Capture contract

Record this metadata before interpreting a trace:

Field	Required value
Target	platform, device model/CPU/GPU/RAM, driver/OS
Build	changelist/commit, Development/Test/Shipping, packaged/editor
Display	output resolution, screen percentage/dynamic resolution, refresh/VSync
Quality	device profile, scalability groups, ray tracing/upscaler path
Workload	map, save/state, camera path, player/AI/effect counts, duration
Budget	frame ms and percentile/hitch threshold; memory/load/net budget if relevant
Capture	command line, channels, warm-up, marked start/end, trace filename

Frame budgets before platform overhead or safety margin:

Target	Frame time
30 fps	33.33 ms
60 fps	16.67 ms
90 fps	11.11 ms
120 fps	8.33 ms

Use a repeatable traversal or automated scenario. Warm shader/asset caches only when measuring steady state; preserve a cold-start run when first-use hitch or loading is the question. Record both if players experience both.

Reject comparisons that changed more than the intended variable, ran different content paths, used different thermal/power states, or silently changed resolution/scalability.