How can I avoid/reduce HDTV lag?

[TreAtzTMA]

I have a 2 year old Panasonic Viera Plasma (1080i) hooked up with HDMI cable. Haven't noticed any lag. However, I use an optical cable from the TV to my stereo and there is audio lag, so when I play quick twitch games like WOHD I just use the TV audio.

Haven't noticed any PS2/PS1 lag on my PS3.

[Soccermom]

Just wanted to add my input to the discussion.

I have an 40 inch samsung screen (LE40F86) and I am also suffering from quite a lot of input lag. It is possible to reduce the lag to 35-40ms, if I turn on game mode and turn off all picture processing (as assessed by my audio sync delay on my Onkyo875 - not a true time watch test, I know).

With regard to WO, the input is very noticeable especially when doing barrel rolls. When I hook up my 22 inch computer display with 2ms lag, the game feels a lot more responsive (BRs, side shifting and smooth cornering are a lot easier).
I am not willing to sacrifice the full HD experience so I have had to learn to live with the delay. However, if I had to buy a new TV today, input lag would be very high up on the priority list (I did not play WO when I bought the TV )

Basically, I would urge all WO addicts to really check the specs on input lag on a new LCD purchase. It is very rarely advertised and often not mentioned in tests, so check/ask on sites like AVSforum (excellent forum btw.) before you spend your hard-earned money.

A final comment on minimum input lag. It is not possible to reduce input lag to an absolute 0. A LCD screen always buffers one full frame before displaying, so the minimum absolute 0 value for a game running in 60 FPS will be 1/60 of a second. Thus, my HDTV has a total input lag of 35-40 ms (picture processing lag) + 16.6ms.

EDIT: If you are experiencing bad input lag. The first thing to try is to turn off all special picture processing from the TV's menu (usually you would want to do that anyway) and make sure the PS3 is outputting the signal at the screens native resolution. Smooting, DNLe etc. taxes the processing a lot and on most TVs (except very very highend products), the built in scaler does not do a good job.
I have a dedicated scaler (REON chip) in my Onkyo and with that enabled, WO becomes almost unplayable (albeit very good looking )

I have a 2 year old Panasonic Viera Plasma (1080i) hooked up with HDMI cable. Haven't noticed any lag. However, I use an optical cable from the TV to my stereo and there is audio lag, so when I play quick twitch games like WOHD I just use the TV audio.

"the audio lag" you are decribing is input lag. Relaying sound has virtually no delay and hence it arrives before the picture does. Your TV is compensating for the lag when your are channeling your audio through that.

[AG-wolf]

after all the hassle with getting a TV that doesn't have terrible lag; guess what I was greeted with this morning when I woke up:



already tried tapping/massaging/ etc, the screen-flashing program, etc. damnit. That's gonna drive me nuts now. and I can't exchange the TV because the store I bought it at is going out of business. I hope it fixes itself.

[Lance]

~snip~And I also learned during my research that most Samsung TVs tend to have rather big input lag issues (60-80ms!!!).

NOW you tell me.

[eLhabib]

1) that only concerns the bigger models, Lance, you should be fine! (I hope... )
and 2) I only learned about the lag issues with Samsung a couple of weeks ago when deciding what to get myself! Sorry!

Anyway, I also have a 24 inch Samsung (pc monitor), and my cousin has a 32 inch Samsung TV, and both suffer from no noticeable lag.

[Soccermom]

I have to agree with eLhabib. Don't worry about input lag unless you are being bothered by it on your TV or if you have to purchase a new LCD.
All the measurements in the world are not gonna affect how the game feels. If it feels right ... be happy and bomb the slower people on the track

[rushin]

i think i must be odd, have never noticed any input lag. Got a sony 40" something or other about a year ago.

quick solution though - replicate my playing conditions by being a little drunk/stoned and you'll never need to worry

[Lance]

Great suggestion, rushin!

[Has a look about.] Damn! I'm outta whiskey.


Again!

[lunar]

Whatever the "risks" of getting lag on an HDTV, the advantages of playing Wipeout HD on an HD set far outweigh them, imo. I played it in high definition for the first time at someone`s house. Before I`d only played it at PAL 50HZ and I have to say the game is comparatively smoother, and easier to play in HD. I think you can compare it to playing other games with an increased frame rate: it may not be faster, but it`s easier to play if you are at all sensitive to lag and framerate issues which many people are. Certain corner sections could be taken faster in HD, probably because I seemed to have tighter control.

I did notice a small amount of input lag, I think, but it was a cheapo Goodmans TV set and I soon adjusted to the lag if it existed at all. I also saw some tearing on Sol2 in zone which SD nicely mushes out, and any drop in framerate was very noticeable in HD, but overall it makes flying better and all SD users should upgrade, me included!! When I went back to SD on my home TV it was a sad moment. I will upgrade one day, but not the Goodmans route for sure, as there was also some nasty ghosting and strange effects on this TV. The Ubermall Panda had a strange "double image" effect on every lap with it.

The game did look stunning, but overall I thought the biggest distinction between PAL and High Definition was the smoothness.

[Lance]

Regular tv progs in HiDef look pretty damn' stunning, too. The pursuit of great gaming by getting a new tv will produce a good result all round. Progs in 1080i will be converted by a good tv into 1080p. At least 5 or 6 of the local tv stations here broadcast in 1080i on their primary channel, although the sub-channels are 480i.