NVIDIA Reflex, technology explained in 60 seconds

NVIDIA Reflex

When you think about the main factors that determine a great gaming experience, you often think of three elements: graphics quality, resolution and framerate. What every gamer dreams of is playing at the highest resolution, identifiable today with 4K, at the highest graphics quality available and at high FPS, ideally above 60, so as to have fluid and visually satisfying gameplay sessions.

C 'is, however, another element that is rarely taken into account, but which is fundamental in various games, especially competitive ones: input lag. What is input lag? Simply, it is the delay between when you move the mouse and when you see the corresponding action on the screen. Let's try to clarify the concept with an example.

Imagine a video game where you control a virtual character. When you move the mouse to interact with the game, the movement of the mouse corresponds in real time to the movement of the virtual character. Or at least this is what you think: that "movement in real time" is actually a delayed movement, even if by a few milliseconds. As soon as you move the mouse in one direction, the movement command is recorded by the mouse and sent from the peripheral (via cable or wireless) to the computer, then the signal is interpreted by the game and processed by the CPU, which in turn will tell the graphics card to perform an operation, the result of which will then be sent via the cable to the monitor which in turn will turn on all the pixels necessary to reproduce that movement.

As mentioned before, input lag makes a difference especially in competitive games. In situations where gamers clash with each other, the one with the least input lag could have a tactical advantage that can lead to victory. It is in these situations that NVIDIA Reflex comes into play, a suite of tools that includes the GPUs of the GeForce RTX family, monitors with G-Sync technology, compatible mice and software capable of measuring and reducing as much as possible this latency accumulated by the PC.

To succeed in its intent, NVIDIA Reflex improves the communication chain between the various elements seen above, by optimizing the processes. Does it seem complicated to you? Indeed it is, but not for the gamer: all he will have to do is activate the "NVIDIA Reflex low latency" option in compatible games and let the magic happen, immediately enjoying an advantage in terms of reduced latency. in games played online. It should also be emphasized that, as the resolution scales, the benefits brought by Reflex will also increase: as you can see from the graph below, thanks to Reflex the input lag is about 9% lower in Full HD, but in 4K it is reduced by 36%. .

To date, the main competitive games in the world esports landscape support NVIDIA Reflex: Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, Valorant, Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege are just some of the compatible titles and the number will grow in the next months. If you are an avid gamer and spend hours and hours competing online on these titles, NVIDIA Reflex is a technology that will give you an edge and help you climb higher in the rankings.

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Testing Nvidia's Latency Analyzer: Can It Help You Become an Esports Pro?

Esports is increasingly becoming a game of milliseconds and single pixels making all the difference. (And of course, it's no game, but a career, for some.) Hardware makers, game developers, and now key players like Nvidia and AMD are taking the lead on super-serving this crowd.

Case in point: Nvidia's recently introduced Latency Analyzer. Latency Analyzer 'aims' to help you track and reduce the amount of delay, or latency, that exists between your input device's signal, your GPU, your PC, and your monitor. Those tiny slivers of seconds may well be what got you killed in some of those questionable, rage-inducing moments in your last online match. But using it requires a very specific mix of hardware and software to get going.

We took this super-new tech for a test drive, seeing just how much advantage you can gain out of turning on latency-reducing features like this, in concert with the related (albeit, awkwardly named) 'Nvidia Reflex + Boost.' For years now, esports players, coaches, and franchises, as well as amateur hopefuls, have been scrambling for any technical edge they can get. Tools like these added to the arsenal are just a few of the many ways that micro-measured bits of advantage can make the difference between first place and fifth place, come tournament time.

Pinning down the actual benchmark results we recorded for this evaluation of Nvidia Reflex, via Latency Analyzer, was no easy feat. In our testing, the process required a rather arbitrary set of tools and techniques to get everything up and running the way that Nvidia said it's supposed to. Still, the effort may be well worth it if you're motivated enough to keep up in this arms race (especially if your competition is using it, too). Tools like Latency Analyzer may still be in their infancy, but for esports players who take their passion to the max? It's the next must-have thing.

Now, know that there's a lot of Nvidia lingo involved here. Ever found yourself banging your head on the desk, swearing that you nailed that shot but can't see how it didn't register? Well, now you can know for sure why you lost. Latency Analyzer will let you know if you're getting every frame you can out of Nvidia's Reflex + Boost, which in turn is the company's latency reduction (as opposed to mere detection) feature. Reflex + Boost is, in turn, a member of the larger Nvidia Reflex toolset. All are designed to help you reduce latency in your favorite games. So: Nvidia, Nvidia, Nvidia. (Feel free to repeat that in the tone of 'Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!') Onward to testing.

What Is Nvidia's Latency Analyzer (and Reflex + Boost)?

Nvidia's newest technology entry into the low-latency space, the Reflex suite of low-latency tools, works at a game-engine level. (Don't confuse it with Nvidia's older Ultra Low Latency mode, or NULL, which works only on a few driver-set DirectX 11 titles.)

NULL is not Reflex

As an optional set of APIs, Nvidia Reflex allows developers to integrate low-latency features directly into their own games by choice. Reflex has given megahit multiplayer titles such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Overwatch, and Valorant an in-game menu option to activate the low-latency mode, which is dubbed either 'Nvidia Reflex' or 'Nvidia Reflex + Boost.' The difference between the two is key. Plain-vanilla Reflex is used more for older games with less onscreen details, while Reflex + Boost is better for modern titles such as Overwatch and Modern Warfare, which put greater strain on the GPU, rather than the CPU.

Nvidia hasn't been all that clear about how the Reflex system works differently from NULL. In our testing, however, it seemed to run more effectively when the detail levels of the games we tested were cranked up. From what we do know—via Nvidia's press materials, in so many words—Reflex is designed to open a line of communication between your GPU and the game it's rendering that allows the two to send instructions to one another in order, decreasing the amount of latency among your mouse click, the GPU's instruction, and what information ends up displayed on the screen.

Let's put that simpler still: The GPU, in essence, tells the game what it's up to ahead of time, and the game prepares frames ahead of the render request to create what's referred to as 'just-in-time' processing.

An Nvidia schematic of latency points, from your finger to your monitor

But why does that matter, exactly? Well, for casual gamers...it doesn't. If you're happy to sit on the couch playing games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on a console-style controller (or just with a mouse and keyboard, for that matter), the kind of latency reduction that Nvidia Reflex brings to the table won't even be noticeable, let alone give you a 'competitive' advantage over the AI enemies you're up against.

It's a whole different story in many multiplayer games, like those mentioned earlier. In competitive play, one click at the wrong time can mean the difference between ranking up to Radiant rank in Valorant or being hard-stuck in Plat. So shaving milliseconds off your latency is a critical step in removing variables in your hardware that could be holding you back. But just like understanding how this all works is no simple feat, analyzing the data of Nvidia Reflex requires a rather specific (and not inexpensive) set of tools and techniques to get everything up and running in the right order.

The first step in solving your problem is identifying your problem, and that is where Nvidia's Latency Analyzer comes in. First up: the hardware limitations. Right now, only a small bunch of gaming monitors is compatible with Latency Analyzer. You'll also need a compatible mouse to work as your measurable input, and that is an equally small list. 

Intimidated yet? Don't worry, Nvidia has released an exhaustiveexhaustive guide on exactly how to test your latency best in the games that support Nvidia Reflex. If you plan to do this at home, make sure you're buying the right hardware first by visiting Nvidia's complete compatibility list (or just scanning the table we've laid out above, at least for the hardware). Nvidia's version includes the full list of mice, monitors, and games that currently support Nvidia Latency Analyzer. The feature won't work unless you're using some combination of all three together. 

For example, to get our benchmark numbers, we needed to get on loan both a fresh monitor and a supported mouse. We used the Acer Predator X25 360Hz and the Acer Cestus 350 Wireless, to be exact. Note: Though capable of wireless operation as part of its feature set, our Cestus mouse had to be hooked up via a cable to the monitor during benchmark tests to employ Latency Analyzer. Depending on what you buy, you may run across a similar requirement.

Acer's Predator X25, a Latency Analyzer-capable gaming panel

We also needed to test on specific games from the earlier cited list. For our testing, we ran two games that had Reflex + Boost built-in (Overwatch and Valorant), as well as one that was compatible with Latency Analyzer, but not Reflex + Boost (the classic Counter-Strike: Global Offensive). This is important because it shows that even without Reflex enabled, there are still ways that you can lower the latency of your favorite multiplayer title, strictly through adjusting your in-game settings, rather than relying on Nvidia's engineering team to make up the difference when the detail level is cranked to the max.

The Cestus 350 mouse had to be plugged into a certain port on the Predator monitor.

Now, if you have to buy all this new gear, you have to question your commitment to this exercise. That said, our test setup, or one like it, represents a common loadout for most of your top esports pros these days. And those folks, to be 100% frank, are the only people who should really be considering this feature. Think about what a professional soccer player (footballer, for those across the pond) spends on cleats, then subtract the difference against what you're willing to spend for some pickup games down at the local field.

That's the kind of calculation we're talking about in hardware here, so before we jump into testing, let's reiterate: Testing features like Nvidia Reflex using Latency Analyzer is difficult, not cheap, and impractical for casual gaming. You'll only want to dive this deep yourself if you take your esports competition very seriously. Otherwise, get an idea if it's worth it from our experiments.

Since we were loaned much of what we needed to test these features, we have no such qualms about justifying it on our end. (Though certainly we'll be spoiled for the day all the key hardware goes back to Acer HQ.) Meanwhile, let's do what we came to do!

Nvidia Reflex + Boost: Latency Performance Tested

To test the latency of a particular game, we first needed to set up all the necessary parameters. All three of our test games are first-person shooters, and games like that are ideal for latency testing thanks to a common, easy-to-detect element: gun flash.

To start, we had to establish where the flash of our gun, when fired, would appear in all three games. That's a manual process that required us to use, in our case, the joystick on the back of the Predator X25 monitor. We used it to pinpoint the sweet spot onscreen where the light from the end of the gun would be most quickly detected by the monitor. It's all about reducing that time from click to render.

Once the box was locked in and we were on the training grounds in the various games for our benchmarking process, we noodled around and settled on some of the fastest-firing guns in each game (the Spectre in Valorant, for example), as our 'control' weapons.

Note that the Cestus 350 mouse had to be plugged into the Predator X25, not our PC, in a certain USB port. Our test monitor had two USB inputs, with one designated for the express purpose of using Latency Analyzer. Once that was verified, it was time to test.

During our test runs, we found that the effect of Reflex + Boost could be minimal with the games set at lower resolutions. But it also could be considerable once the detail level was cranked up, especially in the case of Overwatch.

However, it gets a bit more granular than that. So let's sum up what the Latency Analyzer tool spat out.

Valorant

We started by testing Valorant, a game that's just about as optimized for high frame rates as games come on PC. (During testing I chortled at the steady resting rate of 850fps.) There wasn't a huge amount of variance in latency results between runs, even with quality settings adjusted. When running the game at high detail settings on an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition card with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU, we saw roughly a 4ms drop between Reflex + Boost turned on or off. That margin got even slimmer once we cranked the Valorant settings down to low. That's not nothing, but it's not much, either.

Valorant: Modest gains with Reflex

Still, this backs up Nvidia's claim that Reflex + Boost is more effective when the GPU is taking a heavier load than the CPU. And this was borne out especially once we moved on to testing with the game Overwatch.

Overwatch

Here, Reflex + Boost had a substantial effect on our latency, shaving off almost 40ms when settings were cranked to high in 1080p. This could be due to Overwatch's engine being older than Valorant's. (However that's a debate for Blizzard and Riot developers to have, and we can only speculate.)

Overwatch's Reflex menu

Think of it this way: if you're setting up your cursor to hit the head of a character, and your centered aim point is reached, but your reaction time is off by 40ms in either direction, you're lessening the chance to nail a pixel-perfect headshot. Now, many games know how to compensate for this kind of disparity through clever hitbox and network management. (Valorant is the current king of compensating for problems like Peeker's Advantage.) But in multiplayer games like those that support Reflex, a difference of 40ms can still make all the difference between winning and losing a round, or even the entire match.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Last up: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. (This wouldn't be an evaluation of esports technologies without taking a look at that classic!) This game, unlike the previous two, doesn't have support for Reflex + Boost built in, which suggests, at least as far as Nvidia is concerned, that we're missing out on some kind of magical latency-reducing technology if we were to play the game on anything else besides Nvidia GPUs with Reflex enabled. As we tuned the in-game graphical settings, though, we were able to use the Latency Analyzer to quantify just how much of a difference changing your in-game graphics settings (here, from high to low) can make on latency in general.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where every millisecond counts

During these tests, the simple act of reducing the load on the GPU and sending it to the CPU instead was enough to significantly reduce the input latency of our testbed, from 24.2ms down to 9.1ms, a drop of roughly 62%. The addition of an option to turn on Reflex in Counter-Strike's in-game settings could help close this gap even further...perhaps. However, our results show that if you want the lowest latency out of any game that doesn't already have Reflex built in, it looks as though lowering your in-game quality settings is one of the most reliable ways to make that happen.

Reserved for the Elite...But Use It If You Can

Will most people need to roll out Latency Analyzer and get this granular? Almost assuredly not. But will it give the tens of thousands of professional esports players around the world yet another metric to tune their play to the extremes of what human cognition is capable of? Absolutely. 

The decision point in purchasing a Latency Analyzer setup for home use rests on whether or not you're an aspiring esports pro, as most serious esports organizations are likely already purchasing these kits for their players out of their own pockets. If they're using this tool to keep their systems running at peak speeds, and if you want to make it to the big leagues, you should be too.

Overwatch: Measuring (latency) for success

Looking at latency numbers on this extreme and fine of a scale will benefit the most elite of the elite in esports gaming, because more data is always good to have, if you can afford it. Whether you're currently playing at the level of an esports professional (or hoping to someday), knowing where a pinch point is in your system that might be holding you back from greatness is critical. Nvidia's Latency Analyzer can help to illuminate any possible kinks in that chain.

For the rest of us (as well as long-since-retired esports aspirants, like this writer), Latency Analyzer is a nice-to-have, while simply turning Nvidia Reflex + Boost on—or cranking down your video settings from higher graphical quality settings down to medium or lower, in many cases—should do the trick well enough for you to feel the difference in responsiveness between when you click your mouse and when your character reacts onscreen.

With games like Valorant carrying forward the banner of the 'milliseconds matter' genre (think Quake: Arena or the Counter-Strike franchise), features like Nvidia Reflex and Reflex + Boost will gain more and more prominence among the truly motivated. They are yet another in a long line of latency-reducing techniques that Big Green is bringing to the table to give all of us, even those of us with aging eyes and slower hands, any competitive edge we can get.