How to greatly reduce input lag on the LG 42LW650T 3D TV

A while back when I was browsing the web and retail stores for a 3DTV, my main concern was the input (or display) lag of the TV – since I would be using the TV primarily for gaming. So it was essential for me (and will be for a lot of you gamers out there) to do a bit of research on the TV’s that are good for gaming and also the work-a-rounds to lowering the input lag so that you can game happily.

Input lag occurs in every LCD or HDTV and is the time difference between a signal input being pressed (i.e a button on your controller) and the time is takes that signal input to be displayed on the screen. For example, if your playing a racing game and are approaching a left hand turn, when you press left on your controller you want the car to turn left as soon as you push left, not a second later or you will crash, probably. The same in shooting games, when you pull the trigger you want the gun to fire immediately, not 2 seconds after you tapped the fire button. The good thing is, most TV’s come with either a gaming mode and there are a few things you can do to greatly reduce the input lag to a point where you cannot even notice it (at least with this TV you can). Thus, making gaming an absolute joy.

Before I purchased the TV, I read a few reviews specifically about the input lag on the LG 42LW650T model (the TV I ended up purchasing in the end) where some people managed to reduce the input lag of this model so that it was not visible to the human eye, and others complained they couldn’t do it at all and inevitably had to return the TV.

So, after unboxing the TV I touched nothing, no settings, no nothing and deliberately set up my Xbox 360 and PS3 right away so I could get an idea of how bad the input lag was. I could instantly see the input lag, to a point where I was like ”this is bad, like really bad” – when rotating the camera and trying to manoeuvre my character about the screen, there was a very annoying 1-2 second delay which caused it to be rather clunky and I always felt the TV was a second or two behind me whenever I hit a button on the controller.

Continue reading to find out how to greatly reduce the input lag of this tv…

Review: Max Payne 3 (Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC)

By now, everyone should know that the people over at Rockstar Games always create mind-blowing games: the Grand Theft Auto Series, Red Dead Redemption, to name a couple.

Max Payne 3 is no exception.

Before we begin, lets take it back and have a quick insight into the first two games.

GTA III 10th Anniversary – Out Now for iOS & Android Devices

You will all probably remember my post about the upcoming GTA III game on iOS and Android device. Well, GTA 3: 10th Anniversary Edition has officially been launched on iOS and Android devices.

The 10th Anniversary edition is available from the Apple Store and Android market now for immediate download. The game is an exact replica of GTA 3 that was released on the Playstation 2 back in 2001. The iOS and Android version features: full touch screen optimised gameplay (obviously) and HD quality graphics. The game itself does include all the radio stations from back in the day as well, which is a nice touch (‘Pets-over-night.com – delivering little bundles of love, in a box, directly to your door’ – ring any bells? or what about the radio station ‘Chatterbox’ with lazlow – my personal favourite).

I wont be writing a review on the game itself as I don’t own any Apple or Android products at present. However, the only area I think that will take a bit getting used to, would be the controls, especially whilst in heated fire fights – there’s got to be a lot of ‘virtual button’ bashing done in order to survive.

I did find a great gameplay video over on YouTube of GTA 3 being played on the iPad 2 which I’ve embedded below , I recommend checking it out. Big thanks to TouchArcade for the video. Enjoy…

Xbox 360 Dashboard Update – 6th December 2011

As you may already be aware, Microsoft are updating the Xbox 36o dashboard tomorrow on the 6th of December. So we can pretty much all kiss goodbye to the old and welcome the brand new, totally revamped dashboard.

Microsoft have not confirmed an exact time for its release yet, but have confirmed it will be released at some point tomorrow. Everyone can expect an update as soon as you sign into Xbox Live, once the dashboard update is available.

The update brings a whole new look to the dashboard, having close similarities to the Metro design of Windows 8 and Windows 7 smartphones.

There will also be new streaming applications available for LOVEFiLM, 4OD and 5 on Demand and it will be possible to save games using the new cloud saving support function. Plus a lot more.

I will update this post tomorrow once I check the new dash out, but if you simply cannot wait that long, then I suggest reading through this in-depth review from Engadget, who cover a lot of areas of the new dashboard update in great detail.

If your an Xbox 360 user and download the new dashboard update tomorrow. Let me know what you think of it in the comments section below.

Steam: Massive Sale

It’s starting to get really cold over here in Scotland but Steam have made sure to keep us warm with the HOT monster sale they have on just now.

Steam’s Autumn Sale 2011 started yesterday and will finish on Sunday 27th of November. There are literally hundreds of PC games you can download at a fraction of the price and there will be even more bargains added over the weekend.

Sony Clamps Down On PlayStation Game Sharing With Policy Update

PlayStation gamers in the UK have now had the maximum number of console/handhelds link to their PSN accounts cut, from five to two as Sony update their PSN game content usage policy.

Golden Joystick Awards 2011

With over 2 millions votes cast across various different categories, the organisers-and folk over at the Guinness World Records-claim this to be the biggest video games award ceremony on the planet.

This was the Golden Joystick Awards 29th Ceremony and it was Valve’s Portal 2 that was crowned ‘ultimate game of the year’ – beating the likes of LA Noire, Call Of Duty: Black Ops and Gran Turismo 5 to the top spot.

No game was awarded more than one award this time, but check out this list below to see the winners of each category.

Battlefield 3: New Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer

Just when I thought I couldn’t get anymore impatient to get my hands on this game, they release a brand new trailer of some sweet looking multiplayer action.

The video pretty much includes everything that we expect from a battlefield game: loads of vehicles, explosions, jets, helicopters, mass destruction, new maps and BASE jumping…

Yes, BASE jumping ! I shall say no more, just watch the video (courtesy of Battlefield on YouTube) below to see for yourself.

 

Resident Evil 2 PC

With Resident Evil 4 and Code Veronica X HD being re-released on Xbox 360/PS3 and on top of playing Gears of War 3 and Dead Rising 2, it’s probably a bit of an understatement to say I’ve had zombies on the mind over the past couple of weeks.

Little did I know that when I left the house this morning I would be in for a little treat. On return from the local supermarket, I decided to pop into a secondhand shop (just for a look) as they had quite a lot of old skool game consoles and games displayed in the window. As I was leaving the shop I stopped to tie my shoelace and at the corner of my eye, saw this….