lcd panel input lag price

When you"re using a monitor, you want your actions to appear on the screen almost instantly, whether you"re typing, clicking through websites, or gaming. If you have high input lag, you"ll notice a delay from the time you type something on your keyboard or when you move your mouse to when it appears on the screen, and this can make the monitor almost unusable.

For gamers, low input lag is even more important because it can be the difference between winning and losing in games. A monitor"s input lag isn"t the only factor in the total amount of input lag because there"s also delay caused by your keyboard/mouse, PC, and internet connection. However, having a monitor with low input lag is one of the first steps in ensuring you get a responsive gaming experience.

Any monitor adds at least a few milliseconds of input lag, but most of the time, it"s small enough that you won"t notice it at all. There are some cases where the input lag increases so much to the point where it becomes noticeable, but that"s very rare and may not necessarily only be caused by the monitor. Your peripherals, like keyboards and mice, add more latency than the monitor, so if you notice any delay, it"s likely because of those and not your screen.

There"s no definitive amount of input lag when people will start noticing it because everyone is different. A good estimate of around 30 ms is when it starts to become noticeable, but even a delay of 20 ms can be problematic for reaction-based games. You can try this tool that adds lag to simulate the difference between high and low input lag. You can use it to estimate how much input lag bothers you, but keep in mind this tool is relative and adds lag to the latency you already have.

There are three main reasons why there"s input lag during computer use, and it isn"t just the monitor that has input lag. There"s the acquisition of the image, the processing, and finally actually displaying it.

The acquisition of the image has to do with the source and not with the monitor. The more time it takes for the monitor to receive the source image, the more input lag there"ll be. This has never really been an issue with PCs since previous analog signals were virtually instant, and current digital interfaces like DisplayPort and HDMI have next to no inherent latency. However, some devices like wireless mice or keyboards may add delay. Bluetooth connections especially add latency, so if you want the lowest latency possible in the video acquisition phase, you should use a wired mouse or keyboard or get something wireless with very low latency.

The time this step takes is affected by the speed of the video processor and the total amount of processing. Although you can"t control the processor speed, you can control how many operations it needs to do by enabling and disabling settings. Most picture settings won"t affect the input lag, and monitors rarely have any image processing, which is why the input lag on monitors tends to be lower than on TVs. One of these settings that could add delay is variable refresh rate, but most modern monitors are good enough that the lag doesn"t increase much.

Once the monitor has processed the image, it"s ready to be displayed on the screen. This is the step where the video processor sends the image to the screen. The screen can"t change its state instantly, and there"s a slight delay from when the image is done processing to when it appears on screen. Our input lag measurements consider when the image first appears on the screen and not the time it takes for the image to fully appear (which has to do with our Response Time measurements). Overall, the time it takes to display the image has a big impact on the total input lag.

Input lag is the amount of time it takes for a display to process a button input while gaming. If you value your gaming experience, you want to avoid displays that exhibit high input lag, as it makes your gameplay feel sluggish and unresponsive. Our input lag database below will help you avoid laggy displays, as it is the world’s largest database for input lag data.

Stick to displays marked Excellent for the best user experience, as they provide the lowest input lag when set to Game Mode. All displays are tested at 60hz. Most displays of the same model number share nearly identical input lag across size ranges.

However, a monitor with low input lag, in my opinion, can make an impact when similar skill levels are involved. Higher resolutions and a better picture may be great for eye candy, but do very little to impact your gameplay. In fact, many professional gamers in my circle turn down resolution and settings while competing.

With that let"s discuss several great low-input-lag monitors that are at the top of their game for responsiveness. These include budget options, FreeSync, and G-Sync monitors, as well as IPS options.

I"m not going to put this list into any rigorous order as different monitors are better for different budgets and genres. However, all of these monitors have Input lags that are competition-worthy. I wouldn"t necessarily pick the monitor with the lowest input lag. Rather go with the monitor here that you like the best.

A few years ago IPS panels had a hurdle that few manufacturers could get over. Refresh rate. And while most gamers preferred an IPS monitor for watching movies or everyday work, many of them couldn"t get past the motion blur they"d see.

If there"s one downside, it"s that the brightness isn"t as high as many of the other IPS panels on the market right now reaching a high of around 350 cd/m2. For me, it was plenty.

Testing and numbers aside these monitors both look amazing on all the games I tested them on. Yes, you may get a small bit of backlight bleeding. For photo editing, the solid calibration and wide gamut backlight set it apart from similar options on the market, and with a low response time and input lag, it"s an ideal option for gamers.

This is an inexpensive IPS panel done right. It gives you that TN panel performance (use action mode) with fast response times and a great picture. I highly recommend you enable HDR. It definitely makes a huge difference. Backlight bleed will vary from panel to panel and, for me, was minimal with this one.

No, you don"t get quantum dots or true HDR 600, but you do get a 165Hz Ultra WQHD panel for the 34" ultra-wide at just $599 and a 27" 144Hz QHD curved monitor for just $260. These are not flagship prices, and therefore, you"re not getting a perfect experience here. However, you"re coming pretty close.

If you"re not looking for an IPS panel, FreeSync, or an integrated G-Sync monitor, then this is probably the one to own. It"s a little pricey for a 24" LED screen, but not compared to similar 144hz monitors. It can be adapted for both 3D and G-Sync.

While I really like the performance of the higher-priced / same panel Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ I couldn"t get past the fan. So, if you"re looking for a high-end gaming monitor with all the bells and whistles, I"d steer you towards Acer"s Predator model PBMIPHZX.

Cons: In spite of all the pros, this monitor is still only 1080p. Plus, the bezels are a bit thicker than some other options out there. So, I definitely wouldn"t recommend it for a double or triple monitor setup. In addition, this is a TN panel monitor. So, it"s certainly not for editing photos.

Console Input Lag for this is good with around an average of 13ms. That"s while running at 60Hz. While I"m not sure why you"d choose this for console, it is important to note that using it at 240Hz on PC shows considerably less lag.

There are, admittedly, a few monitors in this space with similar panels. If $500 seems like a lot, you may prefer something like the Aorus KD25F. It doesn"t include the BFI feature that the Zowie has, but it certainly has a few pros vs. the Zowie XL2546 (including price tag).

In terms of G-Sync monitors the Asus PG79Q is my favorite this year with the Acer XB271HU coming in at a close second. I found the PG279Q to just have slightly better quality for the panel. That being said, the Acer XB271HU"s stand is much improved vs last year"s version and doesn"t lose by much.

This monitor isn"t flawless, and this is a TN panel. It"s also a couple of years old at this point. So, viewing angles are not wide, but it is responsive and bright when placed in front of you. Ultimately, you"re getting great value for the price in a large 4k HDR monitor with FreeSync. I"d recommend it for all types of games.

Whether you"re looking for a low input lag console gaming monitor or simply want a PC gaming monitor with FreeSync, the Asus VG245H is a fantastic value. It has virtually no input lag and comes with a ton of features gamers will love.

It"s the modern version of the old ASUS VH236H used in the EVO tournament, with the same panel, a good input lag of 11ms, in a better overall monitor.

Input lag is a measurement of the delay between the time you enter a command on your keyboard, mouse, or controller, and the time it registers on your screen. A low input lag is crucial in "twitch" (time-sensitive) video games where fractions of a second matter.

Input lag is different from response time; the latter is an indicator of how fast a pixel can go from black to white and back again on a particular monitor. Monitor manufacturers tell you about their "gray-to-gray" (GTG) response times, which tend to be lower.

Although response time isn"t as important as input lag, response times in excess of 5ms can sometimes produce images that feel blurry or have ghosting, which can affect your gameplay. So if you have the option of lower response time, other things being equal, you"ll want to take it.

TN or twisted nematic is the most common type of LCD panel. TN panels are less expensive and offer lower response times than IPS panels, so until rather recently gaming monitors tended to be TN.

In today"s market, most TN panels over 21 inches are considered full HD with 1920 x 1080p resolution. Most TN panels don"t go beyond that; monitors that do are generally IPS panels which photo editors use for color accuracy.

Some disadvantages of TN panels are that viewing angles can be distorted, and color is generally limited to 18 bits. Thus, a TN panel can"t accurately produce the full 16.7 million colors required for "true color." On the other hand, an IPS panel with 10 bits per RGB, or 30 bits total, has just over 1 billion colors.

With a 1ms response time and 6ms input lag, it"s ready for any competition, and overall the picture looks pretty good too. Don"t get this model confused with the next one on our list, the 2450HT made for the PC. T

If you want to be a professional MLG PC gamer, then here"s Major League Gaming"s official PC monitor for this year, the BenQ RL2460HT. With a 1 ms response time and 0 input lag, it"s got the speed you want and all the options you need.

These models, from Dell"s UltraSharp series, have e-IPS panels which create a good picture with wide viewing angles. Their colors are not as accurate as those of the most expensive IPS panels on the market, but they still do a good job overall.

For input lag it comes with virtually no lag and the response time comes in at a cool 1ms. Tools exclusive to BenQ like their Black Equalizer help you to quickly see clearly in the dark. You"ll have to determine whether that"s something you"ll allow yourself to use. For me personally, it makes a huge difference.

MonitorPanel TypeSize (in)Display Size (Pixels)Refresh Rate (Hz)Response Time (ms)Input Lag (ms)Price (USD, 8/2015)G-Sync Built In?Asus VG248QETN241920 x 10801441ms GTG0.7ms250

When monitor technology changed from CRT to LCD some eight to ten years ago, many gamers held on to their heavy old CRTs, even though the pictures looked so much better on the newer models. They did that because their old monitors had little or no input lag and a higher refresh rate.

Since that time many LCD monitors have been put on the market, including LCD monitors with under one frame or 16.7 ms of input lag. Early LCD gaming monitors had a refresh rate of about 60Hz, which although relatively low was adequate to offset most of the benefits of the old CRTs.

Monitors like the ASUS VH236H gained popularity in professional tournaments like EVO early on because of their low input lag. Input lag on the VH236H was virtually unnoticeable, at about a half a frame or 8.3ms.

Ultimately, input lag, should be one of the determining factors you use when buying a gaming monitor as it gives real-world results. All of the monitors in the list above receive a passing grade on that front.

So you don"t even bother adding in brands of CRT monitors for people that don"t wanna blow a hole in there wallet from a LCD screen that barely manages to get zero input lag?

What about Dell 4K S2817Qr 28 inch TN for consoles? Under $300 Response time of 2 and input lag of 10ms. I"m looking for 1440 monitor cheaper and better specs than this.

Would you think the VX248H (not listed in article) would have the same input lag as the VX238H? Can"t seem to find numbers on the 24, while the 23 gets rave reviews. Thanks for any input!

I know BenQ RL2450HT was built for pc games, but isn"t better to get for console systems, since it has 4.2 input lag which is better than BenQ RL2455HM, the one made for console gaming??

The following TVs, featured at the top of the page, deliver either the lowest lag I"ve measured among the TVs I"ve reviewed, the best picture quality for the money, or a combination of both.

There are actually three LG OLED TVs tied for the lowest lag on the chart, but we"re choosing the C1 because it"s the best value. The other two, the C2 and the G1, are both more expensive, and all three deliver very similar picture quality -- which happens to be the best we"ve ever tested. The C1 is a 2021 TV, but the gaming extras and other differences between it and the C2 from 2022 aren"t worth the price.

Note that its lag score here was measured with the special "Reduce input delay (input lag)" setting in the Boost position. Boost is only available for 60Hz sources, so you can"t use it with 120Hz games or VRR. With those sources you"ll need to use the Standard position, which is still an excellent 13ms.

Another high-end 2021 TV, this Samsung QLED model delivers the best picture quality of any TV we"ve reviewed that"s not based on OLED display tech. It can get brighter than any of the OLED TVs listed here, supports all the next-gen gaming features, and showed lower lag than any 2020 TV we"ve tested so far.

Game mode makes a difference, except when it doesn"t.As you can see in the table above, many TVs cut lag substantially when you turn on game mode, but plenty don"t. In general, expensive TVs with elaborate video processing get more of a benefit when you engage game mode.

Turning game mode on can hurt image quality (a little).TV makers" menus often refer to reduced picture quality. Reduced picture quality is generally the result of turning off that video processing. In my experience, however, the differences in image quality are really subtle with console gaming, and worth the trade-off if you want to minimize lag for a great gaming experience.

If the TV input where your console is connected is shared with other devices and you don"t want to remember to re-engage game mode all the time, an auto game-mode feature might be useful. And some cutting-edge

If you’re looking to get a new gaming monitor, whether 60Hz, 144Hz, 165hz or even 240Hz, then you’re most likely considering two very important specs. We don’t mean resolution as that’s a given and the first item on the list right next to screen size. We’re referring to input lag and response time. While most prospective gaming monitor shoppers know what refresh (or frame) rate means, quite a few people remain confused about the distinction between response time and input lag.

Additionally, while almost every gaming monitor has a response time listed in the spec section, input lag rarely makes an appearance. That’s because while the confusion exists, the two terms are very different. Manufacturers can easily calculate and test monitor response times at the factory, but input lag (or input latency) presents a much more complex issue. Many factors that go into input lag have nothing to do with the monitor or the production process used to make the display, and so manufacturers would be remiss if they made bold input lag claims.

Despite that, as someone interested in gaming and gaming monitors you should definitely educate yourself on these two related but distinct terms. That’s because if you opt for a cheap monitor that ends up having slow response or lots of lag then your gaming may well be ruined. Even monitors with high refresh rates can be slow in this regard. If they suffer from sluggish response time and high latency your games will present with problems like motion blur and ghosting. Additionally, controlling in-game actions will feel “off” and unresponsive. That’s why gamers really should learn more about response time and input lag plus how the two differ.

Quite a simple answer to that one. Response time forms a part of overall input latency. That most likely explains why so many people misunderstand that the two specs describe different but connected aspects of a gaming monitor. Another cause for confusion may originate in the fact that both refer to speed and have become part of the popular discussion around gaming monitors as things to consider for optimal monitor performance. Often mentioned in the same sentence, response time and input latency sometimes become conflated with each other.

Sure, both tell us important things about a gaming monitor’s speed, but from very different angles. Response time is entirely native to the monitor proper, while input lag or latency include the whole process from you pressing a button to a corresponding action occurring onscreen.

Distilled to their bare essence, both terms detail the speed with which images change on a display and react to your input. But that’s a very simplistic description that doesn’t do the topic justice, so let’s look at them up close.

Response describes the length of time a given monitor or panel needs to change the properties of each pixel. Since TFT LCDs consist of millions of pixels (or transistors), for example 8.3 million in a 4K monitor, speed is understandably of the essence. Response time tells us how long a monitor needs to turn a pixel from red to green, as an example. The faster, the more responsive the image updates. Faster means smoother display and allows for higher refresh rates.

Think of response time like this. You’re playing a first person game and decide to turn left, down an alley. Your monitor gets the data from your PC or console and needs to update the image you see to reflect the new graphics being loaded in. A monitor with 5ms technically does this five times slower than a 1ms screen. Of course, we’re talking about milliseconds so the difference may not be perceptible. But every little bit counts as games by nature need to be responsive, and like we said response time contributes to overall lag or delay.

Different gaming monitor panel types support slightly diverse response times, although advancing technology has helped narrow down gaps. The fastest response occurs on TN panels, which generally are the best for reflex-based gaming. Essentially all TN panels do 1ms these days, which is why they’re the only ones capable of 240Hz refresh rates, as well. VA and IPS panels usually come in at 2ms-5ms but provide better colors and viewing angles. We’ve discussed panel technologies if you want to know more.

TN panels carry out the least pixel processing of the three main panel types, explaining their high speeds. VA and IPS panels have been designed to ensure better colors, but that requires more processing – meaning delays. As the simplest mainstream panel type, TN manages the fastest response times by getting straight to the pixel, so to speak.

The total time required to show an action on the screen amounts to what is known as input lag. The word input mostly refers to you, the user. You press a key or click a button on a keyboard or controller and then expect a corresponding action on your gaming monitor (or TV). The time needed to show you that action equals input lag.

Input lag rises from a host of factors. From your controller or keyboard the signal moves to your PC or console. If you’re using wireless input devices that movement takes a little longer than with wired versions. Then your PC or console take time to process the data you gave them, then more time to send graphics info via a cable to your display. Generally, HDMI and DisplayPort have the same speed: light speed. So cables aren’t a major issue, but they’re a step. Then every monitor has processing units that accept signals and work to update the screen. Thus, the monitor’s internal circuitry introduces lag. Response time factors into latency as we mentioned above. That means the time a monitor needs to get a signal, process that signal, then change its pixels to depict visuals obviously adds latency.

Any image processing done on your monitor increases latency. Even if base response time is 1ms, should the monitor then add refinements like HDR, dynamic brightness/contrast, edge sharpening, local dimming and so forth – well, latency increases. Remember the basic rule: image processing means lag.

That’s why for gaming we recommend using PC mode or game mode. Those switch off most image processing to keep you close to raw response time on the monitor. How do we measure input lag? Also in milliseconds, but it’s a lot more than response time. Really good monitors like the BenQ EL2870U,  the 4K HDR monitor EW3270U, and 144hz gaming monitor EX2780Q with speakers clock in at 9ms-10ms based on third party reviews, but the average hovers somewhere between 15ms and 22ms for typical gaming monitors and gaming-minded TVs. You should not detect any negative effects with those latency figures, and your games will feel very responsive. It’s only when latency exceeds 40ms or so that people begin to notice sync issues. Anything over 50ms would be basically unplayable. Don’t laugh, lots of cheap monitors and TVs even now deliver performance slower than that, resulting in completely ruined gaming experiences.

When shopping for a gaming monitor do some research, read reviews, and check out the spec sheets. You’ll likely find out about each model’s response time easily enough, but reviews and forum posts will shed more light on input lag. Stay with reputable, established brands. Get monitors that specifically mention gaming, as good manufacturers won’t claim gaming-grade performance for slow monitors, it’s simple as that.

Also simple is the difference between response time and input latency. The former is local to the monitor and helps you understand how fast the panel is on its own. The latter refers to a much more comprehensive and useful number because it includes response time and illustrates the actual gaming experience you’ll have with a monitor or TV.

Using the HDMI input and the Leo Bodnar lag tester, I measure 27.33ms of lag overall in the Monoprice IPS-Glass. This is a bit slower than the Zero-G, which used an HDMI-DVI adapter, but right in the range of most monitors out there today. Changing the mode on the display did not cause a change in the lag. Of course a bit of scaling is introduced, but other monitors have shown that you can add only1-2ms of lag through scaling if done properly so I don"t believe results will be much different at native resolution. Sadly, there are no 2560x1440 (or 4K) equivalents of the Leo Bodnar tester at present.

Gaming is certainly not this monitor’s forte, but one could play less frenetic titles on it and have a good time. I ran my response and lag tests and got results typical of a 60 Hz enterprise monitor.

The DualUp is a quality IPS panel with excellent viewing angles. At 45 degrees to the sides, the picture takes on a slight green tint with only around a 10% reduction in brightness. Detail remains clear with no apparent change to gamma. The top view washes out a bit with a 40% brightness drop. You’d have to be tall indeed to look down on one of these screens.

That’s because when playing games – especially competitive FPS games – the quality of the display isn’t the most important factor. Instead, you want to look for something with a low response time and fast refresh rate so there’s no input lag between your controller and the display.

Our findings show that the average 32″ TV that is suitable for gaming tends to cost around $200 and offers at least; a 60Hz refresh rate which is standard for most consoles and PCs; a maximum of 10ms response time; 1080p resolution (to enjoy high-definition graphics); and an LCD or LED display technology panel for a rich and vibrant image color.

Both the gaming TVs and gaming monitors in our selection have been tested and have a very reasonable response time. Response time refers to the input lag, which essentially is the delay from pressing a button on your keyboard or controller to the moment the action is displayed on the screen. The lower your input lag/response time, the better your gaming experience will be.

We have explored and selected a wide range of display panel technologies ranging from LCD to LED and even QLED for the ones that want a more modern, and pricy technology in their unit.

If you are after the best gaming performance, the best overall picture quality, and are willing to invest a little bit extra, then the Samsung QN32Q60AAFXZA is the gaming TV for you. It delivers the best overall image quality due to its 4K QLED panel (which is known to deliver the best brightness and color intensity while being remarkably efficient in power consumption). The Samsung QN32Q60AAFXZA also has the lowest input lag at just 5ms from all gaming TVs on this list, which is incredible for a gaming TV considering the average TV can reach a response time of over 50ms.

If you are after the best value for money 32-inch gaming TV, our favorite pick is the TCL 32S237. This TV offers some desirable gaming traits like 1080p image quality, 6.5ms of input lag (which is quite low considering it’s a TV and it has a low price point), and a 60Hz refresh rate. This makes this inexpensive product easily one of the best choices when it comes to value for money if you are playing on a console or have a lower-end gaming PC that can comfortably support 1080p at 60 FPS (frames-per-second).

In terms of image, the TCL 32S237 hosts an LED panel (which is known for its long life span, low energy consumption, and exceptional color range) to meet the demands of any game at 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Under the sleek and modern design of the AOC C32G2, you will find an LCD panel that supports 1920 x 1080p resolution at an impressive 165 Hz, which is perfect for a medium-range gaming PC or the next-generation of consoles.

The exact number is not available, however, after running some tests ourselves, we came to the conclusion that there is very minimal input lag delay that you won’t even notice if you are a casual gamer.

The LCD panel of the Vizio D32F-G can output the amazing 1920 x 1080p, so, if you have a console or a gaming PC that can comfortably hold 60 FPS at this resolution, this 32-inch gaming TV is a great and affordable pick.

As for performance, this gaming TV hosts an LED panel that supports 720p HD resolution for crisp-clear image quality. When gaming is concerned, I typically wouldn’t go lower than 720p, but since this gaming TV supports 60Hz, with a response time of just 10ms, I think it’s a great pick for beginners and casual players.

We tested this TV playing games such as Warzone, GTA V, and Fortnite using both controller and mouse and keyboard. The results; a really decent performance with minimal input lag, and satisfying image quality.

In terms of graphical performance, this QHD Samsung gaming monitor supports a display resolution of up to 2560 x 1440 in a 16:9 aspect ratio, making it a brilliant choice if your console or gaming PC can smoothly run at such resolution. With the AMD FreeSync technology implemented into the hardware of the display, you can enjoy an even lower level of screen tearing, stutter, and input latency for a smoother and more enjoyable gaming experience.

When performance is concerned, this monitor supports 4K UHD graphics at up to 60Hz. So, if you have a powerful enough system to offload such graphics to this monitor, it would be a great purchase. Furthermore, the XG3220 has an integrated FreeSynch technology developed by AMD to reduce screen tearing, stutters, and put the input delay to a minimum, despite its already pretty low 5ms response time.

When shopping for a gaming TV, one of the most important things to look out for is the unit’s input lag. For the ones that don’t know, input lag refers to the fraction of time that it takes a particular action such as pressing a button on your controller or keyboard to be translated on the screen.

You may have heard of QLED, LCD, LED, OLED, and so on. But, what do these actually mean when it comes to gaming, and should you be paying attention to the display technology? After thorough testing and research, yes, you absolutely should, if you care about the overall quality of color that you see on the screen. I have found that for gaming, LED does the job just fine, but if you have a little more money to spend, you could consider investing in an OLED or QLED screen, which provides a much more vibrant image.

It"s false argument to begin with and while I"m glad the Op is fighting back. We need to get out of the mindset a display has input lag, to me it doesn"t it"s literally only displaying the signal given to it and since it has no awareness of your inputs I see it as a dumb notion to link the two.

An ungodly crt like gdm-fw900 has no competition stock or tweaked even compared to oled at 1080p. The same for princeton monitors when the few of them existed for customers and not just big companies or very pricy clients could be gotten. I say that from experience and I"ve yet to see any flat panel in my history post crts or sed demonstrations that have topped either.

how about if we have topic like this we inform people a little more of options in the past that LCD and flat panels made us regress in, such as high refreshrates. That"s huge caveat to leave out to people that CRTs had no problem with high refreshrates even in the 90s. Not only that refreshrate as we now know from the blur buster studies has a direct impact on the pixel persistence of lcd, thus even for lcds it would seem dumb to me not mention that that factor would change at higher rates. I don"t even need to debate this part that"s a fact and it should be highlighted that 60hz alone in pixel persistence is 16MS. There"s no doubt that in high refreshrate test or ulmb test LCD would have even less input lag, which would only help the argument they aren"t as weak as crts in this area. I know this cause I use said such products and immediately see the difference vs shit 60hz.

At their most basic level, a gaming monitor and TV do the same thing: they display an image from an input device. Still, there are differences between the features of each.

Gaming monitors support a wide range of inputs. This includes both HDMI and DisplayPort and sometimes DVI and VGA, though those are rare on new gaming monitors. Monitors lack a TV tuner, so they can’t display traditional over-the-air or cable TV signals.

Gaming monitors often have an advantage in pixel density and, because they use little to no image processing, most have almost zero input lag. These traits make for a crisp, responsive experience.

Modern televisions have HDMI inputs and rarely anything else - except for a TV tuner, which is used for over-the-air TV signals. The TV tuner is what makes a television, well, a television.

Televisions have an advantage in many aspects of image quality including brightness, contrast, and color gamut. They often use fundamentally better technology, such as OLED panels or Mini-LED backlights, to deliver the best visual experience. There is some overlap, however: the best gaming monitors have OLED panels or Mini-LED backlighting.

Most gamers want a display that will provide excellent performance, and performance can usually be separated into three areas: input lag, refresh rate, and pixel response times.

Input lag is the delay between user input and that input appearing on-screen. Most monitors add just a few seconds of input lag. Some TVs have low input lag, but others don’t, so it’s important to read TV reviews and avoid those with high input lag.

TVs are less likely to support adaptive sync. This feature lets a display sync its refresh rate with an input device for silky-smooth motion that offers proper pacing between each frame.

TVs have a variety of image quality features and modes dedicated to improving, or just customizing, the viewing experience. Viewers can smooth out motion, dip into different HDR modes, pick between color gamuts, and much more. These options can often be changed and saved on a per-input basis, as well. Monitors offer some image quality adjustments, but they’re typically harder to access and less in-depth.

Latency, also known as input lag, is the delay between tapping a button on an input device (like a gamepad) and the result occurring on-screen. Displays are often among the most significant contributors to latency, so it’s important to buy a low latency display for gaming.

Gamers in this situation may be better off with a large monitor such as the 43-inch Gigabyte Aorus FV43U ($680). Large gaming monitors have a 4K panel, a high refresh rate, and support adaptive sync. Image quality isn’t bad, either. Just remember that a monitor lacks a TV tuner, so it won’t be able to connect to an antenna or directly to a cable wall outlet.

A gaming monitor is the best choice for game performance. Their combination of low input lag and high refresh rate makes for unparalleled responsiveness. A gaming monitor is best for games on a desk or in a space where you’ll be just a few feet from the display. Monitors also have an edge if you want to use multiple displays.

The most exciting, fast-paced games—like shooters, fighters, or racing sims—are built around the assumption that split-second reactions will actually happen within a split-second on your screen. When they don"t, it"s a major immersion breaker, and input lag is usually the culprit.

Input lag refers to the total difference in time between you moving a controller of some kind (a mouse, keyboard, or gamepad) and a response on screen. Input lag can happen at every step along the signal chain—from the controller, to the console, to the screen—and it"s cumulative; if the controller, game, and TV each introduce 30 milliseconds of delay, you"ll get a total of 90ms input lag.

Though there are ways to analyze just the input lag of any display, we wanted to look at the problem holistically. We also wanted to tackle this from a gamer"s perspective, comparing the experience of playing on a TV with both a traditional console and a PC. To that end for both our PC and game console tests we used a wired Xbox 360 controller and played the same game: Skyrim.

Then, we used the GoPro Hero4 Silver (set to 720p at 120 FPS) to record us repeating the same inputs across all our various test setups. By reviewing the footage and counting the frames (with each frame recording an 8.33ms slice of time) we were able to measure how much delay each setup introduced.

We started our experiment with an Xbox 360 outputting via composite (AV) cables to an old-school CRT television. Why a CRT? Because though they"re big and bulky, CRTs introduce almost no lag; as soon as the console sends out a signal, the TV will display it. With a CRT we were able to see a base input lag of about 139ms, with about 40-50ms taken up by our controller input and the rest from the console itself. Generally anything less than 166ms (about 10 frames of a game running at 60 FPS) is considered negligible, so this is a perfect result.

We repeated the test on four other types of TVs, including a plasma, 1080p LED, an older CCFL LCD, and the 2014 P-series 4K LED from Vizio. All four of these sets include analog (composite and component) and digital (HDMI) inputs. In general we found HDMI presented the best results on modern TVs with a modern game console. The only exception is the older CCFL LCD, which performed marginally better with component cables.

Despite having a lightning fast refresh rate, the plasma was the worst performer—though our particular Samsung plasma is well-known for having input lag issues. The CCFL LCD and the 1080p LED were both about the same, oddly enough, though the game looked much better on the modern display.

The most surprising result? The Vizio 4K TV was the best performer after the CRT, as long as you stick to one particular HDMI input. This is because while most HDMI inputs top out at 60Hz (50Hz in PAL countries), this Vizio has a "High Velocity" HDMI input that supports 4K/60Hz or 1080/120Hz throughput. Even though this set has to upscale the Xbox"s HD image to 4K, using this port reduced input lag severely. On any other HDMI port the TV"s total input lag was a sky-high 292ms.

For PC gamers looking to move to the living room, we wanted to stick with the same setup. We replaced our Xbox 360 with a powerful gaming laptop, the Razer Blade Pro, which has a 2.4Ghz Intel Core i7-4700HQ processor, 16GB of RAM, and an Nvidia Geforce 860M graphics card. We omitted the CRT and CCFL LCD because they both have sub-1080p resolutions, leaving the plasma, LED LCD, 4K LCD, and the laptop"s screen to contend for the gold.

Our initial results were positive: Gaming directly to your laptop"s screen presents the least amount of input lag—even less than gaming with the Xbox 360 and a CRT. In fact, across the board we saw lower input lag when using a modern gaming laptop than when performing the same inputs on the Xbox 360.

The most surprising result? When running the PC version of Skyrim on Ultra settings at 1080/60 FPS, the 4K Vizio had only slightly more input lag than playing the Xbox 360 version of Skyrim on a CRT monitor. The laptop"s own screen is still king, but remember (again) that the Vizio is upscaling that 1080p image to display it at 4K. Again, it"s essential that you use the high-speed HDMI port as all the standard HDMI ports had an input lag of over 300ms.

The short answer is yes, especially if your TV"s native resolution is 1080p or higher. If you have an older TV—say from 2006 or 2007—with sub-1080p resolution, you may find that the interlaced 1080i signal (from a component input) is a little faster at the cost to some image clarity. If you"re using a 4K set then definitely opt for HDMI, but without a faster HDMI port the upscaling process will introduce significant levels of lag.

If you"re playing on older consoles: The tradeoffs are pretty obvious; you can play a Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, or any older console on a CRT if you absolutely want the best input lag—something competitive fighting game players have known for years. This means missing out on larger, better-looking screens, however. Modern LCDs like the one we tested can introduce 20 milliseconds or more of perceptible lag (over 166 ms). And while plasma performance may be better than LCD in terms of image quality, it sometimes means tons of additional input lag.

If you"re playing on a new console: You shouldn"t be afraid to make the jump to a 4K TV as long as it upscales well and has a "fast" HDMI input like the P Series. While games on the PS4 and Xbox One will likely top out at 1080/60 FPS this generation, the input lag from 4K upscaling is negligible—with the right port. If you"re buying a new TV, make sure it has HDMI 2.0 ports that support HDCP 2.2

If you"re a PC gamer: A full-on gaming rig is clearly the best bet for avoiding input lag. And with a laptop, playing directly to the screen is just as fast as using an older console and a CRT. If you"re set on gaming in the living room, the same rules apply: Look for a new UHD TV with faster HDMI inputs, or 1080p displays with game modes available. And while 4K gaming is cool, gaming at a consistent 60 FPS is more important.

Ultimately, input lag is the sum of many parts. There are individual variables from set to set and game to game that will affect input lag. If you want to learn more about what a specific display will add to the equation, we recommend DisplayLag"s invaluable Input Lag Database to help you get your twitch on.

Your monitor’s display settings may increase the delay between inputting commands and seeing the result on your display. Some display parameters are configurable, while others are built into the hardware and cannot be changed.

The first thing to look at is your monitor’s refresh rate. A higher refresh rate increases the number of individual frames that your monitor displays per second. Displaying more frames per second reduces the delay between inputting a command and seeing its result on the screen, shaving valuable milliseconds off input lag.

Not all wired connections provide the same response time benefits. Some displays (especially Smart TVs) add processing effects like visual noise reduction to AV input, which adds to latency. To avoid this, check to see if your TV features a “Game Mode” that minimizes input lag by bypassing video signal processing.

Keep in mind that every TV and monitor has a unique, hardware-defined input latency. This is the amount of time that it takes the display to receive, process, and show incoming data. It is built into the hardware of the screen itself and cannot be changed.

Manufacturers don’t generally advertise their products’ latency delays. Instead, they focus on “response time,” which measures how long it takes for individual pixels to change color. It’s easy to confuse these two, but response time doesn’t have a significant impact on input lag.

Many new, gaming-ready displays have an input latency of 10-15 milliseconds. There are third-party websites that conduct and list monitor input latency scores, so it’s possible to verify how much of your input lag is built in.

Monitors usually have lower input lag, higher refresh rates and faster response time than TVs, which make them a better choice for gaming (there are exceptions, such as OLED TVs).

This feature considerably lowers input lag, which is a must if you wish to have smooth and responsive gameplay. We recommend that the TV has less than 16ms input lag —ideally, less than 8ms if it supports 120Hz.

While an average IPS panel monitor has a response time speed of ~5ms, an IPS panel TV has around 15ms, which will result in more visible ghosting and trailing behind fast-moving objects.

In short, if you’re looking for a TV for gaming, make sure it has low input lag (Game Mode feature), and it should preferably have an IPS panel as VA panels have a slower response time.

Today we"re checking out the LG C2 OLED TV to see how good it is as a PC gaming monitor, a sequel of sorts to our investigation of the LG C1 last year. Since that review was published, a lot has changed in the monitor market, we now have an OLED that"s actually designed for gaming in the Alienware AW3423DW, the prices of mini-LED true HDR LCDs are also coming down, so it"ll be interesting to see whether going the TV route is still viable for today"s PC gaming setups.

The LG is primarily designed as a TV with full smart functionality, however it also includes important gaming features like variable refresh rate support and a low input lag mode.

The LG C2"s design is different to most monitors that we look at in that the panel is larger than normal, and of course, it"s meant to be used as a TV. So the "stand" included here is just two legs that hold up the panel section. There is no adjustability whatsoever, you can"t even tilt the display into the position you may want, so forget about height adjustment or anything of the sort. LG expects you to either use this as is, or wall mount it.

The LG C2 is nicely designed, the front is dominated by the OLED panel with relatively thin bezels, there are no distractions and we get a nice metal and glass build. The plastic stand legs were a little disappointing, they feel a bit cheap considering the price of the display, but ultimately aren"t very distracting, and it matches the plastic used on the rear.

For ports, the LG C2 includes four HDMI 2.1 ports in addition to several others, including three USB, both analog and optical audio output, Ethernet, and an antenna input for the tuner. The HDMI 2.1 ports are 48 Gbps and facilitate the full 4K 120Hz experience at up to 10-bit, no issues here.

The OSD is controlled through the remote control which uses a combination of buttons and a wand like pointer control. The menu is easy to navigate but naturally has lots of things to adjust, and there is a setup process that will guide you through a lot of it. Outside of that we"d recommend making sure HDMI Deep Color is set to "4K" in the HDMI settings, and that the Game Optimizer mode is used so that variable refresh rates are enabled, 120Hz is accessible, and input lag is reduced. You won"t find things like cheat crosshairs in this TV but you will still find blue light filters and the occasional useful processing feature if you want to use it.

Looking at response times, the LG C2 has elite speed as you"d expect from a self-lit OLED panel. No overdrive controls are necessary as the C2 is capable of a true 1ms response time at 120Hz, unlike the vast majority of LCDs that advertise 1ms but can"t even get close to 1ms in practice.

One of the inherent benefits of OLED is speed, delivering 1ms average response and negligible overshoot, which leads to outstanding cumulative deviation values. This is as close to instant response times as you"ll get from a display in 2022, and you simply won"t see any typical LCD artefacts like ghosting, smearing or inverse ghosting in practice.

On top of producing insanely good response times at 120Hz, the C2 is able to hold the same performance at lower refresh rates. In fact, there is basically no difference to performance as we move down the refresh rate range. At 60Hz, for example, we still get approximately a 1ms response time, which is as good as it gets among displays and the only blur you"ll see at this refresh will be attributed to the slow refresh rate and sample and hold nature of OLED panels. This gives gamers a perfect variable refresh rate experience.

Compared to other monitors at their maximum refresh rate, the LG C2 and other OLEDs are in a class of their own. Not only does the C2"s 1ms response time obliterate a typical LCD panel in response times, it does so with negligible overshoot. The Samsung Odyssey Neo G8, for example, is 2.5x slower and has much higher overshoot, delivering a worse visual experience – and the Neo G8 is excellent as far as LCDs go. Compared to more typical LCDs, the C2 is in the range of 4 to 5 times faster.

On average, the C2 tends to be even more impressive relative to its LCD competitors than what we saw just looking at the highest refresh rate. LCDs typically get slower or more artifact prone as the refresh rate decreases, but OLEDs keep rock solid consistent performance across the entire refresh range. So while the C2 may only be 2.5x as fast as the Neo G8 at its maximum refresh, looking at average performance now the C2 is 4x as fast. So OLED is not just amazing in terms of raw speed, but also its consistency in a range of conditions, there is simply no better display technology for gamers today.

For cumulative deviation, which measures the balance between response times and overshoot, the C2 is a chart topping OLED, though it"s not significantly different to other OLED displays. Still, what the C2 is capable of is a cumulative deviation value 3 to 4 times better than the fastest LCDs of today, and more than 4 times better than a typical LCD. It"s not a contest, the C2 smashes what other panel technologies have to offer.

At 120Hz there"s no better panel type than an OLED for gaming. The results are far superior to LCD competitors, which makes the LG C2 an excellent choice for PC and especially console gaming that will often be making use of the 120Hz mode. At 60Hz the LG C2 is also far and away better than other monitors, with the exception of fellow OLEDs which all deliver roughly equivalent performance.

Input latency is low with the C2, although you"ll have to set up the display in a specific way to benefit, including using the game optimizer mode and setting the low input lag mode to boost. In that configuration, the C2 has less than 1ms of processing delay and is what I"d recommend for gaming, although the lag is much longer in other modes. This is similar to the LG C1 also configured in this way, and less lag than many other HDR monitors.

The C2 does include a backlight strobing mode, which we guess in this situation should be called black frame insertion as the OLED panel doesn"t have a backlight. In any case, you know what I mean, it can strobe the image to improve motion clarity. I was disappointed to discover though that the "OLED Motion" setting is more limited on the C2 than the C1: it no longer works at 120Hz at all, only allowing a strobed image at 60Hz, which has a distracting flicker that makes it unusable. The previous feature on the C1 worked really well at 120Hz, so we"re not sure why this has been taken away on the newer model.

Moving on to color quality, the C2 OLED is a wide gamut display, but not the widest we"ve seen. The focus is clearly on DCI-P3, supporting 97% of that gamut in our testing. But the gamut does not extend beyond DCI-P3 to support Adobe RGB or any other gamuts (despite LG offering an Adobe RGB mode), of course P3 makes the most sense for a TV that"s focused on film and television but it doesn"t make it as versatile as today"s best LCD monitors that have 80% Rec. 2020 coverage. The LG C2 only sits at 71% coverage.

The weakest aspect to image quality is brightness. When displaying a full white image, the LG C2 OLED is a dim display thanks to its automatic brightness limiter or ABL. A result of under 200 nits will be insufficient in many brighter environments, and when combined with a glossy panel this is not a great result for reflections.

Minimum brightness is good if you want to use the C2 in a dark room without burning your eyes, not that an OLED is really capable of that. And of course, showing a contrast graph would be a bit pointless as the OLED screen has an effective infinite contrast ratio, obliterating LCD panels in the process as an OLED can deliver richer, inky blacks. However, what we will show instead is a black level chart, which illustrates how the OLED screen compares to various LCD technologies when the display is calibrated to 200 nits. Nothing else comes close to the OLED"s black levels.

Uniformity and viewing angles are both great. There are some slight tint differences depending on the area of the panel, which is expected for an OLED. Uniformity will also depend on how close you sit to the monitor, as the closer you are, the more you"ll see the effects of viewing angle differences rather than the uniformity of the display itself.

There are some mitigation strategies in place, some of which the C2 activates on its own and some that you can do yourself. For example, the C2 implements pixel shifting and logo dimming to improve the lifespan of the TV, and dims the entire panel when long periods of static content is detected. However, we found the pixel shift feature annoying as it can cut off vital information from the desktop at times, depending on where the image is shifted to, so that might need to be disabled for desktop use, further hurting burn in. We"d also recommend some adjustments in Windows, like using a dark mode, enabling screen savers, and setting the taskbar to automatically hide.

The LG C2 is a fantastic HDR display. With an OLED panel, each individual pixel is self lit, providing the best contrast ratio possible from a modern display technology. Not only does the C2 meet our HDR checklist, but its effective zone count of over 8.2 million dwarfs the best full array locally dimmed LCD monitors that top out at a mediocre 1200 zones in comparison.

Even the best HDR LCDs you can buy today like the Samsung Odyssey Neo G7 can struggle with blooming in certain areas despite a high native contrast ratio and lots of dimming zones. OLEDs always look perfect in all conditions, you"ll never have to worry about blooming, and it can be a significant difference at times, which leads to excellent image quality in HDR content.

As before, there"s no point in showing HDR contrast graphs as this OLED is able to achieve infinite contrast, even in checkerboard tests where the Neo G7 tops out around a 20,000:1 contrast ratio. That LCD is definitely very good and gets the closest to an OLED in terms of shadow detail and black levels, but the C2 is a step above and has the best handling of darker content of any HDR display you can get. Those that care most about black levels should strongly consider an OLED.

The drawback is the same as the SDR section as well: brightness. Full screen sustained brightness is poor and in our testing actually worse than in the SDR mode at just 130 nits. LCD panels crush this OLED in its ability to show a very bright image that takes up the entire screen. The AW3423DW is also noticeably brighter for full screen content, although that QD-OLED isn"t amazing either.

However, the LG C2 is competitive at showing bright highlights. When measuring a 10% white window, our C2 unit was capable of 667 nits of brightness which is bright enough to show good highlights in a lot of HDR content, but isn"t as good as the best LCD panels. OLEDs can appear brighter to your eye than these numbers would suggest due to their deeper-than-LCD black levels and extremely high contrast ratio, so in my experience an OLED can get away with lower brightness than an LCD can, but it"s still one area that OLED tech needs to improve on. It was also disappointing to see lower peak brightness with the LG C2 42 inch model than with the LG C1 48 inch model, despite all the chatter around the new "evo" brightness tech. With that said, the C2 is brighter for 10% content than the Alienware AW3423DW.

The final section of this review is the HUB Essentials Checklist, which looks to see whether LG is accurately advertising the panel and whether it meets minimum performance standards. At the top, the LG C2 does get a few deductions for omitting height adjustment and DisplayPort, though neither of these things were likely to be included on a TV.

LG does a great job with the color and motion performance sections, nailing the various specifications advertised. LG probably made the right choice not to talk about brightness on their spec page, rather than misleading customers with a fake number if the numbers weren"t that impressive. However the 1ms response time claim is spot on and we"re impressed that LG decided to be truthful here rather than saying this is a 0.1ms monitor just to "beat" lying LCDs. HDR performance is also solid.

The addition of a 42-inch panel size makes it miles better than the 48-inch variant for desktop PC users. It"s easier to use, it takes up less space, and isn"t all that different to a standard ultrawide, just much taller, and with more screen real estate as a result. The 48-inch model was harder to recommend due to its sheer size, but the 42-inch model alleviates many of these issues and becomes a true monitor contender. It feels a lot less like a TV that you"re awkwardly using as a monitor.

For content consumers, the LG C2 ticks nearly every box. It"s extremely fast thanks to OLED"s elite response times, and it has excellent variable refresh rate support. It has an outstanding contrast ratio, deep blacks and glossy coating. Then for HDR, we get amazing results for contrast and dimming, no blooming issues and at times a good level of brightness. It"s hard to make an OLED look bad in HDR content, or really any content for that matter, these panels are built for a high image quality experience.

What we will say is that we"d lean towards an OLED gaming monitor right now than an LCD in this price segment. Despite some drawbacks, we"re most impressed with the LG C2 and Alienware QD-OLED than with the Samsung Odyssey offerings. Pricing for both OLED options is fair, too. We"re also expecting to see more HDR options hit the market throughout the remainder of 2022, but right now the LG C2 is going to be a great choice for many buyers.