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FPV Camera Latency Test - PZ0420, Hero 2, 3 and Mobius compared

2,301 views · Published 28 July 2014 · 8:11 · Indexed 13 October 2026

Channel: Mark Cocquio (Strepto) · 2014 · Science & Technology

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A quick video experiment to roughly determine the lag/latency for the video output on the Hero2, Hero3 and Mobius cameras when using them for FPV.

Testing methodology was as follows:

I recorded video at 60fps, of the output from various cameras plugged into my tv, and observed how long it took the video feedback to cascade. First I used an FPV CCD board camera as these have basically no lag when you fly. This determined the amount of processing lag my TV is putting into the picture.

Then I repeated the test with the various cameras.

Results are as follows:

Bare TV/baseline
4 frames lag = 66.6ms

Hero 2 960p48
6-7 frames lag on the video, so 2-3 from camera itself = 33.3 - 50 ms

Hero 3 Black 1080p60
7-8 frames lag on the video, so 3-4 from camera itself = 50 - 66.6 ms

Mobius wide 1080p30
10 frames lag, 6 from camera = 100ms

Mobius narrow 720p60
8 frames lag, 4 from camera = 66.6ms

For the record, at 50kph, you travel ~70cm in 50ms.

No I will not convert these units to imperial for you. Use a real counting system.

There are various problems with my testing methodology of course; accuracy is one, and it is entirely possible that my TV might treat analogue signals from different cameras with differing amount of latency (although I suspect this is not the case).

Anyway as you can see it gives us a decent mud map of the hero2/3 latency.

Bottom line: if you hover around or do AP/gimbal work, the Gopro output is flyable. If you want to race or do proximity stuff, forget it.

And finally as we know, the Mobius is great for recording footage but rubbish as an FPV camera.

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