This free PS5 upgrade makes gaming on the best TVs even better

It's not going to help a hopeless gamer like me, but if you're serious about esports or FPSes you'll want this update

PS5
(Image credit: Triyansh Gill/Unsplash)
Carrie Marshall
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published
in News

After a bit of a lull Sony has been issuing lots of PS5 updates recently, and this week's one is good news if you've recently bought one of the best TVs or best gaming TVs: the PlayStation has been updated with new controls over low latency mode, the super-speedy way to game with the least amount of lag. 

The patch, which is available for every PS5 owner, updates the Settings page with new controls over ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). That's the feature in recent TVs that can detect whether you're gaming or not and if you are, automatically switches into low latency mode. That's a pretty useful thing to have, but it's not always necessary. So Sony is giving you the ability to change how it behaves.

How to use the new PS5 ALLM settings

As Sony explains in its PS5 patch release notes, If you're using a TV that supports ALLM (auto low latency mode), you can adjust ALLM settings in Settings > Screen and Video > Video Output > ALLM. There are two options here: Automatic, which as you'd expect automatically switches to low latency mode, and Off, which overrides the feature unless you're in VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) mode. 

If you're thinking it sounds odd wanting to disable a feature that's supposed to make gaming better, I thought the same – but while ALLM is very good at solving display issues in super-fast gaming, especially online multiplayer, many PS5 gamers have complained that their PS5's ALLM locks their TVs into Game Mode. That's not always a good thing, because in many cases Game Mode turns off a lot of TV customisation and options. I know on my own TV I prefer not to use Game Mode for anything other than arcade games; for more cinematic titles I prefer to use the more cinematic display modes.

If all of the above sounds like gobbledygook, don't worry: it's only an issue for a relatively small proportion of gamers, and Sony's small but simple solution solves a problem that is a big deal for them but may not be even a speck on your radar. But it's good to see that Sony's much more on top of PS5 updates than it was at first. Fingers crossed that continues.

Carrie Marshall
Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).

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