I have decided it's time to upgrade to a HDTV. But I'm wondering what the best type of TV is best for gaming?

LCD?
LED-Lit LCD?
Plasma?

I'm wondering if anyone on TL.net has gone through this process before and has any advice. Most of the reviews I have read on the internet deal with color constrast, depth, image quality, etc. While those are important, I have also heard that some types of HDTVs are better or worse for gaming.

As an avid gamer who will be using his HDTV mostly for PS3/XBox 360 games, what should I look for in an HDTV?

skronch

United States2717 Posts

May 23 2010 17:02 GMT

honestly most hdtv's today (as long as you don't buy a budget no-name brand) will have fairly good picture quality and pixel response time, or at least completely adequate for someone who's number one priority is gaming. the one thing you should be looking for is input lag - since most modern HDTVs do a bunch of image processing to the input signal, there is a lag between the video signal that comes in and the image displayed on the screen. input lag absolutely wrecks hardcore gaming. look for tv's that have low input lag, or "gaming" modes that turn off the image processing to reduce input lag

ghen

United States1356 Posts

May 23 2010 17:03 GMT

Plasma TVs are very expensive for their quality. The lower end ones also have problems with outside video sources like an xbox. When shopping for TVs make sure you watch them in low-light environments. The bright lights in most department/electronics stores ruins the picture to the point where any crappy TV looks as good as a high end Sony/Samsung. Also, don't trust the store you buy it from to hook every TV up the same way. Check for your self if one has HDMI and another composite video!

My TV is a DLP Samsung. I never got into the LCD fight because I didn't need it to be flat. There is zero latency in games like guitar hero, and the picture quality is excellent without being too bright.

Here is a recent article about displays in general; http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/display_myths_shattered

FaCE_1

Canada6183 Posts

May 23 2010 17:48 GMT

samsung with 4 color look really nice.

Myrmidon

United States9452 Posts

May 23 2010 18:00 GMT

"Input lag" I think is a misnomer, but that's what many people are calling the phenomenon. All you need to know is that there is a significant amount of time between when an HDTV gets an input video signal and when it displays it, depending on the type of input and model of TV. If you're playing a game, then what shows up on the screen is the state of the game XXX milliseconds ago. Thus, there's a discrepancy between the state of the game (and your inputs) and what you see.

Display processing delays tend to be much worse on HDTVs than monitors, and generally more expensive displays over less expensive displays, but there's no general rule that will provide all the answers. You should research exact models.

This thread might be worth reading.

decafchicken

United States20143 Posts

May 23 2010 18:39 GMT

LCD is probably your best bet. plasmas are pretty much on the way out/used for bigger screens. LED is pretty expensive right now. Just check around on sites like newegg and cnet and fine something at a good price with good reviews. name brands usually > off brands when it comes to TV. i got a toshiba a couple years ago on black friday for a great price and never had a problem with it

SichuanPanda

Canada1542 Posts

May 23 2010 19:50 GMT

I've always been very satisfied with both Panasonic and LG, I'm not sure of specific models at this time as I'm not in the market for a new TV. However, like has been mentioned as long as you stick to solid known brands like Sharp, LG, Panasonic, Phillips, Sony, and so on everything in the competing price range is more-or less equivalent. Depending on how much money you are looking to spend 3D HDTV is available now at most stores, may want to look into that as well (~3400 USD for 52 inch). Of course in 3-5 years there will be no-glasses-required 3D. I leave the choice up to you.

Salv

Canada3083 Posts

May 23 2010 23:16 GMT

I don't know a whole lot about televisions, but I did wind up going with a Aquos Sharp 1080p. I think the size is 39", but I could be wrong. Any way, the best advice I would give you is to make sure it has a lot of connections. Even if you don't want to connect your PC to your TV now, you may want to later, so don't go with a T.V that cannot do this with it's connections the back. You always sacrifice quality when you have to use converters to switch cables.

LLXC

United States125 Posts

May 24 2010 00:15 GMT

I still prefer Plasma...but may be in the minority now.

BlasiuS

United States2405 Posts

May 24 2010 02:23 GMT

#10

On May 24 2010 03:00 Myrmidon wrote:
"Input lag" I think is a misnomer, but that's what many people are calling the phenomenon. All you need to know is that there is a significant amount of time between when an HDTV gets an input video signal and when it displays it, depending on the type of input and model of TV. If you're playing a game, then what shows up on the screen is the state of the game XXX milliseconds ago. Thus, there's a discrepancy between the state of the game (and your inputs) and what you see.

Display processing delays tend to be much worse on HDTVs than monitors, and generally more expensive displays over less expensive displays, but there's no general rule that will provide all the answers. You should research exact models.

This thread might be worth reading.

that thread helped me a lot. Thanks