How to Reduce Input Lag for Gaming (Monitor, TV & Controller Settings)

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Input lag is the delay between pressing a button and seeing the result on screen, and it can quietly ruin your aim, combos, and timing even on powerful hardware. Most of that delay doesn’t come from your controller or PC — it comes from display processing, bad video settings, and wireless interference. The good news: nearly all of it is fixable in settings, without buying anything new.

This guide walks through the changes in order of impact, from your TV or monitor’s picture mode to sync settings and connection choices. If your display is the bottleneck, modern panels — like the models in our roundup of the best OLED gaming monitors — process frames far faster than older TVs, but even budget screens improve dramatically with the right setup.

Step 1: Turn On Game Mode

1. Open your TV or monitor’s settings menu and find the picture or gaming section.
2. Enable Game Mode. This bypasses heavy picture processing (motion smoothing, noise reduction, upscaling enhancement) that can add tens of milliseconds of delay — TV manufacturers document this as the single largest lag reduction available.
3. Disable motion interpolation features separately if they stay on (marketing names differ by manufacturer: TruMotion, Motionflow, Auto Motion Plus).
4. On consoles, check the system detects the change: PS5 and Xbox Series X list ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) status in their HDMI diagnostics screens.

Step 2: Raise Your Refresh Rate and Frame Rate

1. On PC, right-click the desktop → Display settings → Advanced display, and set the highest refresh rate your monitor supports. A 144 Hz panel updates every 6.9 ms versus 16.7 ms at 60 Hz, cutting display latency significantly.
2. In games, prefer higher frame rates over maximum visual quality — lowering settings so your GPU renders more frames reduces the time each input waits to appear. A capable card from our best graphics cards for 4K gaming guide helps, but even on modest hardware, dropping one preset level often doubles frame rate.
3. If your monitor supports overclocking its refresh rate, our guide on how to overclock your monitor refresh rate covers doing it safely.

Step 3: Fix Your Sync Settings

1. Turn off standard VSync in games when latency matters — it forces frames to wait for the display, adding delay.
2. Use adaptive sync instead: enable G-Sync or FreeSync on compatible monitors, which removes tearing without VSync’s lag penalty. Our explainer on how to fix screen tearing covers the exact setup for each GPU brand.
3. Enable your GPU’s latency feature: NVIDIA Reflex (in supported games) or Low Latency Mode in the NVIDIA Control Panel; AMD users can enable Radeon Anti-Lag. Both reduce the render queue so inputs reach the screen sooner, per NVIDIA’s and AMD’s documentation.
4. Cap your frame rate slightly below the refresh rate (for example 141 fps on a 144 Hz panel) when using adaptive sync, which keeps latency consistent.

Step 4: Reduce Controller and Connection Lag

1. Play wired when possible: a USB connection eliminates Bluetooth’s added latency and interference.
2. If you play wireless, use the console’s dedicated RF protocol or a low-latency 2.4 GHz dongle rather than plain Bluetooth, and keep the receiver within line of sight.
3. Charge your controller — some pads reduce polling to save power at low battery. If buttons respond inconsistently rather than late, the issue may be hardware; see our guide on how to fix controller stick drift.
4. For online play, use Ethernet instead of WiFi. Network latency isn’t the same as input lag, but it produces the same sluggish feel in multiplayer.

Common Mistakes That Add Input Lag Back

Leaving HDR picture processing on. Some TVs quietly exit Game Mode when switching to HDR sources or certain apps — re-check the picture mode after firmware updates and input changes.

Using the wrong HDMI port. Many TVs only support their fastest, lowest-lag modes (4K 120 Hz, VRR, ALLM) on specific HDMI inputs. Check the manufacturer’s manual for which port carries full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth.

Running the game on the wrong display. On multi-monitor PCs, games sometimes launch on the slower screen or run in borderless mode with desktop compositing delay. Exclusive fullscreen still gives the lowest latency in many titles.

Stacking VSync sources. Enabling VSync in both the game and the GPU driver panel doubles the penalty. Pick one place to manage sync and disable it everywhere else.

Frequently asked questions