Measure your total input lag!

  • Thread starter DoctorNuu
  • 13 comments
  • 1,457 views

What lag have you measured?

  • ~33ms

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • ~50ms

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ~66ms

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ~83ms

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ~100ms

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • ~116ms

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ~133ms

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • ~150ms

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • >150ms

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • zero

    Votes: 1 25.0%

  • Total voters
    4
195
Germany
Germany
Do the following:
  1. Go to cockpit view & place car on a straight
  2. Record the screen and your controller (or wheel) simultaneously with a phone/camera. Slow-Mo mode, preferably.
  3. Make sure the on-screen timer (bottom left) or the lap timer is visible in the shot
  4. Move the controller several times quickly from left to right to left, etc. - and record it
  5. EDIT: I have realized that for the controller there is a built-in lag to make it smoother. Even at Sensitivity 7 there is quite a delay. So this probably applies only to wheels
  6. A wheel can even oscillate on its own when rolling backwards or driving forwards at good speed.
  7. Look at the video and find a point where the controller stick or physical wheel is centered (or almost centered)
  8. Search for the point shortly after where the displayed wheel is centered (by stepping through single frames in video)
  9. The difference in displayed times is your total lag
My result:
  • Total lag = 100-110ms ~ 6 frames
  • An independent review of my 2018 Bravia TV has found 33ms = 2 frames for the TV lag - in game mode.
Comments:
  • The red dot steering indicator is always one frame (16ms) behind
  • It is possible that the displayed wheel is also a frame behind the actual value used for the physics sim. (hopefully)
  • It should be clear from the measuring "setup" that the lag of the camera or of the on-screen timer does not enter the result
  • I estimated a lower lag from just looking at how the on-screen wheel reacts. It does not feel slow.
 
Last edited:
Under 100 ms would be a very good result for a typical console or even PC setup any time in the last ten years or so.

Hopefully this is a good indication that input lag is treated with utmost respect within PD's codebase (and perhaps at Sony overall) and so as hardware and connectivity standards improve to this end, we can look forward to even better responsiveness.

I personally suspect that, if it wasn't already a priority, the VR mode made it so. The long term target should be under 50, ideally under 20 ms if possible.

Nice guide, might try it myself on a few platforms!
 
I never find input lag to be a problem in GT games. If you think this is bad, you haven't played NFS Shift :lol: I think below a certain threshold your brain just gets used to it and it's not really a noticeable "lag". Besides, our brain's consciousness always lags 80ms behind reality. Even if the game has zero input lag, our body will become the limitation.

I think it would be interesting to measure if input lag also affects real cars. From turning the wheel, to the tyres actually generating lateral force. I'm sure there is a slight delay from all the mechanical "laxity" in the steering system, suspension, tyre pliability and inertia of the car body itself initiating the turn.
 
Your brain waiting 80 ms before admitting consciousness to you is not the same as being able to discern input lag below 15 ms, which has been tested by the way.

Faster is always better. Always always always. No matter how good we are at adapting, we are better if we don't have to.


Mechanical compliance is also different, as you feel every component in that connected train of deflection, so you have feedback to work with before the final component does the thing you're asking of it.
 
Yeah, Z28Gaming had a video on the game settings, showing the “lag” just sitting in place watching the in cockpit screen. He had the controller at max 7 and it was huge still. The wheel was slight, but still present. I think he had the wheel at his preferred setting of 2, saying most couldn’t drive the wheel at 7.

He also noted only one setting does the controller and only one does the wheel. Both in game settings do not effect the other system.
 
There is an obvious delay in the cockpit view steering and gear change animation but the red dot showing your actual input from the controller has very little lag.
 
There is an obvious delay in the cockpit view steering and gear change animation but the red dot showing your actual input from the controller has very little lag.

As my videos show (well, to me, as I did not post them):
The red dot always lags one frame behind the cockpit-wheel. This is for wheel input.

I assume you are talking about controller input.
I should probably have done the same measurement for controller myself, but laziness is a thing...
 
Sorry, yes I was replying to @wedjim but forgot to tag them.

I haven’t measured my lag but have enjoyed reading the results from your test. I can’t say there’s any more lag over any other game I’ve played.

I’m not sure it even matters, the human brain is brilliant at adapting to things such as lag.
It’s well known in the racing world for vehicle setups to be wrong and the driver compensates without even realising it.
 

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