Interesting article on measuring game response time
Makes the fact that I'm stuck at 2 hundredths of a second slower than zico all the more annoying. Wonder what the response time for HD is?
Interesting article on measuring game response time
Makes the fact that I'm stuck at 2 hundredths of a second slower than zico all the more annoying. Wonder what the response time for HD is?
Last edited by stever; 7th July 2009 at 12:41 PM. Reason: spelled zico correctly ;)
Sort of explains the difficulty in achieving a BR onto the bridge in a ZICO attempt.
But I have found it is ad hoc anyway.
Readings change with the amount of charge left in the controller & what temperature the room is at,cold= slow,warm [24 to 36 degrees C= OK],Hotter= slow.
It might be caused by power supply drain from heating/cooling dropping the voltage to the PS3.
The PS3 will still work,but just not as optimally with regards to picking up the signal from the controllers.
I think the WOHD lag is also tied directly into CPU workload.
I've noticed, since waaaaay before 1.3 even - during Single Races / Campaign Races - it was the BR failure rate was abnormally high. During these races, the PS3 is rendering all ships, controlling the AI and obviously the track. One hell of a workload.
In the pre 1.3 online world - it didn't have to compute AI responses - it merely had to render the environment and what the other ships were doing.
In the post 1.3 world, it now has to wait until the last second, and upon receiving input from the server, render barrel rolls at the last second. (as they are now animated online / for other players) - I think this additional "last second" workload causes the PS3 to be "preoccupied" and it misses your fast input for a BR - which is usually occurring PRECISELY as you're attempting your input.
Further evidence of this: I've noticed in online races, when I'm way ahead or behind the pack - my BRs work - for the most part. But when there is another player - or players - immediately around me, especially directly in front of me - my BR failure rate goes waaaay up. As there my PS3 is now trying to animate their actions / BRs - and compute for inter-ship physics.
I dunno, could be lack of sleep here talking - but it seems to make sense. Also goes a long way in explaining why SL and TT BRs still work fine.
Sometimes I go over a weapon pad and it takes literally 2 seconds for it to give me the weapon.
When i pick up a missile, it takes ages before an opponent be perfectly locked (red target). when i pass a pilot, it's reaaaally faster for me to be hitted by missiles.
Input-lag has spread like an epidemic. Whether it's my TV, my Amp,
my DS3, or any given game, they all lag to a good portion. The tenor
today is features, features, features! QA my a$$.
@stever: Welcome on board!
I've found the DS3 to be a bit of a weight nuisance creating output lag for my hands. So I've taken out the vibration servo's.. Without actually knowing I'd say they combined weigh the same as the rest of the controller
One of the biggest factors (arguably the only one) is the television itself. Input Lag and what a manufacturer advertises as "response time" are not the same things. When you see a "response time" of say 4ms on the packaging of your new Samsung 50 inch tv, that is referring to the amount of time it takes one pixel to go from completely off to completely on... Input lag is determined by how long it takes the screen to show what is happening on an incoming signal.
There are a few things you can do to reduce/eliminate input lag:
- Use an HDMI cable whenever the option is available. Component cables are usually fine, but some TVs can't process the information as quickly.
- Turn on "game mode" if your TV has it.
- Turn off "Noise reduction"
- Turn off "Auto-Contrast"
- play your game in your TV's native resolution; ie 1080p tv? set your PS3/360 to 1080p.
- adjust the picture size to "Unscaled" or "just fit" or something similar. TVs typically overscan a signal just a bit to compensate for garbage on the outer edge of the picture, but games utilize every pixel of the image. When a TV has to stretch an incoming signal, it adds more processing time to the final display. Picture size is usually accessible on every TV, and an unscaled option exists alongside other options like "stretch" "smart stretch" "4:3" "16:9" "zoom" etc. Also, displaying the picture in unscaled mode gives you just a little bit more of the image in general
Basically, the focus is on making sure the TV is doing the absolute least amount of work/processing to an incoming signal. My TV is so fast that I can actually play even a crappy a composite (yellow RCA cable) 480i signal with nearly imperceptible input lag.
Also, do not use any kind of switchbox/entertainment center to switch between different devices. Some amps have multiple HDMI inputs so it acts as a switcher, but they often add a bit of signal lag as well. Use your TV to switch devices, then run a single optical audio cable from the TV's out-jack to the receiver.
Test different TVs in stores before you buy them; drag your 360 or ps3 with you and just say you want to demo it yourself. Make sure they give you the remote, too, because some options and menus can't be accessed with out it (for example, game mode is only available through a button on my remote).
Last edited by AG-wolf; 7th July 2009 at 04:30 AM.