How to create an accurate timer in javascript?

Question

I need to create a simple but accurate timer.

This is my code:

var seconds = 0;
setInterval(function() {
timer.innerHTML = seconds++;
}, 1000);
         


        

Answer 1

Most of the timers in the answers here will linger behind the expected time because they set the "expected" value to the ideal and only account for the delay that the browser introduced before that point. This is fine if you just need accurate intervals, but if you are timing relative to other events then you will (nearly) always have this delay.

To correct it, you can keep track of the drift history and use it to predict future drift. By adding a secondary adjustment with this preemptive correction, the variance in the drift centers around the target time. For example, if you're always getting a drift of 20 to 40ms, this adjustment would shift it to -10 to +10ms around the target time.

Building on Bergi's answer, I've used a rolling median for my prediction algorithm. Taking just 10 samples with this method makes a reasonable difference.

var interval = 200; // ms
var expected = Date.now() + interval;

var drift_history = [];
var drift_history_samples = 10;
var drift_correction = 0;

function calc_drift(arr){
  // Calculate drift correction.

  /*
  In this example I've used a simple median.
  You can use other methods, but it's important not to use an average. 
  If the user switches tabs and back, an average would put far too much
  weight on the outlier.
  */

  var values = arr.concat(); // copy array so it isn't mutated
  
  values.sort(function(a,b){
    return a-b;
  });
  if(values.length ===0) return 0;
  var half = Math.floor(values.length / 2);
  if (values.length % 2) return values[half];
  var median = (values[half - 1] + values[half]) / 2.0;
  
  return median;
}

setTimeout(step, interval);
function step() {
  var dt = Date.now() - expected; // the drift (positive for overshooting)
  if (dt > interval) {
    // something really bad happened. Maybe the browser (tab) was inactive?
    // possibly special handling to avoid futile "catch up" run
  }
  // do what is to be done
       
  // don't update the history for exceptionally large values
  if (dt <= interval) {
    // sample drift amount to history after removing current correction
    // (add to remove because the correction is applied by subtraction)
      drift_history.push(dt + drift_correction);

    // predict new drift correction
    drift_correction = calc_drift(drift_history);

    // cap and refresh samples
    if (drift_history.length >= drift_history_samples) {
      drift_history.shift();
    }    
  }
   
  expected += interval;
  // take into account drift with prediction
  setTimeout(step, Math.max(0, interval - dt - drift_correction));
}