Can Someone Clarify What Input Lag is And How It Will Effect Me

ShaggyRS6

ShaggyRS6

ShaggyRS6

Associate
Joined
11 Jan 2009
Posts
981
Location
Kent UK & New Jersey USA
From what I understand, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that when you have 2 monitors together side by side using the same GFX card then you get lag between the 2 screens when you have a window/doc stretched between the 2 of them as in the vid below. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cOGHUBakFoo

Is this the only effect that Input lag has? as I beleive the Dell 2709W suffers from this. as I wont be working between 2 screens if thats the only issue it wont be a problem. Unless of course is has other effects on games etc.

Then we have the colour issue which is documented here http://www.digitalversus.com/article-357-3699-88.html


SORRY for all the questions.
 
Well, it's the time between when the computer outputs the signal, and when the screen actually shows it to you.

Imagine an extreme example. Your monitor has a 5 second input lag. This means that when you press a letter on the keyboard it would take 5 seconds before you see it on the screen. You click to fire Duke Nukem's gun at the stripper and have to wait 5 seconds to see if you hit her. That would be unusable. Luckily 5 seconds is a huge exaggeration.
 
Ok, so it does have an impact if you just have the one screen then and all that I am reading about the 2709 is that it is noticble. Wonder if some 2709 users are around to comment.

Cheers mate
 
I'm not familiar with that particular monitor, though I'd bet that to some people that lag would be irritating and to others it would not be noticeable.
 
The 2709 is probably similar to the A00 2408 in terms of its input lag as I understand it and to me that wasn't something I could live with after seeing the sound in films coming in just ahead of the actors speaking on screen - as one example!
 
Im gonna give it a go. If it turns out not to be my cup of tea it will go back. O posted on another forum and im getting conflicting comments. I think i just need to suck it and see. Not literally of course.
 
Here's a test to try:

Load up MediaPlayer classic and open a movie where the sound is nicely in sync and you have some sudden sounds with obvious video/audio cues (e.g. gunshots, punches, doors slamming, etc.) Now hit '-' on the numberpad until the audio delay is shown as -70 ms and see if the sync problems annoy you. Digital VS quotes the worst-case lag on a Dell 2709W as 72 ms.

Of course, if you use Mediaplayer Classic on a laggy monitor, you can compensate by adjusting the audio the other way.

I personally find lag quite annoying in games as it makes the controls feel ever so slightly disconnected. It's an effect you have to experience before you know whether it bothers you.

--
Dave
 
I don't play racing games at all.

The kind of games I play are Warhammer, FSX, Eve Online, I might occaiaionally play unreal it Cod 4 but not very often
 
As a general rule of thumb, I have found that any screen that averages 30ms or less input lag should be fine for general gaming etc(some people may be happy with even higher). 20ms or less is about as good as TFTs get atm and would be ideal of course.

Having come from years of CRT use to a NEC 20" wgx2 it wasn't a problem, that screen is around 10-20ms lag. Even my 24" HP is fine and that is around 20-35ms. Sure an eagle eye can notice the difference between CRT but its ever so subtle and you get used to it quickly unless you are a top professional gamer and every millisecond counts :p
 
Quick one, is this all cumulative?

i.e, if my ADSL's ping to UK servers is 70-80, would it be:

80ms (adsl) + 30ms (input lag) + ? (mouse lag) + whatever else causes lag = true delay?

Always wondered if its cumulative, or are certain delays absorbed by the major factor, which in my case would be the adsl's lag/ping time...
 
The network lag is somewhat mitigated by the network code of most online shooters using dead reckoning to calculate where another player will be based on their direction and speed IIRC.
 
ShaggyRS6 said:
Ok, so it does have an impact if you just have the one screen then and all that I am reading about the 2709 is that it is noticble. Wonder if some 2709 users are around to comment.

Cheers mate
Click to expand...

To answer your question directly Shaggy, this is done on places like YouTube to demonstrate difference in input lags between difference monitor makes and models or against CRTs (widely regarded has having 'zero' input lag and pixel response times)....so yes, it does affect you with a single monitor and any setup.

It is simply, as others have stated, the delay between the signal being sent from the graphics card and it actually being being drawn on the screen; this delay is caused by the hardware of the monitor itself (normally the scaler unit) and how efficiently it has been setup by the manfacturer to minimise the "image processing time" (for want of a better word) of their screen.

This is actually a feature that normally relates to "you get what you pay for" metric where the more expensive screens (although they look the same on paper) deal with this kind of thing better.

One of the main reasons I purchased my Hazro HZ26Wi was down to the excellent average input lag of just 7ms and I can tell you (coming from an old Dell2001FP with about 60ms input lag) it makes a huge difference to the 'feel' of playing games (certainly for me).

For me it has dramatically reduced the number of "I swear I shot him first and I've got a low ping!" incidents and other twitch-gaming moments.

However, unless you are into fast-paced gaming, it probably isn't something you'll ever really notice too much.

Have a look at the reviews over at www.tftcentral.co.uk for more information; I understood the concept of input lag a lot better after reading their reviews and looking at the various charts they have on offer their that help you to see the input lag differences accross different monitors.

Hope that helps!! :)
 
I ended up going for the 24" in the end. After getting advice on here, and measuring up I think a 30 or a 27 would have been to big, I dont play game enough to utilize it.

So the 24 is turning up today. Learnt a lot though from the various threads.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom