I’m really curious to know if there’s any way to achieve lower input lag than the original SNES with a CRT. Are there setups or configurations that are better?
5 Answers
With Super Mario World, you’ve got about 32ms of input lag because of the two-frame delay built into the game. Emulators can help by using runahead or preemptive frames, reducing lag close to zero. But it’s tricky! While a good emulator setup might feel faster than a console + CRT combo, it’s still up for debate since the emulator might introduce a bit of latency itself. Modern TVs have come a long way in reducing lag too, but using a CRT or a monitor with super low latency, like 1ms, is still hard to beat.
If you’re looking to tweak things, put your TV in game mode and add preemptive frames. It helps a little, but it doesn’t match the speed of a CRT setup. For some folks, like me, it still feels slower than the old-school setup.
I read that Mario World checks inputs over two frames before reacting. The quickest you’re going to get with a brilliant emulator setup is aligning the video with frame times to match actual inputs. This approach can make it feels a lot like the original SNES-C and CRT combination even though it technically isn’t.
Have you considered using a MiSTer on a CRT? It could potentially match or even beat a real SNES. The way controller inputs are managed could shave off some lag. MiSTer’s SNAC ports offer original controller response, unlike USB setups that could introduce more delay. It’s definitely something worth exploring if you’re serious about low latency.
Using RetroArch with runahead is an option — you can try using 4 frames runahead on a CRT with bsnes, but it might feel too speedy. Most folks seem to stick with 1 or 2 frames of runahead. Personally, I find that anything more than 2 frames starts cutting into the game’s animation details just a bit too much.
