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Gaming mode. Is it worth it?
- Thread starter Cimarron
- Start date
ThatGamingDude
I am a virgin
It REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY depends on the display that you have; "Gaming Mode," just means it turns off a lot of the post effects the display does to "clean up," or "enhance," the image it's displaying.
What's the model number, if you don't mind me asking?
EDIT: Just because your display has a "gaming," or "low latency," mode doesn't mean you should use it; if you have a high end model using the low latency mode can be iffy, because you don't have direct control over what post effects it's applying directly.
Everyone here should research their display model and look to see if it actually reduces enough noticeable latency; if not you're just killing your image quality for nothing amazing.
What's the model number, if you don't mind me asking?
EDIT: Just because your display has a "gaming," or "low latency," mode doesn't mean you should use it; if you have a high end model using the low latency mode can be iffy, because you don't have direct control over what post effects it's applying directly.
Everyone here should research their display model and look to see if it actually reduces enough noticeable latency; if not you're just killing your image quality for nothing amazing.
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D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
No, but I've already turned off all the processing, motion smoothing type shit when calibrating my TV anyway. Too much hassle to change picture settings (tv only has two HDMI inputs) vs just turning shit off and watching all my sources in the same calibration.
Ulysses 31
Member
Depends, some TVs have a game mode than really degrades the colors and brightness so I didn't use it with my old LG OLED, the smoothness of motion+ made up for it though and 30 fps games were a judder fest without it! 
On my new QLED, the game mode looks great after having tweaked the color settings and there's even motion+ for game mode! The delay is very tiny when I compared what happens on screen versus the Wii U gamepad.
On my new QLED, the game mode looks great after having tweaked the color settings and there's even motion+ for game mode! The delay is very tiny when I compared what happens on screen versus the Wii U gamepad.
Hendrick's
If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Always. You should make sure your TV has a good game node before you buy it though.
ZenTheShogun
Member
Meh - don't like degrading the image quality. Not in agreement with all the 'ABSOLUTELY IT'S A MUST' statements. I feel it depends on the game - competitive MP yes (unless you're like me and don't give a fuck about your stats) and SP fuck no - I want it to look as good as possible. Didn't buy a Pro, an X and a RTX 2060 to turn on GAMING Mode and have it look like shit. Just my personal opinion and I respect anyone who disagrees.
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JareBear: Remastered
Banned
Depends on the display.
Most displays I've owned have almost unplayable input lag outside of game mode
Some handle this better than others though.
I mostly game on either a 4K LG monitor or a 1440p Sammy monitor, both with outstanding input lag performance.
When I game on my 4K/HDR TV (Q8FN) I always use game mode
Most displays I've owned have almost unplayable input lag outside of game mode
Some handle this better than others though.
I mostly game on either a 4K LG monitor or a 1440p Sammy monitor, both with outstanding input lag performance.
When I game on my 4K/HDR TV (Q8FN) I always use game mode
ReBurn
Gold Member
Can't agree more. I had a Samsung 7000 series TV and some of my Xbox One X games were displaying green and red artifacts that only appeared when game mode was enabled. Forza 7 and RDR2. Turn off game mode, problem went away.
Geki-D
Banned
This. I'm not much of an MP player and when I do play online I'm pretty casual and don't really care about being some super leet twitch snipe master. I'm rather have pretty visuals in my games and not having game mode on in no way makes a game unplayable by any stretch of the imagination.
Gerdav
Member
I got the Q70 model after a fortnight ago after considering both models, on this review the game mode is tested.
But honestly in my opinion use your own eyes, if you are happy with the image quality on the tv in game mode keep it on if not go the custom route, for me my old tv was a LG, and the game mode was awful it drastically turned the brightness down and reduced the image quality the Q70 QLED is fine to my admirably untrained eyes in game mode and it also has the added bonus of having freesync with the Xbox one X although unfortunately not the Pro.
MidgarBlowedUp
Member
I normally use it as it lowers latency. But it isn't really a necessity if the game doesn't require super fast reflexes.
PhilipDoesMatter
Member
Input lag is a must for me above anything else. So game mode is always turned on.
Hostile_18
Banned
Game mode should not degrade quality in any way.
You will likely have to change the settings to bring it in line with the industry standard though. That usually involves setting the TV to Warm 2, all post processing off (Sharpening, contrast enhancer, vivid/live colour off etc). Colour Space and black level Auto.
You will likely have to change the settings to bring it in line with the industry standard though. That usually involves setting the TV to Warm 2, all post processing off (Sharpening, contrast enhancer, vivid/live colour off etc). Colour Space and black level Auto.
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Gavin Stevens
Formerly 'o'dium'
Game mode isn't worth it. Same way it's not worth it to wipe your arse after a dump. I mean, it's just going to get dirty again, eh?
Bloody hell!
Bloody hell!
Fbh
Member
Yes.
Also In every TV I've owned it doesn't look worse at all, nor does it mess with image quality. It just disables some stuff which is intended for movies/TV and which you don't need for games (and adds input lag)
The thing is. The default settings of most game modes look like shit for some reason. But if you take 15 minutes to set it up and calibrate it to your liking it's good as any other mode
Also In every TV I've owned it doesn't look worse at all, nor does it mess with image quality. It just disables some stuff which is intended for movies/TV and which you don't need for games (and adds input lag)
The thing is. The default settings of most game modes look like shit for some reason. But if you take 15 minutes to set it up and calibrate it to your liking it's good as any other mode
Do you like latency? If so, ignore gaming mode.
Whitecrow
Banned
I consider myself an expert on samsung Tvs, I did a lot of research, and thats what I can tell you about Samsung settings for a non HDR display:
For a Full RGB output:
-Brightness: 45
For Limited RGB output:
-Brightness: 31
Rest:
-Contrast: 90
-Gamma: 0
-Sharpness: 0 (To avoid Gaming mode destroying the image, because in other modes the equivalent is 50)
-Color temperature: Warm 2
-HDMI Black level NORMAL
(Low messes up the gamma/brightness on limited RGB in order to create 16 blacks more than the signal sends, you gain in contrast but you lose in accuracy)
-Color space: Auto.
Native makes the colors pop a bit more by expanding the signal to the max the TV can output.
It may seem more pleasant, but theorically colors are not accurate. You can increase backlight if you dont like the "washed out" image of Auto compared to native.
And for that, you need gaming mode, because PC mode, at least on my TV, blocks that setting to native.
But to make sure all those settings fits your display, check the tests at
www.lagom.nl
and see how it goes.
For a Full RGB output:
-Brightness: 45
For Limited RGB output:
-Brightness: 31
Rest:
-Contrast: 90
-Gamma: 0
-Sharpness: 0 (To avoid Gaming mode destroying the image, because in other modes the equivalent is 50)
-Color temperature: Warm 2
-HDMI Black level NORMAL
(Low messes up the gamma/brightness on limited RGB in order to create 16 blacks more than the signal sends, you gain in contrast but you lose in accuracy)
-Color space: Auto.
Native makes the colors pop a bit more by expanding the signal to the max the TV can output.
It may seem more pleasant, but theorically colors are not accurate. You can increase backlight if you dont like the "washed out" image of Auto compared to native.
And for that, you need gaming mode, because PC mode, at least on my TV, blocks that setting to native.
But to make sure all those settings fits your display, check the tests at
LCD monitor test images
and see how it goes.
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spawn
Member
I think it depends on the TV. I had a Samsung 1080p tv that had a good game mode and there was no difference in the image quality. If I set the Samsung to any other mode the input lag was terrible and very noticeable. My Samsung stopped working so I upgraded to a Sony 4k TV with HDR and upgraded my ps4 to ps4 pro. Game mode looks awful on the ps4 pro with a Sony tv. The image is too dark. The colors look gray. HDR is turned off. I leave it on the HDR setting, but I don't notice any input lag when it's set to HDR mode on the Sony tv
ThatGamingDude
I am a virgin
Heeeeyyy, not a bad display! It's got FreeSync in case (Probably happening) next gen consoles have variable refresh rate, and if not you can still hook up a swanky computer to it and get the buffs
You made a smart purchase, IMO.
It hasn't hit the input lag DB yet, but looking at their previous models in that series, input lag ranged from 15-20ms.
A little too new to have all the bells and whistles tested out specifically, but I am seeing that "Game Motion Plus," should be disabled to reduce input lag, so I would at least disable that.
I'd start with the stock settings, then disable GMP to see if that helps, and if you still feel uncomfortable with the input lag, do the Game Mode and everything else.
No reason to sacrifice the clarity if they input lag is fine for you; plus with those TVs you can usually save profiles, so I'd just save a gaming profile and swap to a test one when you wanted to check stuff out.
Sorry I couldn't offer more info! Newer displays tend to get nit picked more a little later as the price drops.
Virex
Banned
Gaming mode does not degrade the image. It turns all the shit off you don't need. Calibrate your tv and it won't look like shit.
ThatGamingDude
I am a virgin
Mmm, not true. Enabling low latency modes turns of post processing effects on the display, and will have a definite change in imagine quality
Just one of those things that if you're not
People who say do video production will go on and on about the trade offs between low latency and post processing
JohnnyFootball
GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
It creates input lag due to the extra processing.
Most image processing does little for gaming. It has much better uses for video/film content.
BlackTron
Member
I went in here to say "usually, game mode just turns off all post-processing to reduce input lag, but mileage may vary so test it out"
But instead I'm going to say...I'm behind the times! It's news to me that audio even enters this kind of conversation.
I send audio from all my devices directly to the receiver. Even with Switch I use the headphone jack while docked to do this.
People who care about image quality and input lag use TV audio? Mind blown
But instead I'm going to say...I'm behind the times! It's news to me that audio even enters this kind of conversation.
I send audio from all my devices directly to the receiver. Even with Switch I use the headphone jack while docked to do this.
People who care about image quality and input lag use TV audio? Mind blown
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ThatGamingDude
I am a virgin
I don't believe audio does, actually. That'd be news to me.
Audio is handled by an audio controller and video by a video controller; with HDMI they're just carried over that cabling standard and then the controllers do all the rest.
Your display doesn't wait for audio to spit out some where to sync, nor does your audio wait to display video; it spits out the audio and displays video, hence why you deal with video input lag and not so much audio input lag.
VOIP is actually predacated on the fact that your brain will automatically adjust for audio latency to make it sound like it's a POTS type phone call
I think that other gentlefolk hadn't had their full cup of coffee before posting that, is all
Virex
Banned
Why add post processing when the image that is produced from the PC / Console / Blu-Ray player etc. is all ready produced as intended by the content creator. So post processing does nothing for the actual image instead of detracting from what the creator intended. And those "pro" in video production will always go for low latency instead of post processing. An image does not need post processing at all.
Hostile_18
Banned
What post processing do you think adds to the picture quality when it is not in game mode?
I trust the developers to colour grade their own game not my tv on the fly.
Virex
Banned
don't waste your time replying to him. He does it in every thread he posts in. He acts like he is the begin all and end all of a particular subject.
ThatGamingDude
I am a virgin
I believe you may have misconceptions on how display processing works.
Video game consoles and PCs do post processing effects, mainly because it's not running a flat file, it's doing all sorts of calculations and trying to make things look pretty and reaching a larger end goal than just "Play file."; your blu ray player is just a device that spits out the content on the CD and leaves the post processing to the display, so what you're saying should be happening IS happening. You might find some blu ray players with some upscaling functionalities and stuff, but nothing like anisotropic filtering or anything crazy like the realm I think you're thinking of.
The difference is how each display will show the intended work; based upon current technology, feature set, targeted demographic, production costs, price, etc.
Sure, you can create a beautiful 8k image, but if you're displaying it on a CRT, it's going to look like crap.
Displays these days have a shit ton of different functions; for consumer lines you really don't have to care.
Once you get into production or business models, things get a hell of a lot more complicated with displays because if you're going that far into it, you're typically needing a very specific type of display for what you're showing.
Not really, you can correct me at any time by posting actual researchable knowledge found on many sources around the internet.
Usually your posts regarding tech are pretty decent, just with weird concepts of application. I think I've only seen one or two things you've mentioned regarding the 1's and 0's where it was just factually wrong.
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ThatGamingDude
I am a virgin
TBH I'm not entirely sure.
I haven't had any brass up my ass in a bit at mah jobs regarding displays, so I haven't dicked around with displays current post processing functions, and what specifically would be considered beneficial to a consumer market rather than a business market.
Me personally, since I only really hook up my PC and a console to the display, I try to get the least amount of post processing (AKA cheaper monitors) with good color range.
Even then, since I'm not doing A/V IT goofiness anymore, I pay way less attention to the video than probably most do.
Audio however....different story...
Hostile_18
Banned
I've owned a fair few top of the range tvs and never seen any post processing that improves the picture quality.
I think the only one that's really acceptable is HDR auto brightness for gaming (especially on OLEDS).
The standards are set and well defined any post processing is deviating from that and not giving you the correct image. There's preference over reference (Say if you like over-saturated colours) but it is not technically correct.
Businesses can use a cooler colour tempt and extra sharpness etc to "trick" customers into believing the image is better in a show room but again this not correct and deviating from the intended image the developer is trying to show you. That's why so many tvs standard mode is incorrect and people take a while to adjust to movie mode as there so use to looking at a cooler white (with lots of blue in it).
You really can't get away with altering the image, just look when you play movies with snow scenes or look at the skin tones of actors etc things like.that where you have a real world basis for what looks right. If your white point is wrong the whole image will be wrong.
ethomaz
Banned
Always.
Unless there is a mode even better like the PC Mode in Samsung TVs.
I disable all the post-processing effects in the PS4 source in my TV... sharpness is set to 0 too.
Unless there is a mode even better like the PC Mode in Samsung TVs.
I disable all the post-processing effects in the PS4 source in my TV... sharpness is set to 0 too.
That is exactly why we disabled all post processing effects or turn PC/Game mode... to have better image quality and display response.
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ThatGamingDude
I am a virgin
Hell, even some top end TVs have been trashed because their post processing was horrible. But hey, awesome you got that 100 inch screen right?
That's why I think it falls into the "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," category. Someone out there apparently thought the 100 inch tv had great image quality.
Preference over reference I think is what people are running into being confused on. That's why without a good amount of reviews on the latency the specific post processing provides on that device, there's not much I can offer other than "Play with it and see what you like."
I do believe that most people are going to with what they define as a pretty image over a reference image though, excluding content purists.
That's why I tried to use the VOIP analogy; you can use all sorts of tricks in the end product (I'm more the IT sides of things, 1's and 0's, not so much tricking people's visual perception) to create a...pleasurable (Not accurate) result.
I don't think many people care too much about how close to the reference image something is, just as long as the image quality is aesthetically pleasing.
Good rule of thumb I follow? If the sales rep at Best Buy or some other tech store isn't trying to push it as a feature the consumer wants, it's likely going to fall into business, specific use cases or enthusiasts.
I don't commonly come across people who get a new display and are flipping out going "MAN LOOK AT THIS DISPLAY COMPARED TO THIS REFERENCE IMAGE, IT'S SO ACCURATE! I HOOKED UP THE DISPLAY TO A PC AND RAN EIZO AND HOLY FUCK ITS NUMBERS WERE OFF THE CHARTS!" nor have I ever heard it as a selling point when taking the "Hehe let's screw with some sales people," stroll through Best Buy or the like.
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