12 Solutions To Reduce HDMI Input Lag (2024)

Feel helpless in the face of your HDMI inputs getting delayed or dropped?

We understand your frustration.

While an HDMI cable makes your life easier by permitting high-definition communication with various devices, the experience can quickly turn unpleasant because of input lag.

Therefore, you must know the answer to the burning question: “How to stop HDMI input lag?”

But first, let’s discover why HDMI causes lagging in the first place.

Why is HDMI Laggy?

Often, users face HDMI input lag when their TV’s resolution is higher than their laptop’s native resolution.

This taxes the graphics processing unit to render extra pixels.

Apart from this, if post-processing of images is enabled on your TV, you may face the same problem.

Thankfully, several methods can help you reduce HDMI input lag and boost response times.

12 Ways To Stop HDMI Input Lag

Let’s start!

1. Turn “Game Mode” On

Another thing you can do to stop HDMI input lag is to turn on the game or PC mode on your television/monitor.

This will remove all additional graphical features, allowing you to enjoy whatever you’re doing without any disturbances.

Depending on the specific model of your TV, the input lag may reduce up to 10- 50 milliseconds after turning the game mode on.

2. Disable All Post Processing Options

As mentioned earlier, post-processing options on your monitor/television can also increase HDMI input lag.

These are extra graphical features that increase the image’s visual fidelity.

By turning these options off, you will experience a significant reduction in the total amount of input lag.

3. Turn Off HDMI CEC

If this feature is activated on your television, you’re likely to experience HDMI input lag.

Try switching it off before playing video games and you’ll notice a difference.

4. Test Multiple HDMI Display Ports

Most, if not all, users are aware that television and monitors come with multiple ports.

What they might not know is that different ports have different input lag levels.

Aside from this, some devices have special ports designed for gaming. These ports offer faster response times.

If you’re concerned about HDMI input lags, it’s best to test multiple ports to determine which one suits your preferences best.

5. Use a Good-Quality HDMI Cable

Another reason users experience HDMI input lag is that they use under-performing or damaged cables.

Hence, you must choose a good-quality cable.

The ideal way to go about this is by testing various cables and comparing their results.

Poor-quality HDMI cables are likely to cause a delay in information transfer between your laptop and television.

6. Check the Ambient Screen & Power Settings

Do you think power and ambient settings on your television are useless?

Think again.

These, too, are additional features that increase HDMI input lag.

Make sure you turn these settings off to enjoy the most responsive and seamless experience possible.

7. Avoid Using Adapters & Extra Devices

Particular adapters like multi HDMI adapters and game recorder devices significantly increase input lag.

They tend to lower response rates and have detrimental effects on your laptop/monitor.

Ultimately, your system’s efficiency and performance will be compromised.

The idea is to avoid adding devices to your system that don’t serve any purpose.

Most importantly, steer clear of those devices that hinder tasks requiring responsive inputs.

8. Play Games in Full-Screen Mode

If you want to stop HDMI input lag, you must stop playing games using window or borderless window modes.

These modes kill response rates.

Hence, you should always use full-screen mode when playing video games to enjoy a more responsive experience.

9. Lower Your Game’s Resolution

Another easy way to stop HDMI input lag is by lowering the resolution of your game or app.

A resolution of 720p or 1080p will raise the frame rate, helping your game perform better. You can reduce it further if you like.

A low resolution reduces the burden on the graphics processing unit and increases the frame rate. This ultimately affects the input lag.

10. Inactivate the Graphical Settings

Disabling the graphical settings is a quick way of increasing the frame rate and reducing HDMI input lag.

It also improves the system’s performance.

We recommend turning the following features off:

• Anisotropic filtering
• Bloom
• Motion blur
• Ambient occlusion
• Antialiasing
• Depth of field and shadows
• Reflections

11. Turn Off Frame & Triple Buffering

While triple buffering helps deal with screen tearing, it increases input lag.

You can turn it off to enjoy higher responsive rates.

On the other hand, frame buffering enables the CPU to pre-render frames in advance.

While this may reduce the burden on the graphics processing unit, it significantly increases input lag.

We suggest turning it off or reducing it to 1 frame to improve your system’s performance.

12. Choose a Display with a Low Display Lag

One of the best ways is using a television/monitor with a low display lag and high refresh rate.

An inefficient device can cause 25 – 150 milliseconds of extra lag.

Conclusion

HDMI input lag can be a headache when playing video games or watching movies on your television.

Now that you know the answer to the HDMI input lag question, you can enjoy more responsive experiences and ensure that your system works optimally at all times.

Did you find this article helpful?

Don’t forget to share it with fellow gaming buddies so that all of you can play your favorite games like pros!

Also, let us know which of these easy and quick ways you liked the most to reduce or eliminate input lag in the comment section below.

Vance Tran

Vance is a dad, former software engineer, and tech lover. Knowing how a computer works becomes handy when he builds Pointer Clicker. His quest is to make tech more accessible for non-techie users. When not working with his team, you can find him caring for his son and gaming.