One major limitation to our testing is the system delay that's introduced by the computer.
If you're using the mouse on a TV, you should make sure the TV is in 'Game' mode, which is usually when the input lag is at its lowest. If you still find that there's too much latency, check the debounce and polling rate settings, or check your computer and monitor settings. There isn't much that you can do to improve click latency besides using a wired connection when possible. We repeat this method for each connection method available on the mouse. We only use an average of the last four clicks because the first click may be slower if the mouse was in sleep mode.
Looking at the sound wave, we measure the time difference between the start of the wave-when the mouse was clicked -and where the marker is. A marker appears on the audio recording for each press this is when the computer registers the input. We turn off the monitor for the actual testing so it doesn't introduce any input lag, start the audio recording, and click the mouse five times. This is because, in Reaper, there's a shortcut with 'M' that places a marker in the timeline of the audio recording. Using the X-Button Mouse Control program, we reprogram the right button of the mouse to 'M'. We set the polling rate to its maximum this is how many times per second the computer reads data from the USB, so a polling rate of 1000Hz means the computer reads the data 1000 times per second. If the test mouse has any debounce settings in the software, which essentially sets a delay, we set it to the lowest value.
We then place the mouse on top of a box that has the microphone inside. We connect the microphone to the sound card, which connects to the computer via USB. We use the X-Button Mouse Control program to remap the mouse's buttons, even for mice that have dedicated software. We also connect a default mouse and the mouse in testing to the computer. This computer setup has a Quad-Capture sound card, a microphone, and the Reaper audio workstation program installed. The way we measure click latency is straightforward, and we use the same desktop computer each time. Wireless gaming mice that use a USB receiver have become more popular and technology has evolved to greatly reduce the latency, to the point where some wireless options are as good as wired ones.
A Bluetooth connection isn't ideal for gaming, but it's still good for office use, and most people won't notice any delay unless the latency is extremely high, at which point it can become annoying to use. Generally, wired mice have the lowest latency and Bluetooth mice have the highest latency. The mouse's connection type affects the click latency. Especially in online games, having a low latency mouse can give you an advantage over your opponents if they have mice with high latency, and it can allow you to kill them before you get killed. Having a mouse with low click latency is extremely beneficial to gamers. Of course, you also need a computer and a monitor with low input lag, but having a responsive gaming mouse can make the difference between winning and losing. Although most people can't visually or audibly tell the delay between when the mouse is clicked and when the action appears on the screen, a mouse with high latency can make subtle differences in games.