Any real-time or interactive software hopes for zero perceptible delay, but short of quantum connections, it's impossible to completely eradicate latency in a system. However, latencies below a certain threshold may be referred to as measurable but not perceptible. In the audio domain, studies have indicated that the ear is sensitive to timing differences at the millisecond level, perhaps even down to a single millisecond. However, latencies under 7 msec are not typically perceptible and are considered acceptable for desktop and semiprofessional applications. Systems achieving average latencies of less than 5 msec should be considered ideal platforms for professional latency-critical applications.
Frustrated expectations lead to dissatisfied and unhappy users.
Unhappy users lead to unhappy programmers. Programmers can easily exploit this new low-latency condition by setting scheduler priority from within their applications, achieving performance with latency well within professionally acceptable limits. This article will show you what's involved and how you can do it yourself. Latency is introduced into a computer system by a variety of factors. Some are hardware-related and can be improved by simply adding a faster disk, speedier CPU, more RAM, or a better video card.