Latency The host’s screen and the client’s, side by side
A real stream from a Linux host to a Linux client, both screens recorded at the same instants. The host
shows a running clock, so the two halves can be compared frame by frame: the client is one frame behind the
host throughout. Ping’s statistics put 5.1 ms of that between the host capturing a frame and the client’s
screen showing it, and no frame was lost.
Where the 5.1 ms go
Host capture to client screen, averaged over 32 s
- Host 2.63 ms capture, encode, encrypt, send
- Network < 0.05 ms and reassembly; loopback here
- Decode 0.46 ms the client’s decoder
- Present 1.84 ms render, with V-Sync
- Between 0.16 ms queues between stages
From Ping’s statistics: 1280×720 at 60 fps, H.264, encoded in software, host and client in one Linux container. On a real
network, add its round trip. On the benchmark machines, capture to encoded frame takes 2.2–2.6 ms at 1080p60.