Live View delay through computer = 0.25 seconds

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rjlittlefield
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Live View delay through computer = 0.25 seconds

Post by rjlittlefield »

I got curious today to see just how much delay gets added by watching a live view image on my computer, versus watching the scene directly.

The answer, in my case, is 0.23-0.25 seconds. This is pretty small, but still big enough that it could be an issue when say shooting live stuff through a microscope.

Here's the setup to take the measurement. The digital watch is for precision; the spinning disk at 1 rps is to cover cases where the digits are hard to read.

Image

Image

The same experiment with analog video and HDMI showed that those were faster, both around 0.12-0.13 seconds.

It's hard to wrap this up into an overall number for equipment delay. I know from other tests (HERE) that Live View introduces some additional and unpredictable delay between trigger and actually taking the picture. And if I wanted to shoot with flash there would be additional delay for dropping out of Live View as required to trigger the flash. Things add up...

--Rik

g4lab
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Post by g4lab »

Rik, you are, as always, amazing!

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

I love this language. I'm thinking that "amazing" here is the polite affectionate form of "obsessive". :lol:

What really happens is that I get curious about these technical issues and they nag at me until I know the answer. But then I know my memory isn't very good, so to keep from forgetting I write 'em up and post 'em out. If it contributes to the common cause, so much the better! :)

--Rik

canonian
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Post by canonian »

I like your investigative mind, Rik, be it obsessive or not.

g4lab
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Post by g4lab »

Amen!

DQE
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Post by DQE »

I wonder what is causing the delay? Is it certain that the camera is causing all of it? Would a faster PC and/or video card and/or video input/output interface subsystem(s) make any difference?
-Phil

"Diffraction never sleeps"

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