Latency in cloud gaming
Latency in cloud gaming is the sum of six legs, only one of which cannot be reduced: distance. The rest can be tuned, and two free settings, the TV's Game mode and switching to Ethernet, often remove more time than everything else combined.
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Where the milliseconds come from
| Step | Order of magnitude | Can you do anything about it? |
|---|---|---|
| Controller to your device | 1 to 8 ms | Yes, USB beats Bluetooth |
| Your device to the data centre | 5 to 25 ms | A little, via the local network |
| The console renders the frame | 16 to 33 ms | No |
| Encoding the frame | 5 to 12 ms | No |
| Return to you and decoding | 10 to 30 ms | A little |
| Display on the screen | 5 to 80 ms | Yes, enormously |
Swipe the table to see all the columns.
The last line is the least understood and the most costly. A TV in Cinema mode can add 80 ms on its own, more than the entire network round trip.
Settings ranked by payoff
- Turn on the TV's Game mode, on the input in use: 20 to 80 ms saved, free
- Connect your computer via Ethernet rather than Wi-Fi: 5 to 20 ms, and far less inconsistency above all
- Switch Wi-Fi to 5 GHz if Ethernet isn't possible: the 2.4 GHz band is congested by neighbours
- Connect the controller via USB rather than Bluetooth: 4 to 7 ms
- Close any downloads running on the network: they cause stutters, worse than slowness
Download speed matters less than consistency
A 1080p stream at 60 fps fits within 15 to 25 Mbit/s. Beyond that, extra download speed improves nothing. What you notice is jitter: the variation in travel time from one packet to the next. A 100 Mbit/s connection that varies by 40 ms gives a less pleasant picture than a perfectly stable 30 Mbit/s connection.
A standard speed test measures speed, not consistency. The Ploud eligibility test measures both, in about thirty seconds, in your browser.
What's playable, by genre
| Total perceived latency | What works |
|---|---|
| Under 60 ms | Everything, including competitive shooters |
| 60 to 100 ms | Open world, adventure, racing, role-playing |
| 100 to 140 ms | Playable, noticeable on reflexes |
| Above 140 ms | Awkward on most action games |
Swipe the table to see all the columns.
Ploud targets 60 to 100 ms, with consoles hosted in France rather than at the other end of Europe. Distance is the one part nothing can make up for: light alone takes about 10 ms to make a Paris-Marseille round trip through fibre.
Measure what your connection gives you, without signing up.
Frequently asked questions
What latency do you need for cloud gaming?
Below 100 ms end to end, most single-player games, open worlds and racing games are comfortable. Below 60 ms, competitive shooters become viable.
What download speed do you need?
25 Mbit/s download speed is enough for 1080p at 60 fps, 40 Mbit/s gives you headroom. Beyond that, extra download speed adds nothing.
Is Wi-Fi enough?
5 GHz Wi-Fi close to your ISP set-top box works fine. 2.4 GHz is often congested by neighbours and causes stutters. Ethernet is still preferable when a socket is within reach.
Why does my TV add latency?
Because it processes the picture before displaying it: smoothing, interpolation, noise reduction. Game mode switches off this processing and removes 20 to 80 ms depending on the model.
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