In the past few weeks, I have been testing several newest TVs that support HDMI 2.1, which are combined with NVIDIA’s 30 series graphics cards, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. It’s time to give it a try, because this generation of systems is the first product that is truly ready for 4K (and higher). This is our first high frame rate experience on TV and positional audio, which surpasses us. Anything heard before.
good news? When everything is normal, it may be an amazing experience, but it may be difficult to get there, or in some cases, cannot be achieved due to lack of features and incompatibility, and early adopters can only hope that in the future This issue is resolved in the update.
So far, I have tried LG, Vizio, Samsung and TCL TVs. Due to time and space constraints, I cannot test every possible combination, but in general, I found that it boils down to a simple thing: the technology does not yet exist.
If you can use a new game console or next-generation PC graphics card, then that is just the beginning of your journey. The GPU technology they have is powerful enough to render games at a higher resolution and frame rate than ever before.
New connectors with more bandwidth and additional functions have also begun to be promoted. HDMI 2.1 brings a variety of options, such as variable refresh rate, which allows your display to directly synchronize when rendering frames, more colors than ever, and 120 FPS gaming at 4K resolution.
However, the actual situation is more complicated. As we have seen in previous years, even though these specifications and certifications are considered to mean that everything will work when you plug in, this is not always the case.
Before we start, if you are not addicted to the new generation of TV technology, then you need to understand some terminology.
This means that the TV has
Between the darkest and brightest parts of the picture. In very dark and very bright areas of the image, having a larger range can bring details that would otherwise be lost. It also improves possible color reproduction, and ideally provides viewers with content that is closer to the original visual effect.
Although there is usually a basic standard for providing HDR content in the United States, namely HDR10, this is not the only standard. Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+ have been expanded on HDR10 to provide more information that can even make the TV display each scene in the best condition, but most brands only support one of them.
Similarly, not all TVs that support HDR are created equally. Some are much better at displaying the brightest light sources and clearest whites, while others are excellent at zooming in every detail available in dark scenes.
The same is true for HDR content. Just because something says it can be used in HDR, it might not work.
For example, the Ultra HD Blu-ray version-otherwise it may not be possible to take advantage of the brightest/darkest potential settings available.
This was criticized in the first quarter.
in the game? good luck. Sometimes the HDR setting just breaks-see
Or last year
. You may also have trouble configuring them due to improper settings (
Again) or switch to or exit from the low-latency game mode as the TV adjusts its settings.
HGiG representative
. Both Sony and Microsoft are members, as well as many TV manufacturers and game developers. This means to you that, ideally, all groups will exchange information so that you can start a new game on the console or PC and have it automatically recognize your display. Once this happens, it can adjust the internal settings to suit the capabilities of the monitor and provide you with the best image quality without losing the details in the very bright or very dark areas of the screen.
So far, the reality is a bit complicated. Only some TVs highlight HGiG compatibility in their settings (such as LG and Samsung), while both
with
It is ready, only certain games will follow the guidelines and recognize the settings. If it is listed in the TV's tone mapping settings, it should be turned on before running the console settings. Then, if you are playing a game that supports HDR and supports HGiG, you should be in good shape without having to adjust various brightness levels again.
This is a simple process. It allows the signal source (such as your PS5 or Xbox) to tell the monitor to switch to a mode to reduce the delay between receiving each frame of the image and displaying it on the TV, thereby eliminating the extra millisecond difference that may be caused deal with. You stand out from shooting or jumping with precision. All the TVs we tested can automatically switch to game mode and then exit the game mode when you want to watch a movie.
This term is more familiar to PC gamers, but is new to most TVs. Most gamers have experienced slowdowns, tearing, or freezing. This is because it is difficult for your system to render every frame at the target speed (usually 30 or 60 FPS on a TV). If the game stutters, the TV will either stay on the same frame or show parts of two different frames, which is the visual product of tearing.
with
, Everything stays in sync-until the display is ready, it will not display the next frame, even if the system fails to achieve the target of 30, 60 or even 120 fps, it can make the picture smoother and more responsive.
So far, the TVs we spend time on are from Samsung, Sony, Vizio and LG. They are the four major well-known brands in the field, and their specification sheets can outline everything we are looking for. Samsung's lineup is based on
, For Sony, we have
For LG
.
First of all, I will give my impression
, Mainly because it represents the best prospects for the new TV, and some frustrating problems continue to appear throughout the test. When trying to use NVIDIA 30 series graphics cards with 48 CX, I encountered repeated problems trying to enable VRR or 120Hz refresh rate. A software update solved most situations, but in the last few days, after enabling the game mode, another problem appeared, robbing the player of brightness.
In my experience, when trying to enable HDMI 2.1, even the best experience so far. When I tried an LG TV on Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5, its TV basically had no problems.
Play at 120 FPS or
It was as smooth as I expected, and did not crash the system or the TV.
From PS5 to HDR, I still cannot get 120 FPS output
, This seems to be due to a malfunction affecting the company’s entire production line of 2020 TVs-the latest update is Samsung
I have to choose HDR or 120 Hz output in Call of Duty, which is not the quality experience I hoped for. As you might expect, considering that it is the brand’s official TV, the TV can run smoothly with Xbox Series X so that it can provide both HDR and 120 FPS 4K output at the same time
. Because Samsung TV uses dynamic tone mapping, its picture calibration is unexpectedly tricky, but afterwards
I can adjust the picture to my liking.
It is neatly packed and provides a high-quality AV experience for movies and TV shows. The bad news is that currently, it does not support key features such as ALLM and VRR, although the company said these features will be provided in future updates. If what you are looking for is a TV, its quality and compatibility are far beyond. Once it is updated to support the HDMI 2.1 function that is important for gaming, it will be easier to recommend it. Currently, it lacks these options, and the price is higher than other TVs in the same range, which puts it at the top of the list.
It promises to support HDMI 2.1 on all four HDMI inputs, but if you want to use advanced features like 120 FPS, you will still get into the problem of plugging the system into one of the two ports that support that feature. In my experience, although functions such as 120 FPS 4K, VRR and HDR are beautiful when used together, I tried to enable them on any new console in multiple instances and it would cause the TV to restart or lose the image. I did succeed in getting them to work after the Xbox Series X became popular, and the VRR implementation of the TV works well enough to make things like
It looks smoother even in 30 FPS mode.
.... Until Vizio launched an update, the update seems to have fixed almost everything, at least for now. Suddenly, my PS5 and Xbox Series X correctly recognized the TV, and every time there was a 120Hz switch, there would be no glitches and HDR was supported every time.
The high frame rate is one of the most sensitive experiences I have ever had, and it feels like it has changed the way I play games. I can play
It will not cause the game to crash or lose connection with the monitor, but I am not sure this is a malfunction of the TV. According to the company, although I can't test it, the latest software also solves NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility issues and adds support for NVIDIA cars that output 4K at 120 fps.
In the current state, I now put Vizio's P-series Quantum X and LG's CX OLED at the top of the 4K game options list. CX has unparalleled image quality in dark scenes, and LG is particularly active in solving compatibility issues. At the same time, Vizio's high-end LCD monitors are cheaper at large sizes and may be easier to find. In addition,
, It provides all the content we hope to see from the next generation of consoles without any headaches.
I think the most worthwhile feature is VRR. It can be tricky to work (or understand what is supported) during normal work (between HDMI Forum standard options, G-Sync and different versions of AMD FreeSync), but it's worth all the effort, which is a must for PC gamers It's been a while.
Samsung's TVs are expensive, but there are still some problems to be solved, and Sony's 4K TVs do not support key functions. If you are using a PS5, it may not be important because the PS5 has not yet enabled VRR support on the console, but I want to prepare it before making a selection on the TV.
Even after spending hours switching back and forth between different displays, settings and content, it is still difficult to know what might work and when. Since I started testing these TVs, LG has broken (and then fixed) the gaming mode on its OLED models, Sony once again promised to provide VRR and ALLM support in its 2020 product line, and there has been a problem between PS5 and Samsung The incompatibility problem TV.
To sum up, despite having the glory of ultra-high resolution and high frame rate games, when I plug the PC or game console into the game console, the easiest experience came.
A newer TCL 5 series TV that I have owned or tested. They don't have such a flashy title project as VRR, but they did reliably enable the game mode and played all the content without completely crashing. This is something to say. Even if you are using an older system, there are a few things to consider-starting PS4 can play games in HDR, while Xbox One X/S systems can take advantage of VRR.
If you are willing to solve these problems and do not hesitate to think that another upgrade will be necessary sooner or later, please join as soon as possible. The arrival of TV in 2021 is coming, and if you can wait, it may bring a better experience. , But it also reduced last year’s record prices to the lowest level. In addition, as manufacturers move to new product lineups, the current supply of TVs may dry up before prices drop further, so if you have reservations about your choice, now is a good time to take action.
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