Latency added by your screen and mouse
Latency added by your screen and mouse
20 ms–80 ms
Physical limit — the time available, not a human figure
A 60 Hz display holds each frame for 16.7 milliseconds, so the stimulus alone can be that late before anything reaches your eye, and USB polling, browser event timing and operating-system scheduling add more. On a television with image processing enabled the total can exceed 100 milliseconds. This is why online reaction tests report numbers 20 to 80 milliseconds slower than laboratory figures, and why comparing your score against someone else's is comparing hardware.
The numbers
- Typical
- 35 ms
- Range
- 20 ms to 80 ms
- What it is
- Physical limit — the time available, not a human figure
- What is measured
- End-to-end delay between a frame being drawn and an input being registered by software.
Why this is a physical limit
This is how long the event gives you, not how long a person takes. It is here because comparing the two is the only way to see whether reacting is possible at all.
Where it sits against everything else
Reflexes at the top, reactions in the middle, design values off the end of the scale.
Vestibulo-ocular reflex — Reflex 10 ms
Knee-jerk (patellar) reflex — Reflex 22 ms
Latency added by your screen and mouse — Physical limit 35 ms
Blink reflex — Reflex 40 ms
Withdrawal reflex — Reflex 90 ms
Time a jab takes to land — Physical limit 110 ms
Sprint start reaction — Reaction 140 ms
Simple tactile reaction time — Reaction 155 ms
Simple auditory reaction time — Reaction 170 ms
Professional gamer reaction time — Reaction 190 ms
Formula One start reaction — Reaction 200 ms
Simple visual reaction time — Reaction 250 ms
How reaction time changes with age — Reaction 250 ms
What sleep loss does to reaction time — Reaction 300 ms
What alcohol does to reaction time — Reaction 320 ms
Recognition reaction time — Reaction 340 ms
Choice reaction time — Reaction 380 ms
Time to hit a 95 mph fastball — Physical limit 400 ms
Time a goalkeeper has on a penalty — Physical limit 450 ms
Time to play a 90 mph delivery — Physical limit 500 ms
Driver reaction to an expected event — Reaction 850 ms
Screens and input
| What | Typical | Range | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional gamer reaction time | 190 ms | 150 ms–220 ms | Reaction |
Common questions
- How long is latency added by your screen and mouse?
- Typically 35 ms, with a real range of 20 ms to 80 ms. End-to-end delay between a frame being drawn and an input being registered by software.
- Is that a reflex or a reaction?
- Physical limit — the time available, not a human figure. This is how long the event gives you, not how long a person takes. It is here because comparing the two is the only way to see whether reacting is possible at all.
Related pages
- Professional gamer reaction time 190 ms
- A reflex is not a reaction Why one is 20 ms and the other 250
- Stopping distance at every speed Reaction distance plus braking distance, computed
- Measure your own reaction time Five attempts, median reported
Sources
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place