PlayStation Move lag
Sony has publicly stated that this problem will not affect PlayStation Move in any way, stating that the lag in the new device remains “below a single frame”. Such claims are clearly part of the usual outbursts of enthusiasm related to marketing matters, but there remains overwhelming proof, namely the measurements made by the guys who developed the PlayStation Eye drivers for PC. This is an independent source that has shown clear evidence, and is therefore much more reliable than the official statements released by Sony.
At the moment, the least intrusive example of console lag comes from the XmediaBar of PS3, whose very fast response times are calculated at only three frames, or just 50 milliseconds. However, the question remains complex, and this depends on the most varied factors. The proliferation of LCD or plasma screens has also contributed to aggravate the problem, especially if we consider that even screens from the same manufacturer can have different latency times. Anything between two and five frames (33ms to 84ms) is therefore quite common.
Predictably, developers will try to develop software that can be enjoyed in the most intuitive way possible, that is, titles capable of reading the movements of the players without forcing them to gestures with pinpoint precision. Put simply, this will result in a further increase in the lag factor.
Putting aside what for now are mere speculations, we just have to offer you a live video of the PlayStation Move, tested directly by the guys at Digital Foundry. The video camera used to film the test is certainly not up to par with the means usually used by our geniuses, but its ability to store videos at 60 FPS still offers us an excellent result to evaluate the latency in the performance of the device.
The demo made available by Sony is interesting above all for one reason: being a simple visualization of the player's movements with the addition of a few 3D elements, the hardware is not subjected to particularly heavy calculations. This means that system resources can operate without any stress giving us results uncontaminated by other factors.
Clearly an exact measurement of the level of latency is impossible under these conditions, yet you can see how simple it is to ascertain the degree of response of the peripheral to the movements made in front of the screen. Even holding the controller still you can understand the frame gap between input and video representation.
Considering that we don't know the level of latency added by the screen in question, we can still assume a controller lag of 133ms, well below. below the results achieved with Burnout Paradise or Modern Warfare, but certainly in line with the performance that most dedicated applications should present on such a peripheral.
It is also worth remembering that motion control it is only part of the whole mechanics of Move. The operation of the peripheral, including the inputs provided by normally pressing the buttons of the controller, are then sent to the console via Bluetooth connection, exactly as it happens for a common DualShock 3. At this point we just have to wait for a game at 60 FPS with support both to Move and to the traditional controller, in order to carry out more interesting tests on possible differences…
