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Between Black Friday sales and launches of new consoles, everyone is talking about buying a new TV this year. It seems everyone, including our own WIRED reviewers, is raving about the virtues of modern panels when paired with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. But do you really need a new TV? And if so, what about these special new displays?
If you don’t have a 4K HDR TV, you’ll miss out on a lot
For the past few years, television technology has been in the midst of a major transition with two major picture quality improvements: 4K and HDR. Without getting too technical, these can enhance the sharpness, color, and overall “pop” of your TV picture, and both the PS5 and Xbox Series X are poised to take full advantage of these technologies. If you’re still using an older 1080p set, the new consoles will still contain some enhancements, see below, but they’ll feel more like incremental updates if you don’t have a relatively recent set.
Technically, the last generation mid-cycle updates, Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, also made use of 4K and HDR, although the Xbox Series X takes it even further with its Auto HDR feature that adds those bright reflections to Xbox. backward compatible. Xbox 360 and Xbox One games. The disc-based versions of both consoles also contain 4K Blu-ray players, which is a nice added value if you have a capable TV.
Smoother gameplay and fast load times will benefit any TV
That does not mean that these new consoles are entirely about new television technology. The more robust hardware within the PS5 and Xbox Series X can play many games at higher frame rates, meaning you’ll get smoother movement and more responsive controls no matter which TV you use, even if it’s an older TV from 1080p. Some gamers may not realize or care about the added smoothness, but I am of the opinion that 60 frames per second is a huge improvement over the last generation 30fps game. (Some next-gen games will even have options to play at 120 frames per second, which may require a newer TV.)
Also, both consoles have added features that have nothing to do with your TV, like the Xbox Quick Resume feature or the PS5’s improved haptic and 3D headphone audio. Both consoles also have super fast SSDs, which means loading times will be blazingly fast compared to Xbox One and PS4. These features are nice to have, even on old or cheap TVs.
HDMI 2.1 features good, but not urgent updates
Finally, if you’ve seen any TV buying guides this year, you’ll notice that “HDMI 2.1” is mentioned as a gaming feature to look for if you plan to buy a PS5 or Xbox Series X. HDMI 2.1, introduced in 2019, adds some features useful game:
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Variable refresh rate (VRR) allows your TV to “sync” the number of times it is updated per second with the number of frames your console broadcasts. This can reduce screen tearing and certain types of motion stuttering. Note that Xbox Series X may use a less powerful version of VRR called FreeSync on certain Samsung and LG TVs that do not have HDMI 2.1.
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Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM) Automatically puts your TV into game mode when it detects a game signal. This, along with HDMI 2.1 Rapid Frame Transport (QFT), you can reduce input lag without having to manually activate game mode every time you turn on the old PlayStation.
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Enhanced Audio Return Channel (ARC) allows your television to send higher quality audio to a receiver or sound bar. This is not a specific feature for games, but it is useful if you want to pass Dolby Atmos through your TV (the PS5 supports Atmos only for Blu-ray discs, while the Xbox Series X supports it in some games).
