01-28-2015, 09:23 AM
Raphnet is working on a new version of their adapter that will use full speed USB. The USB communication will be done by hardware so a low poll interval of 1 ms will be possible. This is huge for games like Super Smash Bros. Melee where every millisecond counts. This allows for communication that is faster than native hardware speeds on a GameCube if we also set our USB polling to 1000hz. Also, because of Dolphin being on PC, we can use 144hz Gaming Monitors instead of 60hz displays. This allows for transmission rates to be cut down from 16.67ms to about 9ms (6.94ms + 2ms input processing). For Smash Bros, this is super important because Smash is a non-buffered analog fighter. The timing is so fast and tight that having a setup with the least amount of input lag becomes very important.
Currently, the best confirmed way of playing (in terms of lag) is using a Wii or GameCube with a CRT TV. If you want to play with on a Gaming Monitor with a marginal 2ms of input lag and have widescreen progressive output, you can get an HDMI adapter for the Wii and a BenQ 60hz display. Either method still allows for a possible 22.67ms of lag with respect to how fast GameCubes and Wiis refresh controller inputs (~6ms). But what about the future? What are the goals? What are things we can improve on?
Well, here are the top requests:
1 - 1080p / HD
2 - Widescreen Progressive Output
3 - Online Play
4 - Native input lag or less
Possible solutions:
1 - Dolphin Upscaling and Anti-Aliasing
While it's not as good as actually creating better sampled textures, it is a huge improvement over native internal resolution and immediately noticeable.
2 - 20XX Pack and Dolphin Full RGB 4:4:4 Progressive Output
With the 20XX Pack, you can enable widescreen 16:9 output. And Dolphin already outputs in progressive full RGB without worrying about analog to digital conversions. It's the best image you can get.
3 - Netplay P2P
With Netplay and Smash Ladder, we can find regional opponents with only 1 to 2 frames of input lag from the connection alone if we play people with buffer 4 and under.
4 - USB Adapters and Gaming Monitors
Official Nintendo Wii U GameCube Controller Adapter (5ms) and the Future Raphnet Adapter (1ms) solve the issue where we were getting extra input lag just from the adapter. We also had an issue with getting an extra frame of input lag from Desktop Windows Manager (Windows Aero) not being disabled but if you have Windows 7, you can still disable it. So with these newer adapters and being able to poll our USB devices at 1000hz, we can improve the input lag from 6ms to 1ms. And now with these newer gaming monitors, we can use 144hz displays improving the display lag from 16.67ms to ~9ms. With the total overall lag improving from a possible 22.67ms per frame to ~10ms per frame having a possible reduction of -12.67ms per frame.
Summary
Having an input lag reduction of ~12.67ms per frame is a big deal already for local play, but also improves the netplay experience. With netplay, I could be playing someone at buffer 3 with about ~25ms of input lag from the connection, but if I were to use the new Raphnet Adapter and a 144hz Gaming Monitor, it would improve from a possible ~50ms of total input lag (including display lag and controller refresh lag) to approximately 35-40ms of total lag. And not only would using Dolphin in this way help input lag, but it would also allow for vast improvements visually. We would finally be able to run Melee at 1080p via Upscaling and Anti-Aliasing with Full RGB Widescreen Progressive output. This would make our scene look much better on streams and events and would attract more possible players. We need to adjust to 2015 standards and I think if Nintendo can't help us, there's no reason we can't help ourselves.
The Big Question
Even if we get a 144hz Gaming Monitor, a new Raphnet Adapter, and disabled Windows Aero - allowing for a theoretical 1ms of input lag from hardware alone - if Dolphin doesn't accept 1ms inputs or refresh every 1ms, then the whole thing is a waste.
Which makes this is the most important question right now:
How fast can Dolphin accept inputs and what is the refresh rate in which it checks for new inputs?
And if Dolphin can't accept inputs at 1ms, how can we modify or improve Dolphin to be able to? And if we can't get it at 1ms, can we at least get it matched to the GameCube refresh rate of ~6ms?
Thanks for reading,
TruckJitsu
Currently, the best confirmed way of playing (in terms of lag) is using a Wii or GameCube with a CRT TV. If you want to play with on a Gaming Monitor with a marginal 2ms of input lag and have widescreen progressive output, you can get an HDMI adapter for the Wii and a BenQ 60hz display. Either method still allows for a possible 22.67ms of lag with respect to how fast GameCubes and Wiis refresh controller inputs (~6ms). But what about the future? What are the goals? What are things we can improve on?
Well, here are the top requests:
1 - 1080p / HD
2 - Widescreen Progressive Output
3 - Online Play
4 - Native input lag or less
Possible solutions:
1 - Dolphin Upscaling and Anti-Aliasing
While it's not as good as actually creating better sampled textures, it is a huge improvement over native internal resolution and immediately noticeable.
2 - 20XX Pack and Dolphin Full RGB 4:4:4 Progressive Output
With the 20XX Pack, you can enable widescreen 16:9 output. And Dolphin already outputs in progressive full RGB without worrying about analog to digital conversions. It's the best image you can get.
3 - Netplay P2P
With Netplay and Smash Ladder, we can find regional opponents with only 1 to 2 frames of input lag from the connection alone if we play people with buffer 4 and under.
4 - USB Adapters and Gaming Monitors
Official Nintendo Wii U GameCube Controller Adapter (5ms) and the Future Raphnet Adapter (1ms) solve the issue where we were getting extra input lag just from the adapter. We also had an issue with getting an extra frame of input lag from Desktop Windows Manager (Windows Aero) not being disabled but if you have Windows 7, you can still disable it. So with these newer adapters and being able to poll our USB devices at 1000hz, we can improve the input lag from 6ms to 1ms. And now with these newer gaming monitors, we can use 144hz displays improving the display lag from 16.67ms to ~9ms. With the total overall lag improving from a possible 22.67ms per frame to ~10ms per frame having a possible reduction of -12.67ms per frame.
Summary
Having an input lag reduction of ~12.67ms per frame is a big deal already for local play, but also improves the netplay experience. With netplay, I could be playing someone at buffer 3 with about ~25ms of input lag from the connection, but if I were to use the new Raphnet Adapter and a 144hz Gaming Monitor, it would improve from a possible ~50ms of total input lag (including display lag and controller refresh lag) to approximately 35-40ms of total lag. And not only would using Dolphin in this way help input lag, but it would also allow for vast improvements visually. We would finally be able to run Melee at 1080p via Upscaling and Anti-Aliasing with Full RGB Widescreen Progressive output. This would make our scene look much better on streams and events and would attract more possible players. We need to adjust to 2015 standards and I think if Nintendo can't help us, there's no reason we can't help ourselves.
The Big Question
Even if we get a 144hz Gaming Monitor, a new Raphnet Adapter, and disabled Windows Aero - allowing for a theoretical 1ms of input lag from hardware alone - if Dolphin doesn't accept 1ms inputs or refresh every 1ms, then the whole thing is a waste.
Which makes this is the most important question right now:
How fast can Dolphin accept inputs and what is the refresh rate in which it checks for new inputs?
And if Dolphin can't accept inputs at 1ms, how can we modify or improve Dolphin to be able to? And if we can't get it at 1ms, can we at least get it matched to the GameCube refresh rate of ~6ms?
Thanks for reading,
TruckJitsu