Fedigest
In addition to NVIDIA announcing their Display Config Server project at XDC 2026 in Toronto, at this annual developer's conference they also presented their findings on scientific testing of X.Org vs. Wayland latency.
X.Org vs. Wayland latency across different compositors and desktop environments has been a heated topic among passionate Linux desktop enthusiasts. Some argue in favor of classic X.Org delivering the lowest latency while others routinely share their own personal anecdotes and argue in favor of modern Wayland solutions. NVIDIA engineer Kamil Łysik took to a Wayland vs. X.Org latency comparison from key press to presentation. For ensuring accurate measurements, a micro-controller was used along with a light sensor for end-to-end measurements. Paired with software for repeatable and automated testing.
Testing with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card and using the company's R610 driver branch, tests were done on KDE KWin 6.7.4 and GNOME Mutter 49.7 and the X.Org Server tests using v1.21.1.24.
NVIDIA latency Wayland vs. X.Org results
NVIDIA's findings were that the latency results between X.Org and Wayland are very close with it being hard to conclude a clear winner. Some notable takeaways include that XWayland no longer introduces extra frame delays where it had in the past with an extra frame latency. Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) was also measured to "drastically improve" responsiveness and deliver roughly the same latency between both X.Org and Wayland based sessions.
Those interested can find the NVIDIA presentation this X.Org vs. Wayland latency topic embedded above.
NVIDIA's Results Of Conducting Wayland vs. X.Org Latency Testing
Sorry for the quality, 720p was the max resolution:
TL;DR: use VRR
e: redjard's image is better
My monitors backlight changes brightness in the corners when updating after no refreshes, e.g. moving the mouse after holding it still on vrr :(
Imagine upending the whole desktop software ecosystem for years, to produce this result.
Was latency ever a stated goal of Wayland?
At the end even the latency will be better; it's just a matter of software maturity. Without the Xorg server middlemen, there is no reason for Wayland to have higher latency than X11.
Imagine being unable to use two monitors with different display resolutions and refresh rates on Linux.
If it weren't for Wayland, I'd still be on Windows.
Wayland isn't about improving latency, it's about having something resembling a sane security model.
It's nice it doesn't make things any slower, but the truth is: Wayland on today's hardware is significantly faster than X on 10 year old hardware, and nobody was bitching that X was too laggy in 2016.