One area of focus missing here is game streaming / remote play (Steam Link, Moonlight, etc. over a local network).
I've come to accept input lag, but mostly play games where it doesn't matter (simple platformers, turn-based games, etc). I know steam link from my home desktop to my ~5 year smart TV is adding latency to my inputs – though I can't tell if it's from my router, desktop, or TV – but I've come to accept it for the convenience of playing on the couch (usually with someone watching next to me).
I know some blame is on the TV, as often if I just hard-reset the worst of the lag spikes go away (clearly some background task is hogging CPU). And sometimes the sound system glitches and repeats the same tone until I reset that. Still worth putting up with for the couch.
Input lag is one of those things you feel before you can explain it. Good to finally have a resource that breaks down the full chain — controller, engine, display — instead of just blaming the monitor like everyone does
The engine section is the part most developers seem to ignore. A locked 60fps doesn't mean 16ms latency, and that gap make me surprise
I used to get into arguments all the time about how triple-buffering reduces latency, and I think it's because we lacked resources like this; people assume it adds the additional back buffer to a queue, when the traditional implementation "renders ahead" and swaps the most recently-completed back buffer. It's a subtle difference but significantly reduces the worst-case latency vs. a simple queue.
I think most people get their information from help blurbs in settings menus for PC games, which are often hilariously vague or incorrect.
One area of focus missing here is game streaming / remote play (Steam Link, Moonlight, etc. over a local network).
I've come to accept input lag, but mostly play games where it doesn't matter (simple platformers, turn-based games, etc). I know steam link from my home desktop to my ~5 year smart TV is adding latency to my inputs – though I can't tell if it's from my router, desktop, or TV – but I've come to accept it for the convenience of playing on the couch (usually with someone watching next to me).
I know some blame is on the TV, as often if I just hard-reset the worst of the lag spikes go away (clearly some background task is hogging CPU). And sometimes the sound system glitches and repeats the same tone until I reset that. Still worth putting up with for the couch.
Build a sffpc, have it by the tv :)
Input lag is one of those things you feel before you can explain it. Good to finally have a resource that breaks down the full chain — controller, engine, display — instead of just blaming the monitor like everyone does
The engine section is the part most developers seem to ignore. A locked 60fps doesn't mean 16ms latency, and that gap make me surprise
I used to get into arguments all the time about how triple-buffering reduces latency, and I think it's because we lacked resources like this; people assume it adds the additional back buffer to a queue, when the traditional implementation "renders ahead" and swaps the most recently-completed back buffer. It's a subtle difference but significantly reduces the worst-case latency vs. a simple queue.
I think most people get their information from help blurbs in settings menus for PC games, which are often hilariously vague or incorrect.