MiSTer Laggy – Lag Tester For MiSTer

The MiSTer Laggy is a cheap photodiode that you can use with any MiSTer FPGA kit that offers a SNAC/UserIO port. Simply load the corresponding MiSTer Laggy core – If you’ve run Update_all in the past few years, it’ll already be in “Utility”, right on the main menu. Then connect the device with a USB 3.0 or higher cable and use it to measure your display the exact same way you would with a Time Sleuth. You can select multiple resolutions/refresh rates right from the core itself and it works with both analog and digital outputs. The short video above is a quick demo and they’re in-stock now for $12 plus shipping:

Purchase MiSTer Laggy: https://peanutbutterretro.com/products/mister-laggy
Verified USB A to C Cable: https://retrorgb.link/conmdexusb

While I know a Time Sleuth can do something similar, if you already own a MiSTer with a SNAC port, this is a really cheap way to do the same thing. It might not be as small and portable as a Time Sleuth, but it offers a bunch more features. As demoed in the above video, using a MiSTer allows for HDR and VRR support, which absolutely can make a difference in latency. It also offers easy access to a ton of resolutions and multiple refresh rates for each. The aspect ratio option is also handy, as some TV’s like LG’s recent OLED’s actually have more lag when running in 4:3 mode, which is nice to know.

Of course, because I’m an annoying nerd, every time I test something awesome like this, I see both what a massive help this can be now, as well as it’s future potential. A 720×480 resolution, along with both aspect ratio modes would be great to have, so people can further test what to expect when using 480p consoles on their displays. And I’d also love to see a 720p120 option added, to test higher refresh rate displays. I’m also curious about color compression output – While the MiSTer (correctly) outputs 4:4:4 color, would 4:2:2 and 4:2:0 modes be possible? There’s probably zero difference in lag, but I’ve never been able to test, so I’m not sure. And maybe a lower bandwidth 4:2:0 mode might allow for higher refresh rates, just for further display testing?

Either way, it’s awesome as-is. I’m just always pushing all my equipment as far as it can go.

Also, you may be wondering why I’m randomly posting this now, when we’ve already covered it. There’s a few reasons, actually. First, I asked the creator Martin Donlon (aka Wickerwaka) to let me know when they were back in stock, which he kindly did…and then I forgot to write a “back in stock” post ;/ Then I said: “Don’t worry, I’ll feature it in an upcoming video about MiSTer lag…which I then messed up ALL the footage and never had time to go back and re-shoot it. The final straw was when someone desperately needed a Time Sleuth to debug a development issue and I realized they’re out of stock. So I figured now was the time to re-highlight this device!

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