Game mode on HDtv's

[destroyer_of_knights]

I was recently at my friends house to check out his HDtv he just bought, it was a 40" 1080p Samsung LCD.

Now the tv has a mode called 'game mode', now as far as I can tell it does nothing apart from make the colour temperature change.

So can anyone tell me what this mode is really suppose to do?

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Turns off most of the image processing to reduce display lag.

 

[destroyer_of_knights]

Turns off most of the image processing to reduce display lag.

well I turned it off and on and their was no lag what so ever in either option, that's why I ask my question, so does it do anything else apart form turn off all image processing?

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Your reflexes might not be fast enough to notice the difference. Mine sure aren't

 

[Tap In]

http://www.samsung.com/nz/products/tv/lcdtv/la26r71ba.asp#game_mode

 

[AlNom]

On my 5054 (Samsung) the game mode just seems to make the colours look nice. In the menus I can see the changes it made to brightness, contrast, sharpness, and colour, but it prevents me from seeing the more in-depth menus that control dynamic contrast, gamma, black level, and specific colour settings.

 

[Mize]

as far as reducing lag, the set would have to have all the processing ON before enabling game mode to notice any difference. If all the processing is off then it's effectively in game mode already.

 

[Shark Sandwich]

I have a Samsung DLP (LED engine one that came out in 07) and I can tell you without a doubt that game mode reduces the lag.

I played several games on it and never noticed a thing. Then, I played some DDR. It was nearly unplayable! Switching from standard to game mode fixed that.

There is definitely a split-second lag in standard mode. It's so small that it's unnoticeable in most games. I can only imagine it making a difference in rhythm games or fighting games (and even then, only if you are an expert). I would never have changed the mode if it weren't for DDR.

 

[Vic]

as far as reducing lag, the set would have to have all the processing ON before enabling game mode to notice any difference. If all the processing is off then it's effectively in game mode already.

What do you mean by having all the processing turned on?

I have the LE40F86 and as with the OP, the game mode just appears to make the screen brighter.

 

[macabre]

When I enable game mode on my M86 BD it throws my calibration overboard and everything turns blue/greenish with backlight at max. Basically it just switches to standard mode (I have it in movie mode normally) and greys out a lot of the fine tuning options.
I don`t think the games are intended to look that way.

 

[Mize]

What do you mean by having all the processing turned on?

I have the LE40F86 and as with the OP, the game mode just appears to make the screen brighter.

Most TVs have lots of optional processing features that improve picture quality for tv or movies but create lag for fast-paced gaming. Yes, gaming modes might change the color warmth, etc. but I would guess they also disable some of these processing features.

 

[Salvatore]

Samsung Game Mode with Wii

I use a Samsung that has game mode. I believe the game mode turns of extra image processing, in order to increase response time from 8ms to 3ms. Those figures were printed on a sticker attached to the set in the store, but i've never been able to find them anywhere n the manual. The changes it makes to image quality seem intended to put the TV into a neutral state. Game consoles (I use the Samsung with a Wii via component imputs) provide a clean signal, so the game setting basically lets them do their thing and show you what the game makers intended.

Some people have complained that the game mode negatively effects image quality, but perhaps some of these people are acclimated to viewing images in one of their tv's enhanced modes (such as "dyamic" on Samsung TV's) that dramatically messes with the true image in order to deepen blacks, make colors pop, etc. These special enhanced modes can look good on tv shows, but they are altering the intended look and you can end up losing fine detail (even though you might have the illusion of enhancing it.) after you've been viewing your tv in an enhanced mode or with custom settings for a while, your eye gets used to it that way. when you suddenly return an image to a more neutral state (such as game mode) it can suddenly look sub-par. But if you live with it for a while and adjust the basic settings that can still be changed in game mode (brightness, contrast, sharpness, color, tint) to your liking, you will be able to better appreciate the difference (or not.)

I've experimented with lots of different modes and have ultimately settled into using the gaming mode for games. the only time i don't is when playing extremely dark games (ones intended to be dark) so that i can access the custom settings and increase the gamma to better resolve details in dark, shadowy game worlds. just to make the game a little easier.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Interestingly my Samsung hasn't got a game mode. It seems to have been dropped from their latest small monitor TVs.

 

[Arwin]

My Samsung does, but I've never used it. Maybe I should look at it again.

I did some interesting close up pictures of the tv today by the way. It reveals interesting LCD patterns ... it looks almost exactly like a knitted sweater!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Isn't yours a 16.2 million colour display that uses dithering? I think 16.8 million colour true-24 bit displays were uncommon until fairly recently, especially in the small end.

 

[vazel]

His LCD is an HDTV. I don't think 6-bit panels were ever common for LCD HDTVs. It was only the PC monitor users that got screwed. For PC LCD monitors 6-bit panels indeed used to be most common because they are cheaper and have faster response time. I can't stand the 6-bit color I went through three LCD models wondering why the color was crap then I learned about the color difference in panel technologies.

I'm thrilled to see on Newegg that 8-bit panels for LCD PC monitors are more common nowadays. At least for the Samsung LCDs I'm browsing right now.

 

[Arwin]

Isn't yours a 16.2 million colour display that uses dithering? I think 16.8 million colour true-24 bit displays were uncommon until fairly recently, especially in the small end.

Sorry for confusing stuff ... I have a 32" Samsung LE32N71 in the living room, and a 22" Samsung 225DW in the work room. The former has tonnes of colors, and the latter is as you say (but then has a 1680x1050 resolution that downscales a native 1920x1080p image, versus the 1366x768 resolution of the former).

 

[dubyateeeff]

I was recently at my friends house to check out his HDtv he just bought, it was a 40" 1080p Samsung LCD.

While it is a nice feature to have I don't notice lag on my TV (M86) when video processing is on. The lag is (technicly) eliminated when running BR-movies off of my PS3 and I think it even does that for DVDs.

For my TV you can have 3 different options per connection, so for the PS3 you can set up a movie mode with lots video processing and a game mode with little video processing.

And I do same for the PC connected through HDMI. As luck would have it, the best settings on this TV uses minimal video processing options and regular options allows one to set up the colors much better than with PC mode.

Besides I think it is nice to have a few options to browse through for different games, as some games require you to show more shadow details while others look nicer with other settings.

 

[assen]

For my TV you can have 3 different options per connection, so for the PS3 you can set up a movie mode with lots video processing and a game mode with little video processing.

I find slightly disturbing the idea of letting the TV do video processing with whatever is left of its cheapest possible DSP, with software written by an unknown, but surely overworked software team in Korea, over a Blu-ray movie, excruciatingly color-tweaked by the director and cutters, compression-tweaked by professional compressionists, and decoded by the PS3 firmware in all its next-gen high-def glory.