One of the main claims that both televisions and gaming monitors are having is the inclusion (finally) of HDMI 2.1 . With this new standard, many sections are improved that until now were absent or directly limited, among which we could highlight the resolutions and hertz. But at the same time it also includes a number of features like ALLM, but what is it and how does it improve the gaming experience?
G-SYNC and FreeSync have revolutionized the gaming industry for many years. Oddly enough, TVs are building on these sync standards that monitors already include, and both are incorporating all the latest in terms of features and protocols.
Auto Low Latency Mode or ALLM, something as simple as effective
As we have commented and you may have already guessed, ALLM is the acronym for Auto Low Latency Mode , a feature that is only within HDMI 2.1 (for now) and that although it depends on it, it is expected to be an independent feature in the future that may be implemented in other connectors and ports.
The first thing we must be clear about with ALLM is that although it works in a similar way on monitors and televisions, the way to proceed to carry it out is somewhat different. And this occurs by its own definition of the term, by its use and by its implementation, since we are talking about an automatic mode (emphasize this word) with low latency which allows the latency configuration of the panel to always be the ideal according to the type content that is detected.
This ideal configuration aims to automatically establish a new screen mode that can be specified as Game Mode, Game Mode or similar, since there is no unitary and uniform concept in the industry of what to call it, so each manufacturer names it in their own way.
A feature that unites the video game industry
It is this characteristic and not the device on duty (call it PC, console or similar) that allows it to send a signal to the screen so that it automatically switches to low latency mode with its corresponding name and profile.
We insist on the concept of automatic, since the change process is totally transparent and perhaps if we blink we will not even see the jump in a normal way to these specific Game Mode. It should be added that this mode is capable of detecting, for example, if we are in XSX watching a movie or playing a game, where in the first case it will not activate ALLM and in the second it will ( PS5 is not compatible at the moment).
What is intended is simple: save the user having to go through the menus of the monitor or the TV to select this mode, so that the change is automatic and thus achieves the least delay in the games in terms of latency.
The most obvious question is if after we finish using said device, if the screen returns to its normal mode. The answer is yes, the screen will go into normal mode once we finish using ALLM, so it is still a completely transparent process.
Although it may not seem like it, this mode is not optimized in most panels for other scenarios, such as a movie or series, very slow images or the like. It should be noted that the inclusion of HDMI 2.1 does not imply obtaining ALLM, since the characteristic needs to be adapted to the standard.