Playing Games on Televisions

05 October 2019 

  #MiTV, PS4 Pro, Video lags,  causes,  solution

Jump to
1. How to determine video lag?
2. Which MiTV Play Games?
3. Can’t Find Games Mode in MiTV
4. Can MiTV Really Play Games?
5. Setting Up the PS4
6. TV does not Support HDR
 

Playing Games in Televisions

Many users who play FIFA19 with PS4 PRO on TVs often experience video lags.  Some found the annoying error message telling them "HDR is not supported" when they set up the PS4.   This article will explain why and what are the solutions and workarounds.

Why?

The video lag is caused by delays in processing the video signal.

Before the TV can display a picture on the TV,  the signal must be encoded by the player and then send it through  the HDMI cable as shown above.   The signal picked up on the other end must then be decoded and checked before it is processed for display on the LED panel.   

This complicated signal processing often cause video lags.  If the delay is below 100 mseconds,  it will not have video lag.  Some video games such as fast action games will demand the delay to be less than 50 mseconds.

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How to determine video lag?

One can use a  laptop that use HDMI or other type of cables to connect to the TV.  After that,  go this website to display a stop watch online(click).   This website will tell how to connect up the cable(click.   One can also use normal video mirroring apps but there will be some time lag to display the picture.

On the laptop,  select the stop watch mode and work out the delays in milliseconds in the displays between the laptop and the TV screens.  As illustrated in the following picture,  the delay is about 72 mseconds.

What can be done if there are excessive delays?

Find out the source of delay,  starting by checking if the player is set according to manufacturer’s recommendation and if the cable is HDMI 2.0 cable.   When the television is found to be the cause,  there is nothing much one can do except to adjust the display parameters in the settings of the TV. Lowering down the brightness and contracts will usually reduce the video lags.  If there is a Games Mode in the display setting,  select it.

The other way is to overclock the CPU/GPU but this was not recommended as the TVs are not designed for over-clocking;  also,  the  process might require rooting the TV using special technique.

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Which Model of MiTVs can Play Games?

There were conflicting reports about ability to play games in MiTVs.  Some users reported no problem;  other found that there are lags.  Then there are reports saying MiTV4 without subscripts playing well as it has higher CPU speed and better GPU.
The trick lies  in the changing of the settings of TV to Games Mode plus having to use HDMI 2.0 cable and changing the Playback settings to accept HDMI 2.0.   These settings are  hidden somewhere where many people might have missed.  The following descriptions should help.

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Can’t Find Games Mode in MiTV?

There is no Games Mode in the display parameter for TVs imported from China if one select the Display Parameter in the MiTV's main setting.    One can only find the Games Mode setting in the respective HDMI's inputs as illustrated in the following picture. 

Doubleclick to enlarge picture

If the Games Mode  is in Chinese,  find the Chinese Character ”游戏摸式”.  Adjust the setting if necessary

One should also turn off the Dynamic Contract and Dynamic Color to "off".  The Contract and Color settings can be found after clicking the lowest row.  If the Contract and Color settings are in  Chinese;  “动态对比”= Dynamic Contract and “动态色彩” = Dynamic Color.

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Can MiTV Really be used for Playing Games?

Technically speaking,  MiTV is not designed for playing fast action games as its electronic are not made with these games in mind.  There will be video lags for some games but  there were reports that users were able to play Fifa19 in MiTV using PS4 Pro without much problem.

If one were to compare the response time of the TV screens,  one will find that MiTV has  comparable performance to some PC or Games Monitors as shown in this table.

Brand	Model	Size	Response Time
Xiaomi Mi TV	3	70"	6 ms
	4A	43"	6 ms
	4C	43"	6.5 ms
	4X	43"	6.5 ms
	2S		8 ms
	3	55"	8 ms
	3	60"	8 ms
	3S	43"	8 ms
	3S	55"	8 ms
	3S	65"	8 ms
	3S Flat	65"	8 ms
	4	55"	8 ms
	4	65"	8 ms
	4	75"	8 ms
	4 Pro	55"	8 ms
	4A	40"	8 ms
	4A	49"	8 ms
	4A	55"	8 ms
Yashi	YZ2710		5 ms
	YZ2747		5 ms
	YZ2748		5 ms
	YZ3204		5 ms
	YZ3208		5 ms
	YZ3227		5 ms
	YZ3521		5 ms
	YZ4041		5 ms
	YZ4141		5 ms
BenQ	ZOWIE RL2455T		5 ms
	ZOWIE RL2455TS		5 ms
LG	24GM77-B		6 ms
Liyama	G-Master  GB2488HSU-B2		6 ms
Lenovo	L24i-10		6 ms
	L27i-28		6 ms
	L27m-28		6 ms
	P24q-10		6 ms
	Q24i-10		6 ms
	Q27q-10		6 ms
	T22v-10		6 ms
	ThinkVision E24-10		6 ms
	ThinkVision L22e-20		6 ms
	ThinkVision L24e-20		6 ms
	ThinkVision P27h-10		6 ms
	ThinkVision P27q-10		6 ms
	ThinkVision P27u-10		6 ms
	ThinkVision S22e		6 ms
	ThinkVision T22i-10		6 ms
	ThinkVision T23i-10		6 ms
	ThinkVision T24i-10		6 ms
	ThinkVision T24m-10		6 ms
Acer	S277HK		6 ms

However,  not all MiTVs are made the same.  Most MiTV will come with TN LED panel but some are VA or IPS panel which have higher response time.

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Setting Up the PS4

Always follow the guides given by the manufacturer.   After setting up the PS4 to send the signal,  one must also set up the TV to receive and display the signals received.   This article gives a good description of how to it,   including how to set  HDR in the TV (click).

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TV Does not Support HDR

Very often,   MiTV users will come across this problem when setting up the PS4 with an error message saying “Your TV does not support HDR”.

The solution is to set the TV’s input to accept the HDMI 2.0 input signal as shown below

This article has a comprehensive description on how to enable the HDR settings in various brands of TVs (click)

Please note that MiTV supports HDR system electronically but not the LED panel which does not have the required specification for HDR display.    Some reported MiTV was not able to display HDR pictures properly. 

Why Google Play Store in Android Devices (HuaWei's Mate 30) not the Same?

25 September 2019

# Google Play Store,  Google Assistance,  HuaWei Mate 30    https://tinyurl.com/yxj6y3w8

Why Google Play Store in Android Devices (e.g HuaWei's Mate 30) not the Same?

Google Play Store is where most Android handphone users will download the Apps for their Android phones.   However,  not all Android devices or phones are made the same and can play those apps that were downloaded from Google Play Store.  This article will describe why and what is the major differences between various Android devices or phones. 

Why?

They do not have Google Mobile Services (GMS) which is a licensed code free to be built-in in Android devices or phones provided they meet Google’s certain conditions. 

Aren’t They all Got Google Play Store?

All Android devices or phones will usually have Android Open Source Project(AOSP) OS built-in and can play Android software called “APKs”  designed for them;  however,  not all devices can play those APKs downloaded from the original Google Play Store although they all have Google Play Store installed.  The difference is that these non-compliance devices or phone will usually have only Google Assistance instead of Google Mobile Services (GMS)  

What are the Major Differences?

Description	Google Mobile Services(GMS)	Google Assistance
Google Play Services	Built-in to perform security scanning and provide APIs to access original Google Play Store	No Google Play Services.  Basically,  it is a Google's voice assistant. Has ability only to open apps on the handphone.

What About HuaWei Phones?

HuaWei was one of the companies listed inside the US’s Entity List.  This means that HuaWei cannot receive any item subject to the US’s Export Administration without a license.  It also mean that HuaWei’s newer phones like HuaWei Mate 30 Pro will not be shipped with Google Mobile Service nor any other Google products such as Google Assistance,  Google Home,  Google Play Store,  Google Chrome/Maps etc .  

Isn’t There a Work Around?

The market has recently come up with a workaround where users of HuaWei Mate 30 Pro can easily install Google Play Store after having installed an APK called “App Release.APK” which is basically a “Google Play Assistant” that will install the necessary Google framework for final installation of Google Play Store.

The article claimed that not all apps download from the Google Play Store can work in HuaWei Mate 30 which is expected.   However,  the following video claimed otherwise.

Why is it so?

Those apps that strictly followed the Google’s apps design criteria for listing in Google Play Store will need to have the Google Mobile Service (GMS) codes built-in.  These GMS codes will scan the device for compliance before playing the downloaded Apps.  Invariably,  there will be some apps designers do not comply with this requirement. Their apps might not be accepted. 

Where Can HuaWei users Get their other Apps?

The users can always search apps in other private apps providers such as APK mirror,  APKMonk etc.  These apps providers will have no requirement for the apps designers to include the GMS codes in their APKs.   But,  this will come with certain security risks.

What About other Apps?

It was reported that  the phone might not be able to use the official apps from Facebook, Instagram,  WhatsApp as well as Spotify, Twitter, and Netflix.  One would have to look for modded apps.  Some modded apps requiring GMS would not work properly.