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Friday, September 17, 2010
Input lag sucks...
7:02 PM / Technology / 
5 Comments
...as I've come to realise when comparing the results side by side between the high(ish) end S-PVA monitor I use downstairs and the cheapo TN jobbie I keep in my bedroom for less crucial business. The S-PVA monitor, a Dell 2709W, has a lot of inputs - VGA, DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, composite etc. - which a lot of people seem to like and which the manufacturers are fond of adding to their products. Unfortunately, all these different inputs requires more work from the monitor, resulting in more input lag.
For general desktop usage, a bit of input lag generally isn't too noticeable unless you're particularly attuned to it. In a fast-paced game, however, like a first person shooter or something like STARCRAFT II, where winning or losing depends on split second decisions, it can be lethal. I was aware, when playing STARCRAFT II, that I would sometimes miss-click when trying to select a certain unit in the heat of battle. Originally, I put this down to my own lack of dexterity, but after hooking up my TN panel this evening and playing a couple of matches, it became abundantly clear that the problem was not with my hand-eye coordination but rather than S-PVA panel's input lag. Playing on the TN panel just felt much more responsive, and I found it much easier to pull off intricate manoeuvres.
Input lag didn't stop me from getting into the Diamond league (the top ladder ranking for STARCRAFT II players, outside of the invite-only Pro league), but I'm now finding myself thinking back to old matches and re-evaluating precisely what led me to lose. I suspect most gamers use TN panels because they cost less than their PVA and IPS counterparts, which puts me at an immediate disadvantage - I personally can't stand the weak viewing angles and uneven backlighting associated with most TN models I've seen, so there's really no question of me using one on a long-term basis. Still, I'll probably be looking into getting a new display before too long (I'd also like one with better gamma tracking), so I'm going to be doing some serious research into PVA and IPS panels with more acceptable lag. I'll probably start by looking for one that doesn't have a bajillion different inputs.
5 Comments
Bobafett:
Not really, unfortunately. I don't have a massive amount of room on my desk and swapping out monitors constantly would be too much of a hassle.
I know what you mean about viewing angles not being such a big deal when you're sitting directly in front of the screen, but the problem is that with larger displays the unevenness becomes more of an issue because you do end up moving your head around, and on poorer quality displays even that can be enough to completely throw things off. Plus there's the uneven backlighting, which I can't stand - the bottom of the screen almost always ends up being noticeably brighter than the top.
Foxy:
I haven't measured it, but my brother, who is pretty sensitive to input lag, has managed to play HALO 3 on it with no complaints, so I'm assuming it's not too much of an issue.
(Posted on Sunday, September 19, 2010 at 1:32 PM)
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1. ChuckZ said:
I've owned a (then expensive) shitty TN panel display for over 3 years now. While the input lag is pretty low, I switched over to a hunking CRT temporarily to see if I could tell the difference.
OMG! I couldn't believe how much my "reaction times" had improved. My character was moving the way I wanted it to, at the time I desired it to move. Even though we measure lag in milliseconds and it may not seem like there is a large measurable difference between CRTs and TN LCDs, it sure left a profound impression on me.
The games I tested were TF2, CS:S and other FPS.
Of course I've long gone back to my TN panel because I don't game as intensely anymore. Also, the CRT tube (redundant) was fading fast and I was sick of imperfect geometry and the inability to for the display to truly resolve anything above 1280x1024 resolution (even though it was 18.5" viewable).
(Posted on Saturday, September 18, 2010 at 6:34 AM)