 

[BraXzy]

The only negative impact was the fact game-mode by default had different picture settings, with sharpness cranked way up.

After tweaking to be in line with regular viewing, it is identical as far as I can tell. On a Samsung KU6400.

 

[Mohasus]

I don't notice the added input lag with it off, and I don't like how it looks with it on, so I don't use it. But mine is an older LCD TV, so maybe it is better nowadays.

 

[Phazon]

Then what's the point of not using gmode all the time? Why does your tv even have a game mode?

to reduce input lag (example: 20ms instead of 50)

 

[Ferrio]

Input lag for games is the worst, even if you could notice the difference in image quality it's worth it.

 

[Dabanton]

I see no difference. What TV does OP have?

 

[gdt]

No IQ degrade on my end.

 

[kadotsu]

You need to readjust colors and make sure the TV also uses 1:1 pixel mapping.

 

[Glix]

Game mode shouldn't be needed.

The shit that makes the input lag also makes whatever you are watching look like shit.

These companies only care if it is a "marketable feature" and public is... ill-informed about what is good and what is bad when it comes to their picture.

I will never, ever, ever forget the kid and and his dad when i was in college (early/mid 2000's) The kid was playing metroid on their 16:9 HDTV (very new tech at the time) STRETCHED. I told the kid, that it looked all wrong and we should change the pic setting and the dad overheard and freaked out. literally freaked the fuck out.

I PAID FOR THE WHOLE THING YOU ARE GOING TO USE THE WHOLE THING.

 

[Zombie James]

What are you talking about? Game Modes are supposed to disable all image post-processing.

 

[Poltergust]

to reduce input lag (example: 20ms instead of 50)

I think he Hermii means why use any other mode besides Game Mode if that mode provides the reduced input lag benefit with 0 drawbacks.

 

[nbnt]

How old is your TV? The last time I experienced this was back in 2008 or something.

 

[Drewfonse]

I absolutely did notice a difference when switching from calibrated movie mode to game mode on my JS8500. Fairly major degradation. But after calibrating within game mode, things looked great again.

 

[Foxxsoxx]

It takes away post processing is all.

 

[cereal_killerxx]

How old is your TV? The last time I experienced this was back in 2008 or something.

2012 Samsung. I don't remember the model. :/

 

[-Mutsukki-]

Game mode shouldn't be needed.

The shit that makes the input lag also makes whatever you are watching look like shit.

These companies only care if it is a "marketable feature" and public is... ill-informed about what is good and what is bad when it comes to their picture.

I will never, ever, ever forget the kid and and his dad when i was in college (early/mid 2000's) The kid was playing metroid on their 16:9 HDTV (very new tech at the time) STRETCHED. I told the kid, that it looked all wrong and we should change the pic setting and the dad overheard and freaked out. literally freaked the fuck out.

I PAID FOR THE WHOLE THING YOU ARE GOING TO USE THE WHOLE THING.

This is objectively wrong.

 

[shinobi602]

Then what's the point of not using gmode all the time? Why does your tv even have a game mode?

So it reduces things that are typically reserved for movies like certain post-processing effects, noise reduction etc. There are multiple modes because TVs are used for multiple different things.

 

[Jawbreaker]

Some older TVs (Samsung) crank the sharpness up in Game Mode, and they don't allow you to make adjustments to it. Maybe something similar is going on? Just use PC Mode if you have that available on your set; it's even better.

 

[Rellik]

Game mode on my 2016 1080p LG TV is horrendous. It's completely over saturates the image and the input lag is terribad. The thing is, though. I didn't ever notice and gamed on that for years. Then I saw a calibration video for my TV on YouTube. I decided to follow it and the guy used PC mode as a base. First thing I noticed was how instant everything felt on the dashboard. Input lag was noticeably less. And then the game I was playing at the time, I looked down at the ground and noticed how clean and clear the textures were. To make sure I wasn't going nuts, I switched it back to stock game mode and the ground was now a stupidly over saturated blue with little detail.

 

[Madness]

There is no change to image quality. The only real change is picture settings changing from Dynamic/Vivid/Standard to a more custom or cinema style look. Color temperature changes from cool or neutral to warm. You can pretty much change a lot of things back in game mode aside from motion interpolation which will introduce lag.

 

[Gren]

Game/PC mode without all the postprocessing looks sharp & clean to me. I'd use it exclusively if not for the fact that other modes help mask/cover up the unsightly artifacts/compression of TV/cable/streaming broadcasts.

 

[spookyfish]

Then what's the point of not using gmode all the time? Why does your tv even have a game mode?

It disables all of the extra processing that adds to lag, and, on my Panasonic plasma, it actually "shifts" the pixels imperceptibly (pixel orbiter). Most plasmas have that to reduce image retention. Samsung plasmas have it, too.

 

[BotoxAgent]

doesn't game mode just removes all the bells and whistles that does nothing but make the picture look worse like EE, interpolation, etc...so it should look better without all that artificial crap you don't need.

 

[Glix]

This is objectively wrong.

Really? TruMotion or whatever that shit is, is the worst garbage I have seen ever.

I want this beautifully shot film to look like a reality show! Awesome!

 

[Phazon]

I think he Hermii means why use any other mode besides Game Mode if that mode provides the reduced input lag benefit with 0 drawbacks.

Well, most other modus don't have a low input timing like game mode. It's specifally set up like that. Depends a bit on brand and what settings or mode they provide, however ^^

 

[purseowner]

I think the hit to image quality is no longer an issue (at least on more recent tv's like my JS8500).

This is my TV, and I'd agree with you to some extent, however turning Game Mode on with FFXV makes the frame pacing intolerably bad as opposed to fairly smooth with it off.

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

I've still never come across a TV that has a game mode.

 

[mattp]

how else did you guys think it lowered the latency? it turns of some processing, thus worse picture quality

did you think tv manufacturers just arbitrarily increased input latency on all their inputs and put in a toggle to lower it?

 

[dose]

Game mode on TVs are a nice feature. Minimizing input lag so that games are more response. But on most TVs, there is a trade-off at the cost of picture quality. How do you guys feel about this? How bad is the trade-off on your TV? What games do you notice it in the most?

How is picture quality lowered when the image that's shown is what the developers wanted it to look like? Turning off all the useless tv features that fuck about with the image is a good thing.

 

[-Mutsukki-]

Really? TruMotion or whatever that shit is, is the worst garbage I have seen ever.

I want this beautifully shot film to look like a reality show! Awesome!

Except Game Mode is what disables TruMotion and shit like that (that you can't normally disable)

Edit: Shit now I understand your original post!! I read that all wrong, sorry!

 

[JudgmentJay]

I think the hit to image quality is no longer an issue (at least on more recent tv's like my JS8500).

This. Most of the time enabling game mode simply disables all the garbage that should be turned off in the first place. Sometimes you also lose the ability to fine-tune stuff like 10/20-point greyscale values so you won't get a 100% accurate calibration, but for the most part game mode should be able to get pretty close to reference. Assuming you don't have a really crappy TV of course.

 

[shakey]

Game mode is what you NEED to use when playing video games.

Yes, it will look worse at first... WHY? Because you need to calibrate the TV under Game Mode.

Most default Game Mode settings use horrible settings like 50 sharpness and overly cool color settings.

If you calibrate it right, it will look no different than Movie Mode. There shouldn't be any difference at all when done right, except now, you have less input lag.

If it looks worse, it's because you're not doing it right. Don't blame the mode, don't blame the TV, it's all user at that point.

Just copy the same settings you have for Movie Mode into your Game Mode. You won't be able to adjust certain settings, but that's okay. As long as you do everything else the same, it will end up looking the same. Those things you can't adjust under Game Mode are just processing effects the TV does for certain types of film, as they are all shot with varying degree's of noise and other things. And since games are not made like that, those processes are not needed and only end up making the signal from your controller to the console to the TV take longer.

TLR - Calibrate yo shit right.

 

[SeeNoWeevil]

Ditto on my Bravia

Same.

 

[dallow_bg]

You can make any video profile setting into "game mode" just by changing some settings. It shouldn't be doing anything magical.

I turn off most processing effects anyway so I don't bother.

EDIT: Actually if you don't use ISF profiles you likely can't use some of the advanced color calibration as mentioned. So no way I'd use Game Mode.

 

[mattp]

you also lose the ability to fine-tune stuff like 10/20-point greyscale values so you won't get a 100% accurate calibration

bingo

 

[SephCast]

I've still never come across a TV that has a game mode.

You're not looking hard enough. I think all of my HDTVs since 2006 have had it, and that's a wide range.

 

[KDR_11k]

I'm using a gaming monitor on my PC, it doesn't even do dithering to make up for the low color depth so I get banding on any gradients.

 

[0coolclimate0]

Mines a monstrous quality drop. But I honestly thought all TVs did that. Until I read this thread.

 

[Glix]

how else did you guys think it lowered the latency? it turns of some processing, thus worse picture quality

did you think tv manufacturers just arbitrarily increased input latency on all their inputs and put in a toggle to lower it?

this is only if the post processing is making something "better"

Post process varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Therefore, content is not made with a particular post process standard in mind.

So it is just adding things that are not meant to be there.