Microsoft Explains Xbox Series X Dynamic Latency Input,Says Ultra-Low Latency Is Critical for Gaming

Microsoft's Jason Ronald explained how Dynamic Latency Input works on Xbox Series X, adding that ultra-low latency is going to be critical for a really great gaming experience.

[ccgr]

Can't wait to try it!

[SyntheticForm]

Making strides.

[WickedLester]

Wouldnt latency still be at the mercy of your TV?

[MetalProxy]

Yes pretty much but hey it sounds cool ...just like cloud powah

[GamerRN]

My Samsung goes down to 12ms latency in game mode... So... You also add that to the game latency... It's cumulative

[MajorLazer]

*Yawns*

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Yeah it’s not as cool as say announcing a Logo...

[averagejoe26]

@MajorLazer

I know, I'm bored from Microsoft's lies too.

[hadowajp]

Its cumulative so yes and no

[Fishy Fingers]

"so we knew we needed to improve everything from the controller to the console as well as the console to the TV with new features in HDMI 2.1 such as auto low latency mode (ALLM)"

You'll need a 'new' TV to take advantage of it but wouldnt you expect that from a next gen console? Last gen 1080p (rather than 720p) this gen HDR for example. It will be standard on TVs forward from launch, but a current HDMI 2.1 TV will just require an update.

[sprinterboy]

It's the exact reason I held off from 4k gaming this gen.
A alot of people keep the tv until it breaks so gonna be alot of people going half a gen more with old features nxt gen?
Its the same this gen though dude, I know so many xbox one x and ps4 pro owners who play on budget black Friday £400 shit 4k tvs.
Thats why we had the OMG fucking awesome hzd Pro looks insane discussions then other discussions saying they couldn't tell much difference.
Example my friends pro and hzd reaction = pissed off after buying pro and couldn't tell the difference (£429 Samsung 4k)
My friend goes to his brothers for Xmas (out of town) and his brothers wife bought the husband £2,799 Samsung 4ktv and played hzd on a Xmas day and his jaw dropped how awesome it looked. Total night and day difference like going from 576p to 1080p difference.

[frostypants]

@sprinterboy, the thing with 4K is you pretty much have to get a 4K TV if you want HDR...and HDR is definitely worth it. But you don't need a Pro for it...a regular PS4 will output HDR, albeit at 1080p.

[BQ32]

latency is inherent to both the tv display and controller input. They cannot do anything about what choice the consumer makes for a display but they can control the input latency. However the controller input lag is already quite minimal so it would probably only be noticeable for elite competitive gamers. Interestingly though they he talked about reading the last input even if in-between frames. I feel like some games do this already but I know I in the past I've had a habit of double tapping buttons to make sure the game read the input and it will be interesting to see what benefit this could make. In any case I am a competitive gamer, I own all consoles playing on the Ps4 most, but the recent information released by Microsoft really seems that the console is targeting gamers like me and I find myself most excited for this console.

[ReadyPlayer22]

It's about eliminating latency wherever they can. Modern 2.1 HDMI TVs actually have latency reduced quite a bit. But, consoles always have worst latency than PCs.

[rainslacker]

Not on the input side...outside the display delaying what info you need to make a reaction and input something.

Generally, so long as latency is within a few frames, its not an issue for a game. Input polling isnt usually done on a frame by frame basis

[frostypants]

Control lag and display lag are cumulative, but display lag is the far bigger issue with consoles since even the best televisions are in the 10-25ms range. This will improve things very slightly on the control side, but it will be most easily noticed if you have an awesome display with low lag (like a good gaming monitor).

[kneon]

There is latency in every piece between you seeing something, deciding what to do and finally having your action shown on screen. The controller has latency, communicating to the console has latency, the game has latency etc. The biggest latency though is you, so while in general less latency is better, at some point further improvements make little difference.

What's more important though is consistent latency, people can adapt to noticeable latency, but you can't adapt to drastic changes in latency.

[Kaedro]

Microsoft: "Ultra-Low Latency Is Critical for Gaming".
Also Microsoft: betting into cloud gaming where gaming latency will always be a thing. See the studies people, even with an internet connection of infinite TBs per second, latency would still be too high for comfortable gaming.

[Fishy Fingers]

Stadia latency matches current gen consoles (decent connection). Not disagreeing with your point but if you have an issue with your consoles latency then you must agree with MS that improvement is critical.

[Kavorklestein]

But the convenience of playing on the go or not in front of a TV may be satisfactory for some to not mind the latency that MS, and everyone already expects when using a cloud based streaming platform.

And in all honesty I get used to the latency in most cases after about 3 minutes of playing a game. Whether is is just the way a game is designed or it is because I'm streaming, I adapt and get used to it.
Some may be too displeased to play with that latency, and some may not.
Ms is just talking about trying to improve it on console, not denying it exists on streaming, Sooo.... your point is what exactly?

[rainslacker]

Games are typically designed to account for input latency. Even when on local hardware. There are various ways to achieve an input loop, but rarely is input taken by the program on every game loop. Even fighting games hold input commands at a key frame reference until the next game loop occurs.

This means that unless there is substantial lag in the network, a streamed game isnt usually affected.

[NeoGamer232]

I have PSNow, and I find it to be acceptable.

But, anything that these companies can do to reduce latency will only help.

[Xb1ps4]

We are talking a console experience not cloud experience...

As a regular on n4g you’d think you would know how to differentiate the 2 but nope might as well be a clueless soccer mom..

[whitbyfox]

The Series X is built vertically for one good reason, it’s the control tower for Flight Simulator 2020.

[moriarty1889]

ms sure are dropping alot of info on the XSX.

[Kumakai]

Theres gonna be low latency ordering this thing when i get the email it’s available.

[yomfweeee]

How about some numbers? What is ultra low?

[King_Noctis]

Even if they give actual number I doubt it would be sufficient for some people here. They are just gonna ask for something else.

[timotim]

Will come into play in helping games feel that much more responsive when it come to using xCloud on SX as well.

[SlagWolf]

MS is trying so hard to be like PC
Which isn’t a bad thing
What they really need Now are games that aren’t trash

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

My god the console ain’t even out yet and you people are still going on about games. It’s so lame you Sony fanboys can’t come up with a better argument. The SX will be a beast and will have great games no matter what you haters say.

[SlagWolf]

My god any one who disagrees with you is a Sony fanboy.
Look low IQ tard I don’t own a PS4. Infact I sold it because most of there exclusives were lame.

It will be beast lol
My PC will kick it’s ass
It will have great games lol
MS hasn’t had a studio that made great games since Bunjie
Every thing besides Forza has been a pile o shit from MS.
They had to go out and buy good studios because the ones they have just make trash

[Acecalibur]

For fighting games it is

[AK91]

Thank god

[GameStallion]

Yes please.

[sprinterboy]

Gonna be alot of current 4k tv owners going into nxt gen not being able to use these features (hdmi 2.1)
That goes to both playstation and xbox fans btw, but so glad I waited on 4ktv. I'll get my hdmi 2.1 black friday this year or if there delayed till next year (Covid19) I'll get my 4ktv march/April time.

[hadowajp]

If they're delayed and you're in the US I think superbowl week is the time to buy

[RazzerRedux]

"By the way, it is unclear whether Dynamic Latency Input will be supported on Windows PC when using an Xbox Series X controller."

Most PCs are using monitors rather than TV so the latency is already a lot lower. But really latency isn't that noticeable regardless. This comes across as just marketing BS to me.

[Parasyte]

Stuff like this and Variable Rate Shading are really interesting features on paper. I'm going to be interested to see how they work in practice.

[Orionsangel]

This was the first console gen to ever have hardware upgraded consoles to appear midway through the life cycle of this console gen. We've now reached a point with consoles where they're being treated like Smartphones with upgrades every so often. Don't be surprised during the next gen when halfway through its lifecycle we get the Xbox Series X Pro and the PS5 Pro.

[TheGamez100]

Oh yes it is. Devs need to understand that low latency and high framerates are quite important nowadays for gaming.

[medman]

I like everything I'm hearing.

[sampsonon]

cause their A and AA games they are making will need ultra low latency.

[Artemidorus]

Literally stealing HDMI tech and telling others it's their own.

[drunkenspy007]

It's looking like it's going to be an amazing system, but I really hope they get exclusives so people have reason to buy

[Petebloodyonion]

Welcome to blast processor 2.0
We all know that lower the latency the better your online experience will be.
Now Here's the only thing that MS (Sony, Nintendo) can control

- The input delay between you pad and the console itself.
- The server location if they own the server.

They don't control
- The latency of your TV
- Where do you live
- Your ISP
- Your Internet Connection
- The quality of Internet HUBS between you and server (Traceroute)
- Your brother Downloading Pron.

In the end MS has little control over latency