What is input lag and why it is one of the most important things for a comfortable gaming experience?

Input lag is the time that elapses from the moment a command is received to the moment a certain action is displayed on the screen. After you press a button on your controller (mouse, keyboard), the electronics need time to calculate the signal and display the image.

That's why you get input lag.

And as you know, this is a very important parameter. Especially when it comes to competitive online gaming. A bad input lag can even ruin a cyber athlete's career.

Interested? Then read on. Let's try to understand this problem in detail.

Input lag example

Suppose you are watching a video clip. The audio signal goes from the sound card to the speakers, and the video signal goes from the video card to the monitor. A significant difference between the two will cause the audio track to overtake the video sequence.

Or vice versa.

And it really is noticeable.

And that's just watching a video. Imagine how much it is amplified when it comes to active shooters.

Symptoms of input lag

Below are the main "symptoms" of this condition. They are usually used to determine whether or not there is input lag:

• The mouse either feels too slippery, constantly fails to deliver, or moves past the target.
  
• Movement in games feels slow and imprecise.
  
• Poor hit registration.
  
• Stuttering and skipping frames when moving the mouse.
  
• Opponents almost always seem to start shooting at you a little (or even a lot) earlier than they should. You were sure you saw them first and started attacking, but the system decided otherwise. This is the most obvious symptom of input lag.
  
• You keep changing the mouse sensitivity and cannot make up your mind. This is an indirect symptom, but we cannot rule it out.
  
• Out-of-sync mouse movement and monitor image
  
• At high FPS and high monitor Hz, you feel not 165 or 240, but about 60.
  

How to fix input lag?

You can reduce input lag in several ways. Here are some ways you can do it.

Use a wired mouse only

Yes, it can be said that wireless mice are not inferior to wired mice. After all, we live in a modern world. But a control signal on a short cable of computer peripherals cannot physically be transmitted for more than a millisecond.

And for wireless mice, one millisecond is already an achievement.

Update and customize your drivers

Always update your drivers.

Whether you have a green or red card.

By the way, both have various features that help level out input lag.

Use a monitor instead of a TV

Monitors are originally designed for PC use and maximum responsiveness, while TVs spend extra milliseconds before displaying the image.

Of course, there are some very radical options. For example, moving to another accommodation. And frankly, sometimes this is the only option to fix the problem. Simply because sometimes the wiring in homes causes failures at the contact level.

As sad as that sounds.

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