The New Definitive HDTV Lag FAQ

On your sammy, the LN46A750, do you mean you have no lag in the VGA, or HDMI ports?
I have the LN46A550 and get lag in the HDMI port (port 1 maybe?) I did some (possibly incorrect) vga tests and got about 30ms lag.

Just curious, its a different model but I am playing with it to try and optimize. I will be messing around more with VGA, component, and other hdmi ports this week. There is limited data on my model and its old so noone is posting anything new. The game mode also seems to only adjust the color on on the 550 as well.

on vga and component no lag. as for hdmi every panel will have hd lag regardless of brand and model.
that’s a fact. some worse then others but hdmi will always have hd lag. it’s the way it was designed.

Has anyone compiled a chart of LCD/LED that are confirmed to have 0 frames (or at least < 15ms) of input lag?

I know of these:
Iiyama ProLite E2201W 22"
Asus VH236H
Samsung LN-A650 (Game mode)

I forget which others, but I know the Sharp Aquos LC-XXE77U line has been shown to have sub 1 frame lag via HDMI in game mode.

The line has been “replaced” twice (maybe thrice) over now, and I’m not sure if the new lines retain this fact, but this particular set indeed does have CRT-like abilities for gaming purposes. 3-7ms or so, I believe.

actually 3 - 7 ms is very acceptable.
its anything over 20 ms that will really be noticeable.
actually my gf has the a50 sammy in her room and low and behold not much lag even on hdmi.
i didn’t find a game mode in the menu but i did find a 120hz mode option.

Those Aquos sets have Vyper drive which helps a lot but most have said that the PQ was bad enough not to consider it. I haven’t seen one personally but then again, they can be rather expensive compared to regular TV’s.

Anyway, so what’s the consensus on the 2011 Viera’s? I can probably settle for the U3 but then I still want to see tests on the X3.

The last Sharp series to use Vyper Drive was the E67U series. The E77U does not use it.

As for the PQ, generally speaking, Sharp’s PQ is usually the “worst” out-of-the-box of the big 3 “S” companies (Samsung, Sony, Sharp), but when calibrated is usually on par or superior to anything within the price range of the given model. The E77U line was no exception. A couple of people were of the impression that the only way to solidly “beat” the series was to look toward a LED TV.

You can literally almost have the same TV from Sharp for $500 less than the next closest thing from Samsung or Sony if you don’t need all the gimmicks that come with their more expensive lines.

I guess the 40 inch E77U specs posted in a site somewhere isn’t very accurate. oh well.

Alot of sites just kept assuming that game mode = Vyper Drive on later models, but according to all documentation I’ve seen from Sharp regarding the line, Vyper Drive was dropped.

The first post suggests that the viewsonic CD4620 is the best option for low lag. Does this mean that all viewsonic tvs are as good as the CD4620?

Yes, if a company makes one good TV that means all of their TVs are just as good.

not true.
that is why sites that do independent reviews exist.

Hey all, need a definitive answer: How am I going to get the least lag out of my TV?

Sharp Aquos LC-46D64U
Xbox 360 S
Connected via a HDMI cable
AV mode set to Game.

I did hear somewhere that apparently a HDMI cable causes lag? Is this true? Should I switch back to the old school component cable?

try the vga cable first before doing that. but yes hdmi in nature will always have some lag. it’s just the way it’s designed.

I don’t have a VGA cable; right now I just have the hdmi & the six-pronged component cable. How much is a VGA cable these days anyway?

Are you actually noticing lag or just worried about theoretical lag?

With that said, I can’t speak about that specific series, but regarding Sharp sets made in the last 2 years, they have their most MINIMAL lag using HDMI mode. Judging from the model number that set pre-dates the E77U line I mentioned though though, so using a VGA cable could very well produce less lag, if you’re actually noticing any. Alot of older sets did indeed experience their lowest level of lag when using VGA.

Well, Rock Band is telling me there’s lag - It’s about 35ms lag right now with the HDMI. I switched back to component and after a few tries it went down to 15ms.

Yeah, my set is about 3 years old now so it pre-dates the sets you mentioned. If VGA will give me less lag, I will go out and find a VGA cable.

Properly testing input lag

Been reading this thread and I have some advice for anyone testing input lag. Use the automatic rock band guitar (or guitar hero) in a completely dark room. It may not make much of a difference but it could. Stray light may affect the testing. Also, if you are taking pictures of a dual monitor setup with a lag free control please use a DSLR with a minimum of 1/1000s shutter. We are talking about milliseconds here. Shutter should probably be 1/2000 actually. Use a dedicated flash if you must (the onboard camera flash may be inadequate). The dual monitor setup is less accurate because you may actually just be testing the difference between your two monitors if the control isn’t lag free. Too much room for error when talking about milliseconds in my opinion.

It would be a good idea to make a separate thread discussing specific TV models and their input lag and sticky the thread. The thread can simply have users posting 1. their exact TV model 2. Their testing method (only accept AUTOMATIC RB in a completely DARK room) 3. System (PS3, Xbox, Wii) 4. Their connection (HDMI, Component, VGA) and lastly 5. Input lag in milliseconds. Tests should probably be repeated 3 times and averaged if results vary.

Here are my results

  1. Samsung LN26B460B2DXZA (game mode)
  2. Automatic RB in a completely dark room
  3. PS3 slim 160GB
  4. a: HDMI b: Component
  5. a: ~18 avg b: ~19 avg

I think doing this will prove worthwhile for those looking to buy a TV based off accurate input numbers. I don’t want to just go off making another thread so I am suggesting this as a concentrated database with simply the info in 1-5 and no questions or requests.

Edit: Removed composite numbers. Nobody uses that anyway and it’s not HD. I just put it in for a reference. Will update with my component numbers once PS3 component cable arrives.

Double Edit: Added component times and changed HDMI from 15 to 18. The numbers varied from 15-21 for HDMI and 16/17 - 24 for Component after over a dozen trials for each. Standing 2 feet from the TV gave me the best results.

it’ll accept a 1080p input, but won’t out put it. it’ll most likely downscale the 1080p feed to what the monitor/tv is capable of outputing

component is fully capable of hd output.
it was the first hd cable the home theater room got.
and 1080p is its highest supported resolution.
the problem is 1080p output over component on the ps3 is disabled within the hardware in the ps3 because they could not implement any type of DRM like hdcp over this cable.

i suggest you all read what the capabilities of component and vga is first before you all start saying “it isn’t hd” or “it cant do 1080p” because you all sound more and more stupid like those bestbuy sales men trying to pitch a 150 dollar monster cable down your throats.

Component video - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Super video graphics array - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the only reason why vga is preferred over component is because the connector type is less prone to signal loss and that vga supports more bandwidth and higher resolutions. but if you have component already or don’t have vga capability then by all means try the component cable.

this is also a reason why most projectors don’t have hdmi inputs and have vga or component or both.