5 ms·

I used Gnome for years, then switched to sway and alacritty 2 years ago and honestly I can't tell any difference. I guess this is just like high end audio equip

I used Gnome for years, then switched to sway and alacritty 2 years ago and honestly I can't tell any difference. I guess this is just like high end audio equipment, my ears/eyes are not tuned to the difference.

medstrom 3y ago
I'm guessing you notice it more in some use-cases. Can anyone chime in with an example?
- abhinavk 3y ago
  Latency adds up. When I had to work with a not-so-fast monitor (60Hz, mediocre processing and pixel-response lag), it became very apparent to point of annoyance. Using alacritty helped a bit. Our brains adapt quickly but you also notice it when switching frequently between setups. (Monitor or terminal emulators)
aembleton 3y ago
I've been using Gnome for years and am currently on Gnome 46. I hadn't noticed any difference in the terminal latency from Gnome 45. Like you, I think I just don't notice these things.
- VeninVidiaVicii 3y ago
  Lately I’ve been noticing some very fast flickering when I type on Gnome terminal. Guess this coincides with the new terminal.
- flexagoon 3y ago
  I'm on Gnome, and I moved from Gnome Console to Wezterm because of the latency. It wasn't noticeable when I used terminal as a small window, but most of the time my terminal was fullscreen, and the delay was unbearable.
rocqua 3y ago
Have you tried switching back? It is often more noticable when latency increases than when it decreases.
- berkes 3y ago
  If that is the case, why should I switch to a terminal with lower latency?
  - kccqzy 3y ago
    I use Alacritty as well and for me I care about having a low latency of response when I press Ctrl-C after I accidentally cat a huge text file. I want my key press to be acted upon immediately and that I want the pages and pages of text to finish rendering quickly so I can get back to my shell prompt. When I did a quick test two years ago, Alacritty outperformed Gnome Terminal. Looking forward to trying this again when I update my system.
    - berkes 3y ago
      But you describe that you do perceive a latency difference. My reaction is to someone who says you're unlikely to perceive latency difference when it gets better (lower). Would you switch if ctrl-c wasn't reacting perceivably different?
- INTPenis 3y ago
  No and it doesn't matter enough to me to try.
BaculumMeumEst 3y ago
The only thing I care about regarding latency/responsiveness is whether a terminal makes me want to vomit when I'm scrolling in vim.
philsnow 3y ago
Not a fair comparison, probably, but I swore off of gnome-terminal ~20 years ago because it was using half of my cpu while compiling a kernel. Xterm used ~2%.
- TacticalCoder 3y ago
  To be fair even up to this day and on a modern Linux setup (Ryzen 7000 series CPU), that's still how Gnome terminal (before the patch in TFA are applied) does feel compared to xterm. Things may, at long last, get better now.
mrob 3y ago
Maybe your screen and/or keyboard is adding enough latency that you'll never get good results no matter what software you use. The difference between bad latency and very bad latency isn't so obvious. Have you tried gaming hardware?
- p9fus 3y ago
  not OP but i personally run a 144hz monitor with a normal keyboard with a cable and i've never noticed this stuff either haha

medstrom 3y ago

I'm guessing you notice it more in some use-cases. Can anyone chime in with an example?

abhinavk 3y ago
Latency adds up. When I had to work with a not-so-fast monitor (60Hz, mediocre processing and pixel-response lag), it became very apparent to point of annoyance. Using alacritty helped a bit. Our brains adapt quickly but you also notice it when switching frequently between setups. (Monitor or terminal emulators)

aembleton 3y ago

I've been using Gnome for years and am currently on Gnome 46. I hadn't noticed any difference in the terminal latency from Gnome 45. Like you, I think I just don't notice these things.

VeninVidiaVicii 3y ago
Lately I’ve been noticing some very fast flickering when I type on Gnome terminal. Guess this coincides with the new terminal.
flexagoon 3y ago
I'm on Gnome, and I moved from Gnome Console to Wezterm because of the latency. It wasn't noticeable when I used terminal as a small window, but most of the time my terminal was fullscreen, and the delay was unbearable.

rocqua 3y ago

Have you tried switching back? It is often more noticable when latency increases than when it decreases.

berkes 3y ago
If that is the case, why should I switch to a terminal with lower latency?
- kccqzy 3y ago
  I use Alacritty as well and for me I care about having a low latency of response when I press Ctrl-C after I accidentally cat a huge text file. I want my key press to be acted upon immediately and that I want the pages and pages of text to finish rendering quickly so I can get back to my shell prompt. When I did a quick test two years ago, Alacritty outperformed Gnome Terminal. Looking forward to trying this again when I update my system.
  - berkes 3y ago
    But you describe that you do perceive a latency difference. My reaction is to someone who says you're unlikely to perceive latency difference when it gets better (lower). Would you switch if ctrl-c wasn't reacting perceivably different?
INTPenis 3y ago
No and it doesn't matter enough to me to try.

BaculumMeumEst 3y ago

The only thing I care about regarding latency/responsiveness is whether a terminal makes me want to vomit when I'm scrolling in vim.

philsnow 3y ago

Not a fair comparison, probably, but I swore off of gnome-terminal ~20 years ago because it was using half of my cpu while compiling a kernel. Xterm used ~2%.

TacticalCoder 3y ago
To be fair even up to this day and on a modern Linux setup (Ryzen 7000 series CPU), that's still how Gnome terminal (before the patch in TFA are applied) does feel compared to xterm. Things may, at long last, get better now.

mrob 3y ago

Maybe your screen and/or keyboard is adding enough latency that you'll never get good results no matter what software you use. The difference between bad latency and very bad latency isn't so obvious. Have you tried gaming hardware?

p9fus 3y ago
not OP but i personally run a 144hz monitor with a normal keyboard with a cable and i've never noticed this stuff either haha