A Comprehensive End-to-End Lag Model for Online and Cloud Video Gaming
Proc. 5th ISCA/DEGA Workshop on Perceptual Quality of Systems (PQS 2016), (August 2016)Abstract
To further the knowledge of basic game mechanics and improve future video game Quality of Experience (QoE) studies we present a model and simulation for End-to-End (E2E) lag in networked and cloud computer games. E2E lag describes the latency between a user's action and the display of the action's results on the screen, thus providing both a basic measure for interactivity and a fundamental parameter to derived QoE metrics. In contrast to E2E lag models that focus on the network Round-Trip Time (RTT), the presented work also factors in the game's tickrate and framerate (and codec latencies in the case of cloud games). This reveals side effects that can entirely mask the network delay's contribution to the total lag, an important notion to consider for future game studies.