Here's exactly what to configure to get the best picture and audio quality out of your console from day one.

Start With the Right Cable

Before any settings get touched, the cable connecting your console to your display matters more than most people realise.

• Use HDMI 2.1 where possible. 

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X both output at 4K 120Hz, but they need an HDMI 2.1 cable to do it. Most consoles ship with an HDMI cable in the box, but not all of them are HDMI 2.1. Check the cable you're using and upgrade if necessary.

• Connect directly to your TV or monitor. 

Running your console through a soundbar or AV receiver adds a potential point of signal loss or latency. Connect directly to your display first and handle audio separately.

• Use the correct port on your TV. 

Not all HDMI ports on a TV are equal. Most modern TVs have one or two ports that support HDMI 2.1 and the rest are HDMI 2.0. Check your TV's manual to identify which port supports the highest bandwidth and plug your console into that one.

Configure Your Display Settings on the Console

Every major console has its own display settings menu and the defaults are rarely optimal. Here's what to look for regardless of which platform you're on.

Resolution:
Set your output resolution to match your display's native resolution. If you have a 4K TV, set your console to 4K. If your TV is 1080p, set it to 1080p. Running at a resolution your TV can't display natively introduces unnecessary scaling that softens the image.

Frame Rate:
Most modern consoles offer a performance mode that prioritises frame rate over resolution and a quality mode that prioritises resolution over frame rate. For competitive gaming, performance mode at 60fps or higher is the better choice. For cinematic single-player games where visual fidelity matters more than responsiveness, quality mode at a higher resolution is worth considering. Many games now offer both modes and let you switch between them in the game settings themselves.

HDR:
HDR, or High Dynamic Range, expands the range of colours and brightness levels your display can show, making highlights brighter and shadows deeper in a way that standard dynamic range cannot match. If your TV supports HDR, make sure it's enabled both in your console settings and in your TV settings. Many TVs require HDR to be manually enabled per HDMI port in the TV's own menu.

Most consoles include an HDR calibration tool that guides you through adjusting the HDR output to match your specific display. Use it. The default HDR settings often don't account for the brightness characteristics of your particular TV, and calibrating it properly makes a noticeable difference to how HDR content actually looks.

4K 120Hz:
If your display supports 120Hz at 4K and your console can output it, enable it. The jump from 60fps to 120fps is one of the most impactful visual upgrades in gaming. Motion feels dramatically smoother, games feel more responsive, and fast-moving scenes look significantly cleaner. Enable 120Hz output in your console settings and then make sure your TV or monitor also has 120Hz enabled on the port you're using.

VRR (Variable Refresh Rate):
If your display and console both support VRR, turn it on. VRR allows your display's refresh rate to sync dynamically with the frame rate your console is outputting, which eliminates screen tearing and reduces stuttering in games that don't lock to a perfect 60 or 120fps. PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and many modern TVs support VRR through HDMI 2.1.

Calibrate Your TV for Gaming

Your TV's picture settings have a significant impact on how games look, and the factory defaults are almost never the best choice for gaming. Here's what to adjust.

Enable Game Mode:
This is the single most important TV setting for gaming. Game Mode reduces your TV's input lag dramatically by bypassing the image processing that the TV normally applies to content. Without Game Mode enabled, your TV can add anywhere from 30 to 100 milliseconds of input lag on top of what the console itself produces. That delay makes your controls feel sluggish in ways you might not consciously identify but will definitely notice.

Find Game Mode in your TV's picture settings and turn it on whenever you're gaming. Some TVs apply it automatically when a console is detected.

Adjust Brightness and Contrast:
Factory brightness settings are calibrated for showroom floors with bright overhead lighting, not for the typical lighting conditions of a gaming room. In a darker gaming environment, factory brightness is often too high and washes out darker scenes. Lower it gradually until shadow detail looks natural without being crushed into pure black.

Colour Temperature:
Most TVs default to a cool or standard colour temperature that pushes the image toward blue tones. For gaming, a warm or neutral colour temperature tends to produce more natural-looking skin tones and environments. Adjust this in your TV's picture settings and choose whichever looks most natural to your eyes.

Sharpness:
One of the most counterintuitive TV settings. Most TVs come with sharpness set higher than it should be, and high sharpness actually introduces artificial edge enhancement that makes the image look processed and unnatural. Lowering sharpness to zero or close to it often produces a cleaner, more natural picture than the factory default.

Turn Off Motion Smoothing:
Motion smoothing, sometimes called the soap opera effect, motion interpolation, or TruMotion depending on your TV brand, is a processing feature that makes film and game content look unnaturally smooth and artificial. It's almost universally disliked by gamers and film enthusiasts alike. Find it in your TV's picture or motion settings and turn it off completely.

Get Your Audio Settings Right

Great picture without great audio is only half the experience. Here's how to make sure your console is outputting sound at the quality your setup is capable of.

Set Your Audio Output Format:
In your console's audio settings, choose the correct output format for your setup.

• If you're using a soundbar or AV receiver that supports Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, enable passthrough for those formats and let your audio hardware decode them

• If you're using a gaming headset connected directly to your controller or console, set the output to stereo or the headset's supported format

• If you're gaming through your TV's built-in speakers, PCM stereo or the TV's default audio output will work fine

Enable 3D Audio or Spatial Audio:
PlayStation 5 includes Sony's Tempest 3D Audio engine which delivers convincing spatial audio that makes sound feel like it's coming from around you rather than just left and right. Enable it in your console's audio settings and calibrate it using the built-in tool that measures how sound reaches your ears. Xbox Series consoles support Windows Sonic and Dolby Atmos for Headphones, both of which deliver spatial audio through headsets.

These spatial audio technologies are most effective through headphones and headsets. If you primarily game with a headset, enabling 3D or spatial audio is one of the most impactful changes you can make to how immersive your games sound.

Adjust Chat and Game Audio Balance:
If you play multiplayer games with voice chat, your console's audio settings let you balance the volume between game audio and party or team chat independently. Setting this balance correctly means you can hear your teammates clearly without drowning out important in-game audio cues.

Calibrate Your Soundbar or Speaker Setup:
If you're using a soundbar or speaker system, most of them include their own calibration tools or room correction technology. Run the calibration process before you start gaming to ensure your audio hardware is optimised for the physical space it's sitting in.

One Final Check: Your Game Settings

Console and TV settings are only part of the picture. Individual games often have their own graphics and audio settings that override or work alongside your console's output.

When you launch a new game, check its settings menu for:

• Performance vs quality mode — many games offer this choice independently of your console's system-wide setting

• HDR settings — some games have their own HDR calibration separate from the console's

• Field of view — expanding your FOV in supported games makes the image feel more natural, particularly on large displays

• Audio mix presets — many games offer presets for headphones, TV speakers, or surround sound that adjust the entire audio mix accordingly

• Subtitles and interface scaling — on larger TVs viewed from further away, adjusting UI scale ensures everything is readable at your viewing distance
  
  

The Difference Is Worth the Effort

Running through these settings takes less than 30 minutes, and the difference between a console running on default settings and one that's been properly configured is genuinely significant. Sharper image, better contrast, smoother motion, lower input lag, and audio that actually fills your space the way the developers intended.

Your console is capable of more than it shows you out of the box. Taking the time to unlock that capability is one of the easiest upgrades you can make to your gaming experience without spending a single penny.