A LAGGING picture can really spoil a match – whether you’re the one playing through a console or watching it happen live.
But there are five TV settings changes you can make to make sure you’re catching all the action – and they even work on Roku and Fire Stick gadgets.
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Changing colours
Tweaking your colour settings can reduce something known as input lag – which is when there is a delay between the press of a button and the corresponding action on the screen.
While this is less important for casual gamers, it can be more noticeable in fast-paced gaming.
It can also affect the viewing experience of sports, causing a slight delay in the action appearing on the screen compared to what’s happening on the field.
“Input lag can mean the difference between advancing a level or having to restart an area, and if you are experiencing lag and it’s not your fault, it can be incredibly annoying,” TV manufacturer Hisense says in a new help page on its website.
Some TVs, including Hisense models, have a Game Mode that can turn off process-heavy settings to reduce input lag.
Although it’s worth noting this can reduce picture quality.
If your TV doesn’t have a Game Mode, then you’ll just need to tweak the colour profile in your TVs settings.
Make sure the following settings are adjusted like this:
- Contrast: 100%
- Backlight: 100%
- Brightness: 50%
- Colour: 50%
- Tint (G/R): 50%
- Sharpness: 0%
0% Club
If your TV has advanced settings, you will need to turn off anything that is heavy on the processor to reduce input lag, according to Hisense.
That means switching the following settings to off or reducing to 0:
- Dynamic Contrast
- Black Tone
- Flesh Tone
- Gamma
- Motion Lighting
- Digital Clean View
- Smart LED
- Noise Reduction
- MPEG Noise Reduction
- Reality Creation
- Motion Flow
- Dot Noise Reduction
- Smooth Gradation
- CineMotion
- Auto Light Limiter
- Black Corrector
- Clear White
- Live Colour
- Detail Enhancer
- SBM, Edge Enhancer
- Super Resolution
- Dynamic Colour
- Motion Eye Care
- Real Cinema
- TruMotion
Much needed refresh
For watching sports or gaming on TV, a refresh rate of 120Hz or higher is ideal.
While most sports broadcasts are currently at 60 frames per second (fps), a 120Hz refresh rate can make the action appear clearer and reduce motion blur.
“Refresh rate is essentially how many times your TV updates the image it displays per second,” explains Hisense.
“Therefore, a higher refresh rate has a significant impact on your gaming experience.”
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Light it up
Increasing your TVs backlight setting can also boost your sports and gaming experience, especially if you’re in a brightly lit room.
The setting helps counteract glare and highlights details in darker areas by making your TV screen brighter.
Although this is not something you need to worry about if you have an OLED screen.
“Finding the correct balance will help ensure the key details in a game are clear,” says Hisense.
The TV manufacturer recommends having your TVs backlight set to 50%.
However, if you’re in a darker room, you may want to lower the backlight to reduce eye strain.
Contrast is key
Higher contrast settings are generally advised for both sports and gaming, so viewers don’t miss any detail.
How high you want the contrast is down to preference, but Hisense suggests somewhere between 70% to 80%.
But avoid setting contrast to its maximum, as this can mask detail in the brightest parts of the picture.
FREE STREAMING! Apps offer no-cost TV
Here are some of the most popular apps that offer at least some free streaming content…
- Tubi
- Amazon Freevee
- Plex TV
- The Roku Channel
- Sling Freestream (via Sling TV)
- FilmRise
- NewsON
- Fawesome TV
- Pluto TV
- Local Now
- Haystack News
- Red Bull TV
- Free Movies Plus
- PBS Kids Video
- PBS
- Xumo Play