Low latency synchronization of video rendering pipelines with high refresh rates

A method comprising:

• determining a frame rendering rate associated with an initial plurality of frames rendered by a video application;
• setting a refresh rate of a display device to match the frame rendering rate;
• rendering an initial plurality of frames on the display device;
• communicating, to the video application, timing metrics associated with the rendered initial plurality of frames;
• receiving a plurality of frames rendered by the video application with an adjusted, based on the timing metrics, rendering rate;
• responsive to receiving a first frame of the plurality of frames prior to a first scheduled time for displaying the first frame, presenting the first frame on the display device concurrently with displaying a preceding frame of the plurality of frames;
• and
• responsive to receiving a second frame of the plurality of frames with a predetermined delay after a second scheduled time for displaying the second frame, discarding the second frame, wherein the predetermined delay is between 1.2 and 1.7 of a spacing between frames that corresponds to an inverse of the refresh rate.

A system comprising:

• a plurality of processing units to:
• render, a plurality of frames at a frame rendering rate of an application, the frame rendering rate matching a refresh rate of a display device, wherein to render the plurality of frames, the plurality of processing units are to:
• generate, using a first processing unit of the plurality of processing units, a plurality of sets of instructions for a second processing unit of the plurality of processing units, wherein individual sets of instructions of the plurality of sets of instructions are associated with rendering, using the second processing unit, of respective frames of the plurality of frames and are generated starting at times spaced with the refresh rate, wherein the first processing unit is to generate the plurality of sets of instructions at a rate determined to maintain a queue of unexecuted, by the second processing unit, instructions that comprises one or more sets of instructions for rendering two or fewer frames of the plurality of frames;
• process, using the second processing unit, the plurality of sets of instructions to render the plurality of frames;
• and
• cause the display device to display the plurality of frames.