Mame : Low Latency

[Hitesh]

Hello fellow arcadians

Query about Mame with Low Latency.

I am (still) on Mame 0.204 as it needs all my needs. I noticed that in Mame 0.207 a "Low Latency" feature appeared.

My question is : Will Low Latency make any difference to someone who is not very good at these games?

 

[Retroman839]

I would say yes.

If your getting 1:1 frame rates

And you are still getting late response times (latency )this will improve playability because of its faster response times once implemented.
Which will help you to have your actions carried out quicker in game resulting in you being better ( or in reverse the latency making you worse )

How or why low latency is not just implemented I don’t know?other than if your rig was causing some slowdown bad frame rate.

The low latency Is just to improve the feel of the late response on screen caused by a bad frame rate .
- Dont take my word on this though just my understanding of it -

It all gets silly at whete the human eye can’t see beyond a refresh rate ..
But bad frame rate and slow response from games on a low powerd rig is always noticeable.

 

[big10p]

Didn't regular MAME incorporate the frame delay functionality of groovyMAME at some point? Possibly refers to that, which has to be setup on a per-game basis, according to PC hardware capabilities, so it's not something that can simply be turned on/off. It may have all changed since I messed around with this stuff, though. I'm running a pretty ancient groovyMAME.

 

[Hitesh]

I think best way is for me to try it out. Probably play Mr. Do!, Pengo and Bongo on both Mame 0.204 and Mame 0.207 (with Low Latency).
See what sort of High Scores I get

 

[Retroman839]

Yep after Playing bomb Jack on mame for a while..

Got the pcb 1st credit same difficulty best score ..

Play it is best way 😁👍

 

[Retroman839]

This is why I’m enjoying using a 486 for pre 90’s for emulation.
When I compare my mame on i3,i5,i7
There is something nice going on, Not sure what though
You will feel it .

 

[yoganuggy]

It's for vrr lcd/oled monitors. If you have one of those, set the low latency option and the game will refresh at the native rate with not lag. No need for groovymame anymore if using a vrr flat panel.

For crt though, groovymame with either a) an ATI card with emu driver OR b) the VideoAMP converter by banicoot/njz on arcade projects.
The new option for crt in groovymame is the new "frame delay" slider. Set the frame delay slider to as high as your pc can handle. Frame delay 7 is 0 lag.

 

[Retroman839]

Do bandicoots vídeo amp require ati only ?

What is a vrr flat panel ?
Thx

 

[big10p]

VRR = variable refresh rate

 

[Retroman839]

VRR = variable refresh rate

Cool ..thx

 

[yoganuggy]

Videoamp works with any graphics card so you don't need to have a dedicated groovmame pc with old ati card anymore. You can use your main PC and set one of the outputs ports to the crt

 

[Retroman839]

Videoamp works with any graphics card so you don't need to have a dedicated groovmame pc with old ati card anymore. You can use your main PC and set one of the outputs ports to the crt

That’s cool ..
I will have to check this out.

 

[Hitesh]

Just a quick update on my findings

Have set up Low Latency for all games but only tested Tetris Grand Master (J) Rom.
I often, probably every other day, play this against my wife. So its a good guide to see if Low Latency makes a diff.
When we play in two player vs mode, we usually get around 2 minutes playtime. Occasionally we get 3 minutes and very very occasionally, we have hit 4 minutes.
Yesterday we hit 5 minutes for the very first time. At that stage, the game "kill screens" you and calls the game a draw. This is the first time we have seen this. So yes, Low Latency has defo made a difference.

On a lesser note, when entering you initials on the high score tables, its much easier to stop (not overshoot) the letter you want.

Hope that all makes sense....