Caution!! If you do not care about input lag and want to remain blissfully ignorant, please do not perform this test. This is simply for the very picku of us out there who want to know the ins and outs of the tech behind our games. This can also be very helpful for anyone interested in testing a new (or old) television. While there are many resources online that can give you an idea of your TV's input lag, this is a quick and dirty way of verifying those results for yourself.IntroThis probably isn't the most scientific test in the world, but I
stumbled upon it after looking for a way to test my TV's input lag. I thought I'd spread the knowledge (assuming that this is indeed a semi-reliable way of testing input lag).
As a quick brief - our modern LCD and Plasma TVs do not work like the common tube TVs of old. When you hit a button on a gaming console on an old tube TV, the result was instantaneous. Mario would jump immediately, Mega Man would shoot exactly when you told him to, and Little Mac would uppercut just at the right moment.
On the TVs most of us use now (LCD and plasma flat screens), we have to deal with a new issue called input lag. Long story short, on these TVs, there is a small delay that occurs between you hitting a button and the result appearing on screen.
Tonight, I finally got to play a game on Wii U that I am incredibly familiar with - Super Mario Bros. 2. So far, the games I've played haven't seemed to require the most precise precision. Super Mario Bros. 2 is a game I've beaten to death, over and over again. I know how exactly how it should play, and something about it was just a little bit off. I decided to try the test at the link above to see how my TV fares.
Nintendo has said that the Wii U Gamepad indeed has a small delay - it's about 1/60th of a second, or .016 seconds - 16 milliseconds. Since our images display at 60 times every second, we would say that this is "one frame."
What the following (admittedly not scientific) test will let you do is judge how much faster (or slower) your TV is than the Gamepad.
What you'll need:- A camera - I think a digital camera or phone could suffice, but you will want to make sure that the camera speed is fast enough to catch the numbers as they tick away on screen.
- Your TV (obviously) - If your TV has something called Game Mode, you will want use this mode. While this won't necessarily reduce your input lag ,this will turn off any sort of processing your TV is doing to make the image better. This includes things like Dynamic Contrast, Noise Reduction, and Motion Interpolation. If your TV does not have a Game Mode, just make sure that all of those fancy things are disabled.
- The Wii U Gamepad (I've found that the best way to do this is to put it on its stand, if you have it)
- An internet connection (the stopwatch you'll be using is found at a link below)
How to (roughly) test the input lag of your television:1.) Load up your Wii U's internet browser, and click on the following link:
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/response_time.php2.) Scroll down to the section that says "Input Lag Test". You will see a little box that says "Start Test."
3.) Set the Wii U Gamepad in front of the TV (or wherever you can place it so that you can photograph both the Gamepad and the TV at the same time).
4.) Have your camera ready. If you have a "manual" mode on your camera, it might be a good idea to make sure your shutter speed is at 1/320 of a second or faster. It may help to have your camera on a continuous shooting mode so that you can take many photos in succession.
5.) Tap the "Start Test" button in the input lag section.
6.) Take a bunch of photos that have both the TV and Gamepad screen in the frame. Not all of them will come out clearly (since the screens will only update once every 60th of a second), so you will want to take a lot to ensure that you don't simply take photos of the numbers as they tick away (they'll be blurry).
Your Results:After you've done this, look at your photos and compare the number on the Gamepad to the number on the TV.
If you find that the numbers on your TV screen are HIGHER than the Gamepad, then your TV has less input lag than the Gamepad (because the timer is displaying on the TV FIRST). If you find that the numbers on your TV screen are LOWER than the Gamepad, then your TV has more input lag than the Gamepad (because the timer is displaying on the GAMEPAD first).
For example, in one photo, the TV may display 5.438s, while the Gamepad displays 5.477s. This is a difference of .039s, or more clearly, 39ms. This is around 2.5 frames of lag. If we then take into account that the Gamepad itself has about a frame of lag, then I can tack 16ms onto my number to have a guestimate as to the TV's input lag - in this case, it is 55ms.
Soooo if anyone is ever inclined to try this out for themselves, it's a neat way of testing your TV's input lag. For many of you out there, this is probably the easiest way to test input lag, since the only other reliable way would be to use a CRT monitor as a secondary monitor for a PC. If the Gamepad is indeed somewhere in the realm of 1-2 frames per second, this test at least allows us a rough reference point in which to measure our TVs' input lag.
I'm interested to hear any results you guys may have! This could also be a great way for all of us to put our heads together when shopping for a TV with low input lag.
For information on particular TVs, check out the website www.displaylag.com. While not all TVs are accounted for, it gives you a rough idea of what to expect for certain TVs.
In the end, this may not matter too much to you. I know that really hardcore fighting game fans LIVE by this stuff, because they need to be as precise as humanly possible. In most cases, most of us probably wouldn't notice a delay of 1-2 frames (or 16-32ms), but it may be a good idea to be aware of this stuff when TV shopping.
(As an aside - if you're shopping for TVs, please do not confuse the term "Response Time" with input lag. Response time is simply a term used for LCD TVs that gives you an idea of how quickly it takes a pixel to change from one color to another. It is not necessarily indicative of a TV's input lag. Most TVs will be around 5-8ms in response time, which will kind of be a negligible factor in judging response time).
Edit regarding the Wii U VC: Regarding my experience with Super Mario Bros. 2 - apparently I'm reading that all VC games have a little bit of lag. Add in the extra frame of lag from the Gamepad, and this may explain why some of your Virtual Console experiences have been a little "off."
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