Thesycon’s DPC Latency Checker is a Windows tool that analyses the capabilities of a computer system to handle
real-time data streams properly. It may help to nd the cause for interruptions in real-time audio and video streams, also
known as drop-outs. The program supports Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows XP x64.
DPC Latency Checker
Using DPC Latency Checker
Thesycon Systemsoftware & Consulting GmbH
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The DPC Latency Checker Tool
If any kernel-mode device driver in your Windows system is implemented improperly and causes excessive latencies of
Deferred Procedure Calls (DPCs) then probably drop-outs will occur when you use real-time audio or video streaming
applications. For an explanation of this effect see Background information below.
The DPC Latency Checker tool determines the maximum DPC latency that occurs on your Windows system and thus
enables you to check the real-time capabilities of your computer. DPC Latency Checker works independent of any ex-
ternal hardware. Using this tool may be helpful in the following situations:
You experience interruptions (drop-outs) in a ow of data processed in real-time, for example an audio stream, video
stream or a sequence of measuring data, and you want to nd out the reason for this problem.
You want to verify that your Windows system is congured properly so that it is capable of handling real-time data
transfer before you install the corresponding streaming application.
You want to check if a particular computer system is suitable for streaming applications, for example before you buy
this system.
DPC Latency Checker is very simple to use. Download dpclat.exe and launch it. No software installation is required. The
main window is shown below.
