The best TV settings for gaming

One setting matters more than all the rest put together: Game Mode. It cuts the delay between your controller and the screen from a sluggish tenth of a second down to almost nothing. After that, a handful of extras make fast games look and feel their best. Here they are, in the order that counts.

First and most important: Game Mode

Everything else here is a footnote next to this one. Normally a TV runs your picture through a chain of processing before it reaches the screen, and all of that takes time, often 80 to 120 milliseconds. In a game, that is the gap between pressing a button and seeing it happen, and it feels like wading through treacle. Game Mode switches most of that processing off and drops the delay, the input lag, to somewhere around 10 to 20ms on a decent set. Turn it on for the HDMI input your console or PC is plugged into. It is the single biggest improvement available to you.

Let the TV switch by itself: ALLM

ALLM, Auto Low Latency Mode, lets the console tell the TV to drop into Game Mode on its own the moment a game launches, and step back out for films. Turn it on and you never have to remember to switch modes. It is an HDMI 2.1 feature but works over many HDMI 2.0 connections too.

Smooth, tear-free motion: VRR

VRR, variable refresh rate, syncs the TV's refresh to the game's frame rate, so the picture does not tear or stutter when that frame rate wobbles. You will see it badged as VRR, or as FreeSync (AMD and Xbox) or G-Sync Compatible (Nvidia). Turn it on if your TV and console both support it; it makes an uneven frame rate look far smoother than the TV alone can.

For 4K at 120Hz, you need HDMI 2.1

The headline gaming feature, 4K at 120 frames a second, needs a full HDMI 2.1 chain end to end: A TV port that supports it, an Ultra High Speed cable, and a console or PC that outputs it, such as a PS5 or Xbox Series X. Plug into the wrong port and you are quietly capped at 60. The HDMI cable guide covers which cable and port you need, and the TV Capability Test shows what your set reports.

Turn off the processing

Anything that "improves" motion or contrast adds delay, so for gaming switch off motion smoothing, noise reduction and dynamic contrast. Game Mode disables most of these for you, but it is worth checking. If your TV has a dedicated Game Optimiser or a Game Bar overlay, that is usually where these controls live.

Questions people ask

Does Game Mode make the picture look worse?

A little less processed, yes, but for gaming the responsiveness is worth far more than the processing you give up. Most modern TVs keep HDR and accurate color working in Game Mode, so the trade is smaller than it used to be.

What is a good input lag for gaming?

Under about 20ms feels instant to most people; competitive players want under 10ms. Above 40ms starts to feel sluggish. Game Mode is what takes a TV from the slow end to the fast end, which is why it matters more than anything else.

Do I need a 120Hz TV to game?

No. 120Hz and VRR are lovely for fast games on a capable console, but Game Mode on an ordinary 60Hz TV already fixes the thing that matters most, the input lag. Start there, and treat 120Hz as a bonus rather than a requirement.

Check what your set supports with the TV Capability Test, sort the cable out with the HDMI cable guide, and make sure motion smoothing is off.