Inquiry about HDTV lag

I’ve been wanting to try to organize a fighting game tourney at a local lan center, so the first thing I wanted to research was their TVs (40" Samsung LCDs) and how much video lag they have.

I used Guitar Hero 3s calibration option. In HD mode, there’s no lag at all. In SD mode (the switch on the 360 component cable), it reported between 1.5 and 3 frames of lag.

My questions are: Is using GH3 an accurate test of input lag? And is between 1.5 and 3 frames of input lag acceptable for a (more than likely casual) tourney? The games I expect to run would be (at least) 3S, CVS2, ST, and MVC2

I play mainly Guilty Gear, and for me, a 3 frame lag is HUGE and makes the game unplayable.

  • screwed up FRC timing
  • screwed up frame-traps
  • links might get impossible to do…
  • I would pick up bad habits…

I am not as savy with Capcom game as I am with GG and Meltyblood, but I am pretty sure the lag will affect these games a lot too.