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Gaming & Esports Medium #input-lag#latency

Input Latency Chain

From mouse click to photons on screen - every link in the latency chain.

A free, animated input latency chain you can read here or embed on any website, from Scrollchart.

Input Latency Chain

Input Latency ChainClick to photon: every link adds delay. Typical total 30-80 ms. OS scheduling dominates jitter.+++++Mouse1 ms polling1 mscumulativeUSB Transit0.5 ms2 mscumulativeOS Schedule2-8 ms jitter7 mscumulativeGame Tick1-16 ms15 mscumulativeGPU Render4-12 ms23 mscumulativeDisplay Scan1-8 ms30 mscumulative0 ms30 msTypical total: 30-80 ms click-to-photon240 Hz monitor + fast CPU cuts this to ~15 msbiggest jitter source

Latency cascade: mouse polling 1ms, USB transit, OS scheduling, game tick, GPU render, display scan-out. Total click-to-photon often 30-80ms.

Good for

  • Competitive gaming hardware explainers
  • Monitor and peripheral buying guides
  • NVIDIA Reflex and VRR technology breakdowns

Source & accuracy

This input latency chain is an editorial illustration built to represent the concept accurately. Where it shows figures, they are typical or representative values chosen to make the relationship clear, not a single underlying dataset. The diagram and its explainer are reviewed and maintained centrally, and updated over time as understanding improves.

From peripheral to display: every millisecond counts

A mouse generates a signal when moved, but the computer polls it 125 to 1000 times per second depending on the USB polling rate. The OS checks that input, the game processes it, the GPU renders a new frame, and the monitor displays it. Each step introduces 1 to 5 milliseconds of delay. A typical chain: 2ms input poll, 5ms OS+game logic, 16ms frame time, 10ms monitor response, totalling 33ms from movement to visual change.

Competitive gamers obsess over this chain because 33ms feels sluggish compared to 16ms. Reducing polling latency, using faster displays, and lowering frame time all contribute to snappier input feel.

Hardware and software both matter

A wired, high-poll-rate mouse plugged into a high-refresh monitor running a game at high frame rates can achieve 10-15ms total latency. Wireless peripherals add 5-10ms, low-refresh displays add 20ms, and frame rate drops compound the delay. Each link in the chain is optimizable, but the slowest link dominates.

Embed this diagram

Add this animated input latency chain to your own site. Copy one line of HTML, or use the embed builder for theme and sizing options.

Reference

What this is
A free, embeddable, animated input latency chain for any website.
Who uses it
Gaming blogs & wikis.
How to embed
Copy one line of HTML. No signup. No watermark. Works in WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Substack, plain HTML.
File size
iframe embed, ~80 KB gzipped (loads on demand, does not block your page paint).
License
Free forever. Editorial explainer text included; updated centrally over time.
URL
scrollchart.com/diagram/input-latency-chain

Embed format options

Copy the universal HTML snippet, the WordPress shortcode, or an iframe fallback - see the WordPress plugin page for details. Any format keeps the same Core Web Vitals profile and the same explainer text.

Embed snippet 
<div data-scrollchart="input-latency-chain" data-scrollchart-v="1"></div>
<script src="https://scrollchart.com/embed.js" async></script>

By embedding, you acknowledge the diagram and explainer text are served from scrollchart.com and may be updated from time to time to reflect new research or to link to relevant sources within the explainer.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I get a free animated "Input Latency Chain" for my website?
Scrollchart provides "Input Latency Chain" as a free, embeddable animated diagram you can add to any website with one line of HTML. No signup is required and there is no watermark. The diagram and its explainer text are served from scrollchart.com, so the embed stays current without any maintenance on your end.
How do I embed a input latency chain in WordPress or a static site?
Paste the HTML snippet from the Scrollchart diagram page into your WordPress post (in HTML/code view), your Webflow embed block, or directly into a static HTML file. No plugin is needed. The diagram loads from scrollchart.com and paints in as the reader scrolls.
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