If ping is normal but controls feel heavy, a TV’s video processing, a wireless controller, or frame generation may be adding delay between your input and the screen.
Why The TV’s game mode is off, a Bluetooth or wireless controller is in use, or frame generation (DLSS or FSR frame generation) is on → Effect The TV sends frames out late while it processes the picture, wireless input arrives late by its polling interval plus any interference, and frame generation waits for the next frame to create an in-between frame → On screen Ping and FPS numbers look good, but there’s a delay between pressing a button and seeing the result on screen: input lag
Primary owner External (External) · Also Game team (Client development)
Game team action items
Make frame generation optional and warn that turning it on can increase input lag, integrate the GPU vendor’s low-latency feature (NVIDIA Reflex, AMD Anti-Lag 2) when frame generation is used, show the PC-side input-to-display latency in the game, request the TV’s low-latency mode (ALLM) with Window.setPreferMinimalPostProcessing(true) in Android TV and set-top box builds.
External action items
Tell players to turn on game mode (ALLM) on their TV or monitor, use a wired controller and turn off frame generation for competitive play, keep Bluetooth devices close, and use 5 GHz Wi-Fi.
Ballpark numbers
Just sending one frame takes 16.7 ms on a 60 Hz screen and 8.3 ms at 120 Hz. Older Xbox controllers read and sent input every 8 ms. The delay added by a TV’s video processing varies by device, so no single number fits; game mode is the setting that cuts down this processing. AMD recommends using frame generation at a frame rate of 60 FPS or higher before generation.
On the graph
Always high · Input-to-display latency
Where to look
Compare PresentMon’s MsAllInputToPhotonLatency (from keyboard or mouse input to output on screen) with frame generation on and off, and use FrameType (recorded only when the driver or SDK reports it) to see whether generated in-between frames are mixed in. This value doesn’t include the controller’s wireless link or the processing inside the TV, so compare those parts by switching to TV game mode or a wired controller
Confirmed if
Ping is normal, but input-to-display latency drops with frame generation off, or the perceived delay goes away with TV game mode or a wired controller
Ruled out if
No change after switching all of these, and ping is high or spiking: the network side. PC-side latency is high because of V-Sync or the frame queue: “V-Sync and the render queue”
Check with
The player’s own environment
Learn more
Network latency shows up in ping, but this latency doesn’t. That’s why it’s the first thing to check in a “low ping but still lagging” report. Frame generation roughly doubles the FPS number on screen, but to create an in-between frame it has to wait for the next real frame, so the time until your input shows up on screen gets longer (AMD states that latency increases by design). Bluetooth devices use the same 2.4 GHz band as Wi-Fi, so interference can make input drop out or jump. For V-Sync and the render queue, which add latency inside the PC, see “V-Sync and the render queue.”
Sources
Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)HDMI Licensing Administrator ALLM lets a device switch the display to low-latency mode (often called game mode) automatically; in low-latency mode, the TV stops some video processing to reduce delay
Xbox Series X: What’s the Deal with Latency?Microsoft Input lag is the sum of the path controller → console → HDMI → TV; older controllers read and sent input every 8 ms; sending one frame over HDMI takes 16.6 ms at 60 Hz and 8.3 ms at 120 Hz; ALLM switches the TV to game mode automatically
AMD FSR Frame GenerationAMD Frame generation is recommended at 60 FPS or higher before interpolation (below 30 FPS should be avoided); AMD Radeon Anti-Lag 2 reduces system latency by keeping CPU and GPU work in step
NVIDIA DLSSNVIDIA DLSS Frame Generation is designed to keep responsiveness when paired with NVIDIA Reflex (a low-latency feature)
PresentMon Capture Application (README-CaptureApplication.md)Intel MsAllInputToPhotonLatency (input-to-display latency), DisplayLatency (frame submission to output to the monitor), FrameType (tells frames rendered by the app apart from frames interpolated by the driver or SDK)
Window.setPreferMinimalPostProcessingAndroid (Google) Latency-sensitive windows such as games request minimal video processing from the display; over HDMI, the ALLM and Game Content Type signals switch the TV to low-latency mode