In fairness I did point out that I have long noticed that 'dirty screen' effect (I call it 'ghosting', it's where the screen can't update a change from black pixels to non-black as quickly as it can change from a white/coloured pixel to a black pixel, it leaves a sort of temporary black 'ghost') but it doesn't bother me, as it does produce a fake motion blur effect which in some games looks alright ... but it's still never bothered me. I haven't yet noticed any dead pixels, though my old TV did have a few ... again, something that I never really let myself get bothered by.
I also specifically don't notice a difference in picture quality between normal mode and 'game mode', except I know that what it does is it disables the additional picture processing (in effect cuts the screen resolution from 100Hz to 50Hz) and in turn bumps up the response time to make the TV more suitable for gaming on. To me, I haven't seen a particular difference except there's less ghosting (dirty screen) with game mode turned off, and the picture display and sound settings are set to default and disabled so they cannot be changed (again, due to post-processing picture effects being disabled).
I take it though. Less input lag.
The problem was that I was forced between choosing a nice 32" Samsung TV that had component cable input (which at the time I needed due to my PVR setup) or a 26" LG TV that did not have it. So, I had no choice to go for the Samsung. I was VERY adamant in the TV store that the TV 'must be suitable for gaming', but evidently the PR worker there had no idea what I was talking about ... I think I pointed out that it needed to be good for gaming (i.e. designed for gaming, have a 'low response time', etc, etc, etc) fifteen times and it must have gone straight over her head.
I didn't have a choice anyway. I found out after getting the TV home that the input lag using component cables was horrible (40-50ms difference between audio through the speakers and through my turtle beach which was hooked directly to my xbox and thus had no latency). I was pissed for the grand total of about five hours, when I remembered that my old TV had a gaming mode option on it and I scuttled about in the manual for any references, found there was a system setting for it, turned it on, corrected picture settings (mainly backlight and contrast) and found the video latency had vastly decreased (audio latency was still the same though)
I later found out that the TV just simply hates component cable - notably through playing Borderlands 2 on both console and PC and finding that with the exact same video settings (1280x720), both with gaming mode enabled, and same frame rate (30fps), the game was more responsive on my PC. The only difference? My PC uses HDMI. So I swapped the cables around for a test. Boom, the only input lag is now frame lag and wireless lag (playing at 30fps gives around 5-6ms of input lag and xbox wireless controllers have about 5-10ms of lag anyway I think)
So really, right now my only complaints are the glare ... but I'm planning on pestering my mum to help me get some blinds for my room, as my curtains are unsatisfactory for blocking sunlight - this is going to become a major issue in the winter, where the sun at highest rise shines STRAIGHT THROUGH MY WINDOW AGAINST MY TV and is a real nuisance.
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