Hard numbers in the Wayland vs. X11 input latency discussion (mort.coffee)

Article summary

The article discusses a personal experiment to measure the difference in input latency between Wayland and X11. The author used a high-speed camera to record mouse movements and cursor updates, finding that Wayland has roughly 6.5ms more cursor latency than X11. The experiment was conducted on a specific hardware setup, and the author notes that the results may not be generalizable to other configurations. The author concludes that the difference in latency is noticeable and may be significant for certain users, such as gamers.

Main themes

• Wayland vs X11
• Input latency
• Linux desktop performance
• Gaming on Linux
• Compositor comparison

What commenters say

• The difference in input latency between Wayland and X11 may be significant for competitive gamers, where every millisecond counts.
• The results of the experiment may not be representative of all Wayland compositors or hardware configurations, and further testing is needed.
• Some commenters argue that the 6.5ms difference in latency is imperceptible and will not affect most users, while others claim it can make a significant difference in gaming performance.
• The lack of support for advanced mouse and keyboard inputs in Wayland is a significant limitation, and the protocol's extensibility may not be enough to address this issue.
• The quality of drivers produced by hardware manufacturers is a major factor in the performance of input devices on Linux, and vendor support is essential for improving the user experience.
• Some commenters believe that the difference between 60hz and 120hz monitors is instantly noticeable, while others argue that it is a placebo effect.
• The impact of input latency on gaming performance is complex and depends on various factors, including network latency, client-side prediction, and accuracy.
• Further testing is needed to determine the extent to which Wayland's input latency affects gaming performance and to identify potential solutions to this issue.