Sluggish joypad response

SpudsMcToole

@Jahnadrian Turns out it was set to Late by default, but I couldn't detect any appreciable difference when I tried switching it to Normal or Early :(

SpudsMcToole

@columboscoat Samsung 55" Smart 3D, about five years old.

columboscoat

@SpudsMcToole I'm even more sceptical that your TV does not have different picture modes. The settings are on there. Have you looked a bit deeper. This might help... https://displaylag.com/how-to-enable-game-mode-on-your-hdtv/

edmaul69

@SpudsMcToole can you give us the model number? I am about 99% positive it is on there. May not be in video setting.

SpudsMcToole

@columboscoat It has picture modes, but nothing relating to gaming. I've got Dynamic, Standard, Movie and Natural. None of them affected joypad response.

actnash

@SpudsMcToole looks like for certain Samsung tvs, game mode is in a separate area from picture mode. Check this out and see if this helps. At this point, I'm feeling pretty confident that not being in game mode is the culprit of your lag issue.

It is very confusing why Samsung would make it so difficult to find game mode, typically it is just in display settings for most tvs. For Samsung, it will be under system/setup.

columboscoat

@actnash I was just about to link that second video! Odd that it's not with the other picture modes but every manufacturer is different.

SpudsMcToole

@actnash Ah, yes, I have that menu. Never even thought of looking separately from the other picture options, cheers. Have set Game Mode but I'm not seeing much difference to joypad response, if any. (Palette and sound have changed.)

actnash

@SpudsMcToole Ok, cool. Here's another thing you can try. Go into RGUI menu and go to settings->video then change max swapchain to 1 and frame delay as high as it will go before you see stuttering. I can go all the way to 10 on NES without stuttering and around 2-4 on SNES. Usually the systems with better graphics won't let you go as high. The higher the frame delay, the less lag. The lower the max scapchain, the less lag.

RumblinBuffalo

@SpudsMcToole

I can vouch for everyone who has suggested ruling out the TV as the issue. I only started out with the RPi/Retropie about 6 months ago. I started off using my LG 42" Plasma screen (bought in 2006) 720p. I definitely noticed lag like you describe (Mario slightly late jumping, etc.). It was a little disappointing, but I started reading and sure enough saw the suggestions similar to those above. My TV does not have a game mode.

Took my RPi to my brother's Samsung 50" TV and saw immediate improvement (even without game mode turned on). I can't be sure game mode helped in addition but I assume it was probably slightly better. Regardless, the TV made all the difference and it plays very well on his TV.

Now, I have the RPi connected to a 24" Samsung PC monitor that also works very well. In fact, nearly every TV/monitor I've tried was better than my TV.

In addition to the other suggestions above, I definitely agree you should try a couple different screens if you have access.

I'm also curious (now that I better understand the system) whether setting my RPi to 720p as default would've helped in the lag department.