Nvidia is today announcing the introduction of Nvidia Reflex technology. In an attempt to put a quantifiable number on gaming PC input lag, Nvidia and its pals at monitor manufacturers are introducing screen-based technology that is able to accurately measure system latency for the first time without specialised equipment.
Details remain sparse on the exact specifications for upcoming monitors with the technology, although we know Alienware, Asus, Acer, and MSI intend to introduce the functionality within new 360Hz monitors intended for competitive gaming. Asus’ model may be one and the same with its 360Hz PG259QN—which is set to arrive later this month for $699—or something very similar.
We also don’t have the specifics on how it will work with supported games. Valorant, Destiny 2, and Fortnite support is all incoming, according to Nvidia.
Input lag is a common phrase thrown around in the gaming monitor space, but it’s not easily measured without specialist equipment or cameras. To do so, you need to measure the time between a user hitting an input (primary mouse click, for example) and the monitor’s pixels reacting to that input (your character fires a shot).
It can also be difficult to quantify the root of latency. Latency can stem from many sources: be that your peripherals, internal PC hardware, or monitor. And for as many points in the PC gaming pipeline where latency can be introduced, there are similarly patches where it can be reduced.
Nvidia Reflex appears to be intended to shine a light on where lag is being introduced within a system, and at the very least offer an accurate measure of a system’s latency.
That means there will be a lot more chat of real-world latency with this coming GPU generation, which may signify that latency is a new battleground between Nvidia and AMD—and one where Nvidia may believe it has the advantage considering today’s disclosure.
We’ll have to wait until we have our hands on both Nvidia Ampere and AMD RDNA 2 GPUs to put that theory to the test, however.
One would assume the technology will also be limited to the latest monitors and Nvidia 30-series GPUs, however, we’re yet to hear confirmation either way.