Benchmark for Graphics and Monitors [29932]

This article applies to:

E-Prime 3.0

Detail

The Experiment

The Benchmark for Graphics and Monitors test is an in-depth analysis of your monitor timing using PresentMon and Chronos with a Photo Sensor. PresentMon is a third-party application used to capture presentation events in Windows. These events are analyzed with E-Prime and Chronos data.

The Chronos Photo Sensor should be placed on the monitor in which you are testing. We recommend testing three times on your monitor with the top, middle, and bottom stimulus positions. A box is present in the experiment where the Photo Sensor should be placed.

In addition, Chronos needs to be looped back into itself via the I/O Expander or Auxiliary I/O. If you have the I/O Expander, do the following:

Wire a Digital Output 7 to Digital Input 7 and Digital Output 8 to Digital Input 8. During the StartupInfo prompts, select PulseA as 7 and PulseB as 8.

If you only have access to the Auxiliary I/O cable, do the following:

1. Wire the Light Green wire to Brown wire and Purple wire to Yellow wire.
2. During the StartupInfo prompts, select PulseA as F and PulseB as G.

NOTE: If you purchased Chronos in 2018 or 2019, there is a chance your Auxiliary I/O cable uses a different color coding. If you have two Light Blue wires and no Purple wire, do the following:

1. Wire the Brown wire to Light Blue wire and Red wire to Light Green wire.
2. During the StartupInfo prompts, select PulseA as F and PulseB as G.

NOTE: If your Light Blue wires are not labeled, run once and check the PulseRESP column to ensure there are no blank values.

In the Experiment, you can adjust the Display Resolution and Refresh Rate properties in the Experiment Object Property Pages > Devices tab > Display properties. Make sure these values are available on the StartupInfo tab in the Display.XResExpected, Display.YResExpected, and Display.RefreshRateExpected. If they do not exist, add the values as they must match when running.

NOTE: This test requires Administrator privileges and Microsoft Excel.

NOTE: There are two way to run the experiment. Method 1 is for users who wish to run with default display settings. Method 2 is for users who wish to edit their display settings.

Method 1:

Once Chronos is configured properly and you are ready to run, make sure all instances of E-Studio are closed. Then double-click "Launch E-Prime And PresentMon.bat". If you do not see a prompt to run as an Administrator, close all prompts (if any), as well as E-Studio. Then right-click on "Launch E-Prime And PresentMon.bat" and select Run As Admin or run it from an Elevated Command Prompt.

Once E-Studio is open, run the experiment by entering the correct values, placing the Photo Sensor in the proper position, and following the prompts as directed.

Method 2:

Open the Benchmarks for Graphics experiment in E-Studio and configure the experiment as you wish (e.g., Display settings, Startup Info parameters, etc.)

Once everything is configured properly with Chronos and E-Studio, double-click on "Launch PresentMon Only.bat." If you do not see a prompt to run as an Administrator, close the prompt (if any). Then right-click on "Launch PresentMon Only.bat," and select Run As Admin or run it from an Elevated Command Prompt.

Run the experiment entering the correct values, placing the Photo Sensor in the proper position, and following the prompts as directed.

NOTE: If running above 200Hz, make sure to move the .startupInfo3 file to the same location as the experiment file.

Analysis of the Results

If the run is successful, open the Benchmarks for Graphics Combiner in Excel and click "Import Benchmarks for Graphics Files and Run Analysis". You can do this with each file you have. If you encounter any errors while performing the analysis, attempt to continue to review the results.

In general, if the overall grade is above 70, the machine configuration should pass. If your grade is below 70, you may review the Report. The first 4 graphs are the most important. Note that the times are in microseconds and that the fourth graph (OnsetPhotoDelta) is a result of the latency of the monitor. If this is below 12ms (on the Top position run), the monitor is acceptable (i.e., the delay is less than a refresh).

If you would like Psychology Software Tools to review your data, please contact PST Support and provide them with all resulting files for additional analysis.

NOTE: If submitting to support, it would also be beneficial to include your Monitor information, as well as running and attaching the resulting files from running the CMD files in the "Additional Support" folder.

See Also:

TIMING: Why external validation of the Display is needed [25718]

TIMING: Verifying your Clock and Timing in E-Prime [34371]