The amount of time for this whole process to occur will be referred to as 'input lag' and is what I am attempting to measure, in comparison to a control stick. The game console then translates the input received into an action on the screen. Each PCB has varying amounts of time from when it receives a physical input, to when it actually sends out the input to the game console.
a button is pressed), an electrical signal is transmitted to the PCB, which then decodes the signal and passes it on to the game console for processing. Each arcade stick has inside a printed circuit board, or PCB, which handles inputs. In order to determine the relative amount of delay, we must first understand a few things about how sticks, consoles and fighting games handle inputs: This testing attempts to quantify the result of the frequency of losses by each brand of major arcade stick.Ībove: A basic layout of the dual wiring is shown - note that two sets of QD (Quick Disconnect) wires were attached to the same button, with one set of QDs attached to each arcade stick While the inputs would usually happen on the same frame, there are some sticks which take longer to process the inputs and it was common for these sticks to 'lose' the simulatenous throw attempt. When the button was pressed, both characters would perform the same attack (in this case, a throw) as soon as the arcade stick PCBs were done processing the input that was sent from the single button. I then assigned this button to Heavy attack on both the P1 and P2 sides. To test for input delay among different arcade sticks, I attached wires from one Sanwa button to two arcade stick PCBs to allow for simultaneous inputs to both sticks. Akishop Customs PS360+ w/firmware 1.65, old build - Control for PS4 testing.Qanba Q4RAF Black (2011 model) - Control stick for PS3 testing
#CONTROLLER INPUT DELAY TEST PRO#
Hori Real Arcade Pro VX-SA - Control stick for XBox 360 testing
#CONTROLLER INPUT DELAY TEST MOD#
To test the amount of delay (in ms) of major lines of arcade sticks as well as widely available dual mod PCBs, in comparison to a low lag control stick, when used on the Playstation 4, PlayStation 3, and XBox 360 consoles.ġ Quick Disconnect, modified to split into two sets of raw wires allowing for simultaneous attachment to two Quick Disconnects
Arcade stick Input lag testing - Overview Testing various PS4, PS3 & 360 arcade sticks for input lag