Video Device Latency

Adjust this when lips or performance cues in the audience's video appear a little later than the sound. The time it takes the picture to reach a wireless screen, for example, can make sound and picture differ even when they come from the same source.

Video Device Latency sends the video slightly early to allow for that delay. Save a value matched to your screen and audio setup, and PagePilot uses it next time too.

If sound and picture already align, leave the setting alone. You do not need to calibrate a display you are not using. Stuttering or a delay that grows during playback cannot be fixed by a constant correction. Start with If External Video Stutters or Lags Badly in Video on an External Display instead.

To adjust it, open Global Settings > Audio & Video Output > Video device latency compensation. Choose the preset matching today's connection, stop playback, and open Calibrate.

Which Latency Setting?

Two settings have similar names. Choose by what you are trying to align.

Two Presets: Wireless and Wired

The correction is saved separately for "Wireless" and "Wired (HDMI)," because the two delay by very different amounts. AirPlay and Miracast are examples of wireless connections.

Which preset is in effect does not switch automatically. Check the active preset on the settings screen and pick the one that matches how you are connected today.

Values are saved to these two presets, rather than for each individual screen. Even with the same wireless connection type, check the saved value when you change the receiver, TV, or audio setup; calibrate again if needed.

Method 1 — Match the Sound to the Light (Start Here)

Line up the click you hear with the flash on the venue screen, by ear and eye. For everyday use, this is all you need.

1. Connect the external display and make sure Send video to the external display is on (Video on an External Display). Stop song playback
2. On the Video device latency compensation screen, choose today's Wireless or Wired (HDMI) preset, then open Calibrate (this opens Video Output Latency Calibration)
3. A click sounds periodically, and the venue screen flashes
4. Watching the screen, move the slider until the flash and the click land exactly together
5. Press Save. The value is stored to the currently active preset
6. Play the song and check that lips or cues on the external screen match the sound you actually hear

Calibrate with the same audio setup you will perform with. Without an audio interface connected, the click itself may play from the screen's side — that is fine: "align the click you hear with the flash" still gives the right answer.

Method 2 — Use a Photo to Help Measure the Delay

Take one photo containing both screens and use the difference between the numbers to measure the picture delay. This helps when it is hard to set the slider by ear and eye alone. A photo does not measure sound, so after applying it, check the click and flash using Method 1 and then check an actual song.

1. On the "Video device latency compensation" screen, turn on "Show the measurement counter on the external display." A large counter appears in the middle of the venue screen; on your tablet, a small green number appears in the bottom-left corner
2. With a phone camera or similar, take one photo that has both screens in frame
3. Read the difference between the two counters — compare the largest number on each screen. The tablet's number is the larger one
4. Leaving the counter on, open "Calibrate" and enter the difference into the frame-difference field under "Or enter a measured value," then press "Apply." The app converts it to time and shows the effective rate it uses (how many times the screen redraws per second), so you can check the math. If you could read a millisecond difference straight off the photo, the millisecond field works too
5. Confirm the slider has moved to the converted value, then press "Save"
6. Switch the counter off when you are done (it also turns itself off if song playback starts)

If Something Seems Off

• The calibration screen says no external display is connected — connect the screen first. Calibration measures that specific screen's real delay, so it only works with the venue screen attached
• It says video output is off, so the screen will not flash — turn on "Send video to the external display" in settings, then reopen
• It says "Video is currently playing" — stop video playback, then open calibration again
• It says "Getting the external display ready," or the screen does not change after the connection state changes — wait for preparation to finish; if it still does not change, go back and open the calibration screen again
• The frame-difference field will not accept input — no effective rate has been measured yet. Close the calibration screen, turn the measurement counter on from the previous screen, wait a few seconds, take your photo, and open it again
• You calibrated before, but it drifts again — check that the active preset matches today's connection (wireless / wired). If you changed the screen or audio setup, calibrate using that setup
• The adjustment made it worse — restore the previous value if you know it. Otherwise, move the slider to 0, compare what you hear and see, and save a newly aligned value. Do not guess and save a value when you cannot hear the sound
• Only one song's lips are off — most likely the video file itself has its sound and picture out of step; this setting cannot fix that (the correction applies equally to every song)
• Calibration does not line up, or the picture lags visibly behind — this is not the kind of drift the correction fixes. The video may be too demanding for the device and destination you are using. A high frame rate such as 60 fps can be more than a wireless connection carries, and re-exporting at a lower frame rate can help. If a wired connection improves it, you have narrowed the difference down to the wireless setup, including its connection and receiver. See "If External Video Stutters or Lags Badly" in Video on an External Display
• Your own screen drifts against the sound — that is not this page; see Output Device Latency