Right now the device has 3 primary modes of operation. The modes are referred to by their priorities, which are Precision, Balanced, and High Speed.
There are an additional 2 secondary modes, which are Robust mode and
Low Resource mode.
Most of these are user-selectable by clicking the tray icon and selecting the mode under Quality. Robust Mode, however, enables itself automatically and cannot be engaged manually. In the future, it will be possible for an application to set the mode through the API.
As a general rule of thumb, you should aim to have the device set to a mode that is 1x - 2x the speed of the framerate of your application. If you have a 120 hertz screen, now's the time to try it out. Force-disabling V-sync may also yield dramatic improvements in latency.
All Leap devices support optional USB 3.0 modes. In order to experiment with these, you will need to purchase a Micro USB 3.0 cable such as this.
Balanced Mode
This is the default mode for the device. It provides a balance of both tracking speed and accuracy. When plugged into a USB 2.0 port, it will provide data at a rate of approximately 120 frames-per-second (fps). When plugged into a USB 3.0 port, it will provide data at a rate of approximately 150 fps.
Precision Mode
This device mode concentrates on accuracy over latency or update speed. The accuracy is roughly 2x greater than balanced mode and the update frequency is approximately 60 fps while plugged in USB 2.0 mode. When plugged into a USB 3.0 port, framerates as high as 80 fps can be achieved.
High-Speed Mode
This device mode concentrates on speed over accuracy. Tracking data can be provided at rates as high as 214 fps in USB 2.0 mode, and 295 fps in USB 3.0 mode. Latency in this mode is astonishingly low, but accuracy can sometimes be slightly reduced.
Low-Resource Mode
This option will reduce power consumption, bandwidth, and CPU usage all by around 62%. This is mainly intended for trouble-shooting at the moment and can sometimes resolve disconnection issues. In the future, this may be enabled automatically on a low-end system, or when a PC's USB bandwidth is being largely occupied by other devices.
Robust Mode
This mode is automatically engaged in any non-optimal lighting scenario (as of software version 0.6.3). Right now this happens in a very conservative manner, and over time this mode should occur less and less often. Accuracy and range are slightly reduced, but tracking should remain usable in nearly any lighting condition. (We do not encourage outdoor environments, but they will often work.) Tracking speed will be approximately 100 fps in USB 2.0 mode, and 140 fps in USB 3.0 mode.