diff --git a/src/graphics/graphics-library/helper/stopwatch.ts b/src/graphics/graphics-library/helper/stopwatch.ts
index a3843ad..9b73e19 100644
--- a/src/graphics/graphics-library/helper/stopwatch.ts
+++ b/src/graphics/graphics-library/helper/stopwatch.ts
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ export class WebGlStopwatch {
       this.gl.QUERY_RESULT_AVAILABLE
     );
     const disjoint = this.gl.getParameter(this.timerExtension.GPU_DISJOINT_EXT);
-
     if (available && !disjoint) {
       this.resultsInNanoSeconds = this.gl.getQueryParameter(
         this.timerQuery!,
@@ -70,6 +69,10 @@ export class WebGlStopwatch {
     return this.state == StopwatchState.running;
   }
 
+  public get isWaitingForResults(): boolean {
+    return this.state == StopwatchState.waitingForResults;
+  }
+
   public get resultsInMilliSeconds(): number {
     return this.resultsInNanoSeconds! / 1000 / 1000;
   }
diff --git a/src/graphics/rendering/renderer/renderer-implementation.ts b/src/graphics/rendering/renderer/renderer-implementation.ts
index e806662..f361bed 100644
--- a/src/graphics/rendering/renderer/renderer-implementation.ts
+++ b/src/graphics/rendering/renderer/renderer-implementation.ts
@@ -139,10 +139,12 @@ export class RendererImplementation implements Renderer {
     await compiler.compilePrograms();
     await Promise.all(promises);
 
-    try {
-      this.stopwatch = new WebGlStopwatch(this.gl);
-    } catch {
-      // no problem
+    if (settings.enableStopwatch) {
+      try {
+        this.stopwatch = new WebGlStopwatch(this.gl);
+      } catch {
+        // no problem
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/graphics/rendering/settings/default-startup-settings.ts b/src/graphics/rendering/settings/default-startup-settings.ts
index 5400c08..d9e2aeb 100644
--- a/src/graphics/rendering/settings/default-startup-settings.ts
+++ b/src/graphics/rendering/settings/default-startup-settings.ts
@@ -7,4 +7,5 @@ export const defaultStartupSettings: StartupSettings = {
   shadowTraceCount: 16,
   paletteSize: 256,
   ignoreWebGL2: false,
+  enableStopwatch: true,
 };
diff --git a/src/graphics/rendering/settings/startup-settings.ts b/src/graphics/rendering/settings/startup-settings.ts
index cee656a..ca85185 100644
--- a/src/graphics/rendering/settings/startup-settings.ts
+++ b/src/graphics/rendering/settings/startup-settings.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@
  * The default values for StartupSettings can be found in [[defaultStartupSettings]].
  */
 export interface StartupSettings {
+  /**
+   * Creates a stopwatch used for measuring the GPU render time
+   * when its required extension is available.
+   *
+   * You should only have one renderer with enabled stopwatch.
+   */
+  enableStopwatch: boolean;
+
   /**
    * The raytracing algorithm used for shadows requires a step count.
    * Sensible values for this are between 8 and 32.