HDTV Game Lag
Daniel over on Bits Bytes Pixels Sprites gives us the lowdown on HDTV lag and why it could ruin your gaming day for good – or at least until you rectify the problem. Daniel’s inspiration for the article came from experiencing lag himself with his first purchase of an HDTV recently, but I can’t help but wonder – was it a low quality TV? Has anyone else out there had an issue with HD lag and video games? To be honest, it’s the first time I’ve heard of this, but maybe that’s because I still own a Sony VEGA. His article consists of a short history on TV resolution and a resolution to the lag issue at hand. In addition to that, there’s a handy list, like this breakdown from HDTV Arcade which present each console’s resolution capabilities:
# Pre-PS2 game systems: 240p/480i
# Playstation 2: 480i (most games), 480p (a few games)
# Gamecube : 480i (a few games), 480p (most games)
# X-Box: 480p (most games), 480i (a few games), 720p (a few games)
# X-Box 360: All X-Box and X-Box 360 games can be outputted to your choice of 480p, 1080i, or 720p.
# PS3: 720p or 1080i
6 Comments »
Leave a comment!
I thought HDTV lag in gaming was extinct in the newest lines of TV’s. I’ve heard of it but I didn’t think it still existed.
Just avoid DLP tvs and you’ll be fine. Sounds like the timing-sensitive games on older systems are most effected. New systems using new (non-DLP) HDTVs should work beautifully.
I’ve found that you get much more lag as a result of putting the signal through a receiver (to switch between devices with the remote control).
Putting the signal through a receiver rather than direct to the television can makes some music-based games (like Donkey Konga or Singstar) unplayable!
Guitar Hero 2 fans might be interested in the fact that the game contains a feature that addresses HD-lag by synchronizing the image with your button presses. I just love that they put this in the game (it shows how obsessed the guys from Harmoix are). I had the chance to play the full game today (you can find the hands on on my website, but it’s in dutch though) and this is only one of the cool new features in Guitar Hero 2.
Sadly it is true. IGN did an extensive article on it and what TVs are known to and not to suffer from it. It does happen on EVERY type of TV depending on the build. Just like PC monitors have different millisecond response times so do television monitors. It’s true the biggest sufferers are rear display such as CRT and DLP. However DLP is proven to have the best picture. Recently DLP producers have been addressing these problems and you should take a video game system to test out on a TV before you buy it. Few but some LCDs and Plasmas have this problem. It is not a problem when using a digital signal. Also I believe HDTV output does not suffer from lag. So music games on Xbox 360 shouldn’t suffer but this has yet to be proven. I play Stepmania on my PC using a standard PC video cable and there is no lag on my DLP. However PS2 does lag badly. I’m not sure if Xbox 360 has any lag but I haven’t noticed any. I still recommend a DLP above anything because it seriously is the best picture you can get. I studied every HDTV technology for 6 months before purchase. Just test out the system first. I didn’t but back then there was no knowledge of lag. People didn’t start discussing lag problems until back around January.
I’ve been through 2 samsung 32in lcd hdtvs, 1 37in polaroid lcd hdtv and 1 sanyo 30in crt hdtv. every one of these tvs had a video delay when compared to a normal sdtv. i also tested a number of hdtvs by bringing my 360 into walmart and hooking it up via component cables. 6 different tvs i tested there all had the same split second delay.i’m guessing you have to spend lots of money on an lcd hdtv to get no delay, but you’ll have to go into a best buy or a circuit city with your xbox in hand to find out.. don’t believe any of the crap you see on here untill you test it yourself, i have found 90 percent of it to be malarki