Game Mode: The Best Gaming Picture
Your Panasonic Smart TV can harbour a range of viewing modes for optimum viewer satisfaction. The HD and 4K capabilities in any Panasonic Smart TV these days means you get incredible resolution no matter what you're watching. However, in a world where modern day technology is all around us, from the music we listen to, to the games we play, the TV has had to adapt to cater for each and every one of these luxuries around the house, making them, in essence, one of the most powerful computers we own. In this write-up, we're going to be taking a look at one of your TV's picture modes – Game Mode – and explain not only how to engage it on your Panasonic Smart TV, but what it means and how it works.
What is Game Mode?
If you are familiar with the various types of picture mode available to you on your Panasonic Smart TV, then you'll generally know how they work. There'll be a standard and a vivid mode, turning general colours and tones to more different and vibrant ones. Perhaps you have a 'Sports' mode, which increases clarity and sharpness. In each of these different modes, the calibration of your screen will be changed in one way or another, to relate to what it is you're intending on looking at. Game Mode is no different from this. It relates, unsurprisingly to how your TV and picture quality responds when gaming. The major difference with Game Mode, as opposed to your other viewing modes, however, is that where the latter will enhance your picture in one way or another, the former will reduce the amount of work the TV is doing, so that we don't get what is called 'Lag'.
Why Choose Game Mode on your Panasonic Smart TV?
Input Lag
If you're any gamer, you will know that modern day consoles harbour substantial hard drives and processing power to play games that are more advanced and realistic now than they've ever been. When played through a Smart TV this is duplicated, as the TV itself tries to process the game input through the HDMI (usually) and so we can often get what's called 'video game lag', where the screen struggles to keep up with the gameplay being sent through from the console.
Another problem you might have encountered with lag is syncing problems, usually between audio and video – lips moving but the sound being several frustrating milliseconds out.
If you're playing online, then this is yet another processing procedure that is taken into consideration. All of this communication between server, console and TV takes precious time.
Game Mode aims to reduce this, mainly by stopping the TV from processing the gameplay and by closing any unnecessary and additional display options such as motion smoothing, noise reduction and usually decreasing the resolution of the picture from 4k to HD 1080p or HD 1080p to 720p. Though this may seem like something you generally don't want to happen, it's far more rewarding when your gaming experience is uninterrupted and as smooth as possible. In addition to this, the difference between graphics and gameplay in 4K compared to HD is minimal, anyway.
How do I engage Game Mode?
To engage Game Mode on your Panasonic smart TV, follow these simple steps.
1. Connect Console and Turn On.
For the TV to recognise the console, it must be turned on and connected through your HDMI port.
2. Select Your Menu Screen
Using the Menu button, open up your TV menu options and from here use your arrow keys to select 'picture'. You'll find that this is usually the first option to choose from at the top of your menu.
3. Select Option Settings
From here you can continue to use your arrow keys, scrolling down until you reach the 'Option Settings' Tab. Select this to take you into a new tab.
4. Select 'Game Mode'
Simply select the game mode option and chose to turn it on to stop the TV processing the signal.
It is as simple as that! If you've found yourself experiencing any form of lag when playing video games through your Panasonic Smart TV, then the problem is very likely to be that Game Mode is turned off, and your TV and Console are both trying to outdo one another.