Until a few years ago, advanced gaming features and syncing compatibility were primarily reserved for gaming monitors. Now, TVs are getting into the action and many of those same features are available over HDMI (rather than DisplayPort, something very few TVs offer). They include Auto Low-Latency Mode (ALLM), Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Nvidia G-Sync, and AMD FreeSync.

ALLM is a simple but useful feature for gaming with a PC, Xbox One, or Xbox Series X/S. When you start playing a game, it sends a signal to the TV, causing it to automatically switch into gaming picture mode and activate any other gaming features. And, when you stop playing, it automatically exits that mode and turns off the related features.

TV shows and movies almost all have consistent frame rates, but game frame rates can vary wildly. As a result, TVs with fixed refresh rates of 60Hz or 120Hz can struggle to display action smoothly. VRR means the TV can adjust its refresh rate on the fly to match the video source. It can reduce or completely remove choppiness and screen tearing from your games.

Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync are other frame rate- and refresh rate-syncing features. They let a display sync directly with a PC's graphics card (GeForce and Radeon, respectively) and help reduce screen tearing. Depending on your GPU, either of these features is useful if you plan on connecting your PC to your TV.

If you want extremely low input lag and much wider support for various refresh rates and VRR, you need to turn toward smaller screens. By that, we mean dedicated gaming monitors. These are specifically designed for gaming and emphasize responsiveness at least as much as picture quality. Input lag of less than 4ms is common in high-end gaming monitors. They can also include PC-friendly features that further improve performance, such as adaptive refresh rates with Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync. However, we've seen TVs get closer and closer to these numbers in recent years; many have begun to offer features like G-Sync and FreeSync as well, so the distinction between the two might eventually become moot.

The biggest drawback with gaming monitors is that you need to spend much more per square inch. Monitors are generally smaller than TVs and are designed for use from a distance of only a foot or two. They have fewer inputs, don't always feature speakers, and rarely have any kind of remote control. If you want to game from your couch, a gaming monitor simply isn't feasible. But if you're ready to play from your desk, check out our list of the best gaming monitors.

If you simply want the best picture available, meanwhile, look at our roundup of the best TVs, the best 65-inch TVs, and the best 75-inch (and up) TVs. And if you want to save some money, head over to our list of the best cheap TVs, which highlights some models that are still good for gaming.

For more buying advice, see our story on what TV model numbers and SKUs actually mean.

Input lag is the amount of time between when a TV receives a signal and the display updates. Fighting games, action games, and other titles that require precise timing perform best when input lag is minimal. It can make the difference between feeling like you have total control over everything happening and needing to constantly compensate for what amounts to very tiny pauses that can throw off your game.

Input lag generally ranges between 2 and 120 milliseconds for TVs, with the biggest differences not between different TVs but between any given TV's game mode and other picture modes. For example, if you play in Theater picture mode on even the fastest TV, you are likely to experience significant lag.

We've been testing input lag using an HDFury 4K Diva 18Gbps HDMI matrix with an Xbox One X as a source, but we've recently switched to a new piece of testing equipment to replace it, the Leo Bodnar 4K HDMI Video Signal Lag Tester. Both devices use light sensors that monitor flashing sections of the screen to determine the time it takes for the picture to change after the signal is sent, down to the tenth of a millisecond. The Diva processes the source video and transmits the picture to the TV as a 1080p60 signal with a black box overlaid at the center of the screen, while the Bodnar generates its own signal, supporting 1080p120 and higher refresh rates, along with 4K60. Our TV reviews from before this year are still based on testing performed on the Diva. Since the two devices use different methodologies and signals to measure latency, the numbers can't be directly compared. The gaming sections of the reviews will note which testing method we used.

We currently use a one-frame rule to determine which TV is best for gaming. A single frame at 60Hz is 16.6 milliseconds, and a frame at 120Hz is 8.9 milliseconds. If a TV is faster than that (has lower lag than that), you're dealing with almost no discernible input lag.

We record lag times with the TV's game mode active because input lag is most important for gaming. We also note input lag in other picture modes for reference.